words

[HJB]

Back to the little semantics of our fine nations. We've been through fanny and fag, but in the UK, what would it mean if I were to say, 'I didn't drive here because my car is all jacked up'. Apparently a guy I work with said something along those lines to a RAF guy here and something got lost in translation. I told the guy I work with that he should tell the RAF and BAE guys that they should 'smack his fanny' if he does that again and that they would know what he meant by that as it's a popular saying over there. I cant wait for him to work with them again.

anyway. what would you guys get out of 'jacked up'?

[benedictjjones]

either you were high off something -
"he was jacked up on morphine"
or being robbed
"two lads jacked him up for his phone"

[HJB]

alright. here it would mean broken badly. it could mean high also to having something stolen would just be 'I got jacked". from what it sounded like though this guy was very confused. I think my coworker just has trouble explaining himself.

[tomkent]

Or, if he is from some counties in the UK it could mean "in the garage being repaired", ie up on some jacks. As it was his car that was jacked up, and not the guy (unless he seemed to be smacked off his tits on nose-candy that he believed he was a datsun) that seems more likely. Man, nobody north of Lakeside is going to have a clue what this post means. Innit.

[HJB]

Here’s another that’s a bit more off. Twice recently, once on a god-awful reality show, and once in The Rats (Herbert) I heard (read) black men referred to as ‘colored’. Here in the states that wouldn’t fly at all, at least since the nineteen fifties or sixties. The Rats was written in the seventies so I’ll give it that it was dated, but when the British girl said it on the show it was present day. Is that an acceptable term in the UK, or is it considered as taboo as it is here in the states? What is the racial climate like in general in the UK? I always got the impression that it was fairly mellow and friendly in regards to ethnic diversity from what I’ve seen and heard although the only time I’ve spent in your corner of the world is a handful of layover in Shannon Airport. I saw some social commentary in the movie House of Nine that looked strikingly similar to what we have here that made me question though. Just wondering.

[merseystrangler]

I was watching some Fawlty Towers last night and the word, 'nigger' just rolled right out of Basil's mouth effortlessly. Couple times too. Does this have anything to do with this thread? Probably not. I just found that interesting-- wondering if that's still the case with BBC channels. When I was over there in the UK in 1990, I met this kid who was the most racist indivdual Id ever met, and I come from the US south mind you, slaveryland. He seemed to think Id find it shocking that there were blacks over there too. Idiot. He warned me about the Irish too.. lol

Sidenote-- John Cleese is a fucking genius.

[HJB]

It's really just the Irish coffee you need to look out for. Of course Cleese is a genius!

[raziel]

The term coloured is still used and is acceptable generally, but isn't sued as often as it was (I never use it). The PC police have made an about turn on this. When I was younger, for some insane reason, it was considered the term 'coloured' was more acceptable than 'black'. Its gone the other way now but some people still use the term coloured. I think the area you live in could play a part in it as well.

[benedictjjones]

the term coloured came from the colonies where someone might not be black (mixed or what have you) and then fell into common parlance within the UK - only used by 'people of certain age' (like my mum..) today

[tomkent]

"Coloured" or "To be of Colour" was seen as acceptible, as an alternate to the N word, or "Wog", all of which I have seen no need to use. Depending on who you talk to, and if they see themselves as anything other than British, they normally identify with the nationality of their heritage rather than skin colour: African, Afro Caribian, etc. Unfortunately a lot of people I was at school or college with still saw fit to use the n word, "Paki", or other terms (especially in distasteful jokes I hope they are all ashamed of now, as I am ashamed of pretending to find thm funny to "fit in") that I hoped would have fallen out of favour when god awful sitcoms like Love Thy Neighbour stopped being made and Bernard Manning stopped spouting racist, sexist, bigotted hatred at the nation. I did once have to ask a fellow apprentice what he meant when he was berating the "Pakis from Poland". Poland and Pakistan apparently being the same thing these days...

A lot of people call my views "politically correct", I prefer to call them "polite". When "funny foreign people with dark skin and funny voices" stopped being a comedy staple the world became a nicer place. It is just a shame that when some folks watched Cleese ranting about Germans, or Alf Garnet ('Til Death Do Us Part) making right wing calls to arms, a lot of the fans I have met never grasped that the Comedy Bastard was the villain of the piece. You were meant to sympathise with poor Manuel, or Garnets moderately (but to his eyes reactionary) left wing son in law. There is a great tradition of Com-Bas characters in Brit culture, that continues to day in most of Ricky Gervais' characters. The Com-Bas says something terrible, then makes things worse by trying to justify it. It seems less funny however when people start loving the show because they AGREE with the OTT rants.

The best advice I have ever been given on the subject was by a Muslim girl when I was 17: If you unsure what to call a person, ask their name.

[merseystrangler]

Sorry but I have to disagree with you slightly (see polite, lol)-- The character Manuel was portrayed on that show as an utter buffoon. Just as much a stereotype as Basil was a racist cad. That show ran on a higher level than simplistic black and white ideas of what's appropriate humor or not. Don't forget, comedy, and Art for that matter, should not always be responsible for teaching the world morality. Sometimes 'inappropriateness' itself is funny. Being offensive, can be funny. And sometimes the line between 'laughing at' and 'laughing with' gets blurred. You can't please everybody in a free society. Nor should people be made to feel less human or less intelligent or less a good person for not always recognizing this arbitrary 'Maginot Line.'

While I do understand the ideas of 'niceness' and courtesy have their usefulness (and also the importance of context when using offensive terms), restriction of thought and speech is certainly not the way you want to begin to solve any social problems. It's like putting Icy Hot on a broken bone. Laughing at racists, laughing at idiots, allowing them to have their say, no matter how ridiculous or offensive they are-- see Southpark-- having an empathy for both sides of the coin, is best. I have found that a lot of my problems with people in the past have come from actually being TOO sensitive to what they have said. Being offended. So I have to work on not being offended all the fucking time. It helps so much better than trying to pressure people into being cookie-cutter polite robots. Laughing at them, rather than being insulted, is far healthier. And that is the true message (if there really is one) to shows like All In The Family or Fawlty Towers. At least I think so.

Why does this forum even exist? Because we refused to be what Drac wanted us to be. PC robots.

[tomkent]

LOL. I thought it existed because he demanded unreasonable thawning when reviewing his works?

[merseystrangler]

that too...

[tomkent]

As I was working more on that than the PC thing. That never bothered me much...Er... (please don't hate me...)