El Cid Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 I normally call people by their name, not their nationality. "Hi Brit!" "Hello Mike." "Morning Helen." "Hello Pakistani!!!" Does it have the same effect ? No. Older people still, occasionally use the term ****, my sister still uses the term '**** shop'. I guess its only to describe which shop, its the 'school shop' or the '**** shop'. I dont think she has a bad bone in her body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliceBB Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Older people still, occasionally use the term ****, my sister still uses the term '**** shop'. I guess its only to describe which shop, its the 'school shop' or the '**** shop'. I dont think she has a bad bone in her body. Offence is a funny thing. It can still be caused, even if not intended. There was a time when the slang term for '*****' was widely used, but it has become more and more offensive over time. The site won't even let me type it without asterisking it out. Yet it appeared, quite unremarkably, in front of the colour 'brown' in my secondary school uniform list in 1970. I'm sure she doesn't intend any offence but it might be best for your sister to join us in the 21st century? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Probably best for your sister to join us in the 21st century? We should accept each other, we are not all the same. I expect older people to have a different use of words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epic Fail Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 It's all about context and surroundings. I call many of my Pakistani friends "****". But there's no way I would use it around people I don't know as they may take offence. While around my friends we use all sorts of terminology that can be considered offensive if you don't know the context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oooo Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 They do not like it cos they never knew that they were born with such nickname labelled to their head. It just means that the other person would never ever assumed to also call you a name, or to even give you a label to begin with. Maybe their intention was to make friends, but then suddenly you find out that you want to use something to draw a line of difference. Well, what else is likely to happen ? A fight. Anyway, slangs have always been a case of when you are used to someone then you call each other everything under the sun. It is indeed a slang for a reason, but if there are no reason for the existence of that slang any more, then... I used to use the word "git" a lot as well when I was at uni, and a lot of people thought that was hilarious. But if I call someone a git now in the office. Well, I will just get the P45. Cos it appears childish, unprofessional, no reason to call each other names when we are there to be co-operative and to work. I normally call people by their name, not their nationality. "Hi Brit!" "Hello Mike." "Morning Helen." "Hello Pakistani!!!" Does it have the same effect ? No. There are times nicknames are acceptable, and times when they are not. Our local shopkeeper is a Pakistani, but I call him John. That isn't his name, but it's what most people call him. To me, that isn't disrespectful, and he doesn't seem to mind. I suppose it would be better to call him by his given name, which is Fazel, but still everyone calls him John. ---------- Post added 21-01-2014 at 22:02 ---------- Offence is a funny thing. It can still be caused, even if not intended. There was a time when the slang term for '*****' was widely used, but it has become more offensive over time. The site won't even let me type it without asterisking it out. Yet it appeared, quite unremarkably, in front of the colour 'brown' in my secondary school uniform list in 1970. I'm sure she doesn't intend any offence but it might be best for your sister to join us in the 21st century? My old mum calls it a **** shop too. Is that an age thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salsafan Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 We should accept each other, we are not all the same. I expect older people to have a different use of words. Or generational. It's like my granma, she has strings of swearwords to those who harmed our family. Rightly so granny! I used to think that this was horrible, and then I thought that she had a problem, and then it dawned on me that those people harmed our family before. So yes, she can curse as much as she likes. It is her protective right as a parent afterall. But I don't have to carry this kind of thing onto my next generation. I still have to remember those who worked with me and who hasn't harmed me in my lifetime. I wipe the slate clean from her generation's to mine. But in this day and age, if my granma was still alive and she cursed someone for hurting our family. I think she either will get an ASBO, or that she would be labelled as psycho. There isn't just a generational gap, but a huge empathy gap too. People are so rude in this day and age. ---------- Post added 21-01-2014 at 22:20 ---------- There are times nicknames are acceptable, and times when they are not. Our local shopkeeper is a Pakistani, but I call him John. That isn't his name, but it's what most people call him. To me, that isn't disrespectful, and he doesn't seem to mind. I suppose it would be better to call him by his given name, which is Fazel, but still everyone calls him John. ... But you're his customer ! He isn't likely to let his displeasure show. Maybe his mother is crying bucket of tears at seeing his son being called something else other than his given name and that he has to put up with this. You never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 There are times nicknames are acceptable, and times when they are not. Our local shopkeeper is a Pakistani, but I call him John. That isn't his name, but it's what most people call him. To me, that isn't disrespectful, and he doesn't seem to mind. I suppose it would be better to call him by his given name, which is Fazel, but still everyone calls him John. I used to have a neighbour from Libia, he told me to call him Fred, his name was Faraj. I called him Faraj, but maybe I would have done the same for a shopkeeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oooo Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Or generational. It's like my granma, she has strings of swearwords to those who harmed our family. Rightly so granny! I used to think that this was horrible, and then I thought that she had a problem, and then it dawned on me that those people harmed our family before. So yes, she can curse as much as she likes. It is her protective right as a parent afterall. But I don't have to carry this kind of thing onto my next generation. I still have to remember those who worked with me and who hasn't harmed me in my lifetime. I wipe the slate clean from her generation's to mine. But in this day and age, if my granma was still alive and she cursed someone for hurting our family. I think she either will get an ASBO, or that she would be labelled as psycho. There isn't just a generational gap, but a huge empathy gap too. People are so rude in this day and age. ---------- Post added 21-01-2014 at 22:20 ---------- But you're his customer ! He isn't likely to let his displeasure show. Maybe his mother is crying bucket of tears at seeing his son being called something else other than his given name and that he has to put up with this. You never know. You've made me feel bad now......he really is a decent bloke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 You've made me feel bad now......he really is a decent bloke. We used to have a work coleague that the boss used to call Abdul, but that wasnt even his name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SportsTrophy Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I personally see nothing wrong with regional nick names where real names are not know for fast reference. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_regional_nicknames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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