Meme Machine Memorial Thread of Things You Saw on Reddit

[The Fake Shemp]

I'm saying if you directly refer to a man as a boy, that's not even racist - it's insulting. I will agree that in context it can be used to denigrate social standing, but that even then it is not used as a slur against a specific race or even multitude of races!

It's basically an aristocratic term used to insult anyone - even other white people.

[Dickie Dee]

If it was a common term of disrespect between men of any color...it would be commonly used as a term of disrepect by men of any color.

The fact that it isn't and was only commonly used by whites towards blacks they deemed inferior gives it it's racial overtones.

[The Fake Shemp]

If it was a common term of disrespect between men of any color...it would be commonly used as a term of disrepect by men of any color.

The fact that this particular insult was only commonly used by whites towards blacks they deemed inferior gives it it's racial overtones.

Maybe this was because the vast majority of slaves were black, and most of the aristocratic and wealthy members of society were white? No?

[Dickie Dee]

If it was a common term of disrespect between men of any color...it would be commonly used as a term of disrepect by men of any color.

The fact that this particular insult was only commonly used by whites towards blacks they deemed inferior gives it it's racial overtones.

Maybe this was because the vast majority of slaves were black, and most of the aristocratic and wealthy members of society were white? No?

Why are you completely ignoring the Jim Crow era?

[Philip Cardgage]

My favorite is Camel Jockey.

Fuck that's hilarious.

Also, everyone is fucking racist anyways.

[Phoenix Dark]

Mandark what do you think about this argument

To better illustrate what term "boy" actually means whenever it's spoken, let's do a little thought experiment.  Suppose a group of young, white, heterosexual men playing basketball.  They are all friends and play basketball together frequently.  Speaking from my own experience in this type of setting, here's a list of terms and actions we would find at a typical game:

    * cigarillo, taco
    * pussy
    * bitch
    * grabbing another players crotch or butt to distract him (or other homoerotic acts), bringing about the above "cigarillo" reference
    * if a player attempts a dunk and fails, a chorus of "white men can't do that"
    * after an awkward shot, a player can be told he shoots "like a girl"

There are no women, no homosexuals, no members of other races anywhere around.  These men are friends, and they use these terms with each other every time they play basketball - most likely every time they are together.  Are they inappropriate or not?  Are these terms only inappropriate when spoken directly to people who fit into those categories, or are these words, even in the absence of anyone to whom they can be "legitimately" addressed, still somehow homophobic, sexist and racist?

Calling a grown man "boy" is a racist term.  It just is, whether a black man is somehow involved or not, whether public or private.  It came into common usage through its application in the slave trade, and when used by two white men or two black men or whomever, it is just another way that an insult is used affectionately - something we do all the time.  And there's really nothing wrong with that, so long as the insult doesn't perpetuate and strengthen a legacy of oppression and violence toward members of a particular group.

If you're finding that you can't use a bunch of words that were "ok" when you were a kid, too bad.  I'm not able to use a whole bunch of the terms we spoke in my majority-Hispanic birthplace.  But I'm ok with that, because I've grown up and now understand what they really mean and do when someone says them, no matter how innocent the usage may be.  There's a lot of words in the English language; it shouldn't be too hard to learn some new ones.

http://www.cogitamusblog.com/2008/04/dont-call-me-a.html

[Philip Cardgage]

cigarillo, distinguished effete fellow
    * pussy
    * bitch
    * grabbing another players crotch or butt to distract him (or other homoerotic acts), bringing about the above "cigarillo" reference
    * if a player attempts a dunk and fails, a chorus of "white men can't do that"
    * after an awkward shot, a player can be told he shoots "like a girl"

 

[Mupepe]

i like the south park episode on the word cigarillo.  sums up my thoughts on most taboo words.

[MCD]

WILLCO MAH BOOOOI

[Ganhyun]

wow @ all this going on. But I can say that I've mainly heard yellow to be another way to call someone a coward.

[Philip Cardgage]

Remember that Its Always Sunny episode "the Gang Goes Jihad"?

Yeah

[Cindi Mayweather]

But I'm saying it has never been a big deal in my experience in the South.  It's thrown around commonly here.  

I was raised and grew up in the South and I don't know a single black person who wouldn't be annoyed at being called "boy" in most contexts outside of joking ones.

Like I said my comment has nothing to do with that video. If two people are acting ignorant or if one person instigates something then those are separate contexts.

Indeed.

Boy isn't racially charged as it once was, like Willco says, but for black people in the south it can still have racial connotation.

[Mupepe]

Ya'll just sensitive.

[Cindi Mayweather]

@ the word "boy" being racist in the US. Is "girl" racist too? When used by old white women in power towards black maids?

I mean I could understand "boi" being racist but plain old "boy"?

So glad I was not raised in the US.

You all mah bois here

The word itself isn't racist, it was the use.

[The Fake Shemp]

If it was a common term of disrespect between men of any color...it would be commonly used as a term of disrepect by men of any color.

The fact that this particular insult was only commonly used by whites towards blacks they deemed inferior gives it it's racial overtones.

Maybe this was because the vast majority of slaves were black, and most of the aristocratic and wealthy members of society were white? No?

Why are you completely ignoring the Jim Crow era?

Again, when the majority of the poorest residents were black and the wealthy were white? Are you ignoring California, where similar terminology is used to describe day laborers?

This is a word used to denigrate social standing, not race. The economics of our society make this a race issue, not the term itself. Again, because it can be used AND HAS BEEN USED to insult white people and other people of color. I can't really do that with the dreaded "N-Word" or "cotton picker" or what have you - they have only one use applicable to a specific race.

[Philip Cardgage]

Jesus Christ, Himu. I could call you a hamburger and with the right inflection in my voice, it could sound racist.

[The Fake Shemp]

Jesus Christ, Himu. I could call you a hamburger and with the right inflection in my voice, it could sound racist.

Shut up, boy.

[Mandark]

But seriously, I'm kinda gobsmacked that Willco's pretending there's no racial connotation to the word in the US, when directed by a white person at a black one.

It's a cliche to have the stock Racist Southern Sheriff to establish what they are by having them call a black character "boy".  In the Heat of the Night, Chiefs (John Goodman aims it at Lando Calrissian!), etc.  Authors do this because they know the audience will understand the implication.

And yeah, it's pretty regional, and yeah, it depends on context.  All words depend on context.  No word "inherently" means anything.  People share a precise, specific meaning for some words while others will carry a wider range of uses and connotations for those hearing them.

So while it's true that boy can be said with no ill intent, or with no racial intent even when it's an insult, it still carries a racial charge for a lot of people (including, I'd guess, the vast majority of black males in the US).  I'm not sure I know any black guys who wouldn't be pissed if a white guy they didn't know called them that, and I know a few who would go complete batshit.

[Philip Cardgage]

Jesus Christ, Himu. I could call you a hamburger and with the right inflection in my voice, it could sound racist.

Shut up, boy.

No you shut up, you Dirty Nickel!

[Cindi Mayweather]

Jesus Christ, Himu. I could call you a hamburger and with the right inflection in my voice, it could sound racist.

Uh...

You must be kidding me.

[Great Rumbler]

Boy, I'm getting really tired of this argument!

[Brehvolution]

By all means, please do.

[Great Rumbler]

[youtube=560,345]xbVifPkbYsk[/youtube]

[Mupepe]

[Mupepe]

[Mupepe]

[Mandark]

PD:  I don't think I buy it.  The other pejoratives he lists generally aren't used in a neutral or unironically positive way, just as pejoratives.  So even without women or gay people around, the meaning of the word is pretty well understood.

Boy, OTOH, has several different meanings ranging from endearment to disparagement.  When a guy calls his friends fegs he's doing the "I'm messin with you, brah" bit.  When he calls them "my boys" it's just open affection; he's not using it as an ironic insult.

OTOOH, white guys calling each other distinguished black fellows because it's heeeelarious needs to stop.  Not cause it's offensive, but cause it's such self-congratulatory transgressive non-humor.

[Stoney Mason]

[youtube=560,345]xbVifPkbYsk[/youtube]

"We're focusing on younger women because most older women already know this stuff."


 

[Phoenix Dark]

It's a word I rarely hear today in reference to anyone, black white whatever. I can honestly say the majority of times I've heard the word happened when I was young, from my grandmothers ("boy have you lost your mind?").,  and always when I was acting dumb. In regular day to day life I rarely hear it.

Honestly in terms of racial connotations, the ones I hear the most revolve around acting white (being smart), acting black (being rambunctious), listening to white music, white men can't jump, etc. It takes me aback every time regardless of which race says it due to the disgusting undercurrents.

[Philip Cardgage]

The Onion is amazing.

[Philip Cardgage]

Jesus Christ, Himu. I could call you a hamburger and with the right inflection in my voice, it could sound racist.

Uh...

You must be kidding me.

Man, Himu can't stop spending his money on crack rocks. He's such a stupid HAMBURGER.

[Mupepe]

http://i47.tinypic.com/2crufya.jpg

Taboo words

[cool breeze]

I didn't even know it was racist.

Plus I find it weird that all the racial slurs for arabs is basically the same for black people except they all start with something involving sand.

Our women are called Batman though, lucky bitches.

this is so true lol

I'm persian and it's usually sand nicca, terrorist, and things of that sort.  The best I've heard is Jawa, but that was from some TV show.

I do like farci slurs for other races, though.  The literal translation of what I've seen persian people call indians is "smelly people", and they say this stuff sitting right next to a bunch of Indians.  For black people it's "burnt people" or "burnt black", I'm a bit fuzzy on all the terms.

btw, I've heard ninja, not batman, for women.

[Mandark]

PD:  I've got a (black) friend who designated some point (I think in southern VA) as "the new Mason-Dixon line" with one of the major criteria being when the white residents feel comfortable calling him "boy".  The impression I get is that it's a very, very regional thing and even then not near as common as it was.  Even in the Appalachia, where people can be racist as fuck, you don't really hear it.


Most poular generic term for Arabs among the military seems to be "Hadji".  If they're going by Johnny Quest, then it's not even the right ethnic group.

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, I never understood Hadji, myself. Maybe because of the turban?

[Diunx]

Boy, I'm getting really tired of this argument!

Who are you calling boy, kid?

[Great Rumbler]

Boy, I'm getting really tired of this argument!

Who are you calling boy, kid?

You talking to me, short stuff?

[Phoenix Dark]

That makes sense. Not surprising that I wouldn't hear it around Ann Arbor, Michigan. Not to say I haven't heard bogglingly racial stuff around here (revolving around "clean/proper" stuff, or asking "same father?" after I say I have x-number brothers).

[The Fake Shemp]

I think the most racist thing I ever heard was in Calvert County, Maryland - when my stepmom picked me up early from my daycare center (which was at some Megachurch) to go celebrate Hannukah with my dad's family.

[The Fake Shemp]

I propose we call all enemy insurgents, "Na'vi".

[Mandark]

That makes sense. Not surprising that I wouldn't hear it around Ann Arbor, Michigan. Not to say I haven't heard bogglingly racial stuff around here (revolving around "clean/proper" stuff, or asking "same father?" after I say I have x-number brothers).

 

 

[The Fake Shemp]

It was actually after I came back, but that's when this one kid (who I hated) learned that not only was I Jewish (which was common knowledge, and up for daily ridicule), but that my stepmom was black.

He called me a "curly haired nigger-fucking Jewboy".

[Cindi Mayweather]

Jesus Christ, Himu. I could call you a hamburger and with the right inflection in my voice, it could sound racist.

Uh...

You must be kidding me.

Man, Himu can't stop spending his money on crack rocks. He's such a stupid HAMBURGER.

I hate being called hamburger.

Makes me hungry!

[Mupepe]

It was actually after I came back, but that's when this one kid (who I hated) learned that not only was I Jewish (which was common knowledge, and up for daily ridicule), but that my stepmom was black.

He called me a "curly haired nigger-fucking Jewboy".

Well that's not racist at all.  All those terms were used before black people were getting fucked by jews.

[The Fake Shemp]

That's not the worst thing I've been called, but it was the most racist, by far.

[Stoney Mason]

He called me a "curly haired nigger-fucking Jewboy".

He was technically correct though...

 

[The Fake Shemp]

Well that's not racist at all.  All those terms were used before black people were getting fucked by jews.

What about the BLACK JEW?

[Dickie Dee]

It was actually after I came back, but that's when this one kid (who I hated) learned that not only was I Jewish (which was common knowledge, and up for daily ridicule), but that my stepmom was black.

He called me a "curly haired nigger-fucking Jewboy".

He called you "boy"? That's awful.

[The Fake Shemp]

I KNOW.

[Mupepe]

Well that's not racist at all.  All those terms were used before black people were getting fucked by jews.

What about the BLACK JEW?

That just doesn't exist, you unicorn.

[Cindi Mayweather]

That makes sense. Not surprising that I wouldn't hear it around Ann Arbor, Michigan. Not to say I haven't heard bogglingly racial stuff around here (revolving around "clean/proper" stuff, or asking "same father?" after I say I have x-number brothers).

"Same father?"

[The Fake Shemp]

Actually, the Jewboy bit didn't really bother me that much. I've been called "kike" and other racial slurs before. "Fat kike" was one I also heard at the daycare center. Stuff that specifically targets me doesn't upset me.

I guess it was the racial slur targeted towards family members, and the sexual connotation attached to it.

[cool breeze]

I've heard a bunch of racist things but the location they're said in make some of them stand out.

One of the best/worst was this old guy throwing out a bunch of slurs for Japanese people because they were taking out a long time in a buffet line; it ended with a line about hiroshima.  Even when he finally sat, he would yell "HIROSHIMA! NAGASAKI" at any of them that passed.  This was in Disney World.

[Cindi Mayweather]

Being fat half my life made me feel worse about myself than any racial slur thrown at me.

[Mandark]

Making a call from the payphone at my high school, a black kid in line asked if I was buying stock.

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, I'm with Himuro on that one. Except it's been my ENTIRE LIFE.

[Cindi Mayweather]

I used to be skinny as fuck. Even at my worse I wasn't like...fat fat. It's skinny chubby neckroll fat.

[Mupepe]

Himuro was a skinny baby.  I fucked the shit out of him back in middle school.  

Making a call from the payphone at my high school, a black kid in line asked if I was buying stock.

Were you?

[Mandark]

It was a lucky guess!

[Cindi Mayweather]

Himuro was a skinny baby.  I fucked the shit out of him back in middle school.  

I weighed 2 1/2 pounds when I was born.