Comments on: The N Word And Me http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/ Scattered values and the chance of philosophy. May contain funny. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:25:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.3 by: Sam http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45215 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:41:01 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45215 What were the ten green bottles before they were ten green bottles? How far does this conspiracy go? What were the ten green bottles before they were ten green bottles? How far does this conspiracy go?

]]> by: Emom http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45205 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 09:37:09 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45205 Ed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None Ed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None

]]> by: Ed R http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45164 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 01:43:27 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45164 What was 'Ten Little Indians' before it was 'Ten Little Indians'? What was ‘Ten Little Indians’ before it was ‘Ten Little Indians’?

]]> by: Cliff http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45143 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:15:19 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45143 Ted - Or little people? Kathryn - Oh my god. Did you just Limey me? Katy - Can I call all my Christian friends "goy"? Questions, so many questions. Ted - Or little people?

Kathryn - Oh my god. Did you just Limey me?

Katy - Can I call all my Christian friends “goy”?

Questions, so many questions.

]]> by: ted http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45108 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:19:30 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45108 I have a suggestion. It's generally accepted that you can't apply the mores of today to events in the distant past. Morals, like law, cannot be back-dated. So it's OK to condemn the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing or Guantanamo Bay because they were morally wrong at the time, But you can't outlaw the Crusades, witch-burning, Amos n'Andy, slavery (President Jefferson had a hundred) - or a word of Latin origin meaning 'black' - because they were once the accepted norm. Sure, we can rewrite Rudyard, then Conrad. But who's next? And where do we stop? Surely it would be easier - and more honest - to say that n was a word once in general use but we don't use it today because if the wrong people use it, it gives offence. Then we won't have to rewrite the whole of literature every time anyone doesn't like a word? We've changed Agatha Christie to Ten Little Indians. What happens when the Indians protest? I have a suggestion. It’s generally accepted that you can’t apply the mores of today to events in the distant past. Morals, like law, cannot be back-dated. So it’s OK to condemn the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing or Guantanamo Bay because they were morally wrong at the time, But you can’t outlaw the Crusades, witch-burning, Amos n’Andy, slavery (President Jefferson had a hundred) - or a word of Latin origin meaning ‘black’ - because they were once the accepted norm. Sure, we can rewrite Rudyard, then Conrad. But who’s next? And where do we stop? Surely it would be easier - and more honest - to say that n was a word once in general use but we don’t use it today because if the wrong people use it, it gives offence. Then we won’t have to rewrite the whole of literature every time anyone doesn’t like a word? We’ve changed Agatha Christie to Ten Little Indians. What happens when the Indians protest?

]]> by: Kathryn http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45100 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:17:39 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45100 <i>"Limey, please."</i> Very, very witty. “Limey, please.” Very, very witty.

]]> by: Katy Newton http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45040 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 09:58:59 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45040 My friend and I used to call each other "yid" when we were 16, which we thought was fine because we were both Jewish. Unfortunately she looks Asian and I look Irish, so it didn't go down terribly well when we tried it in Golders Green, at which point we decided that perhaps it just wasn't really a very big or clever word to use even if you <i>are</i> Jewish. My friend and I used to call each other “yid” when we were 16, which we thought was fine because we were both Jewish. Unfortunately she looks Asian and I look Irish, so it didn’t go down terribly well when we tried it in Golders Green, at which point we decided that perhaps it just wasn’t really a very big or clever word to use even if you are Jewish.

]]> by: Cliff http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45028 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:57:19 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45028 Great idea, Wendy. Start with Smeaton. Great idea, Wendy. Start with Smeaton.

]]> by: Wendy http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45027 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:54:05 +0000 http://www.thisisthis.org/2007/10/09/the-n-word-and-me/#comment-45027 Maybe I'll start calling everyone at work "Jock", just for a little experiment. I don't need friends. Maybe I’ll start calling everyone at work “Jock”, just for a little experiment. I don’t need friends.

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