Update #140: The Summit

[NinjaRygar]

Hey Fry, about the whole context thing.....

We still have issues like that in the English language. Certain words are pronounced the same AND have the same spelling but mean totally contradicting things. They're called Homographic Homophonic Autantonyms and I just learned about them today thanks to Dinosaur Comics! Words like "overlook" which is a verb that means to examine something ("I'm overlooking the project")... AND ALSO means to NOT examine something ("Oh man... I totally overlooked the project!")

Which is hilarious... because it's the same word but it can have two opposite meanings with no difference in the nouns. It's just context. So the Japanese language isn't the only one guilty of having such a disorganized, context sensitive language.

Come to think of it.... "Gay" is a Homographic Homophonic Autantonym. When you consider the old meaning... and the new slang meaning.... they have opposite meanings! I suppose you would call that a Homophobic Homographic Homophonic Autantonyms?

[Spud]

ninjarygar said:

We still have issues like that in the English language. Certain words are pronounced the same AND have the same spelling but mean totally contradicting things. They're called Homographic Homophonic Autantonyms and I just learned about them today thanks to Dinosaur Comics! Words like "overlook" which is a verb that means to examine something ("I'm overlooking the project")... AND ALSO means to NOT examine something ("Oh man... I totally overlooked the project!")

An easier term is contranym which houses words that have 2 definitions that contradict each other. Inflammable can mean both not easily flammable and easily flammable. With can mean both alongside and against e.g. Britain fought with France.

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tveye said:

Wow TEi, that story is so true. I remember giving a speech about the slave trade, then made a mistake of calling "African-American's" black, and was accused of being a racist!

I don't really think reffering to (i'll be nice) African-American's as black is racist as much P/IC. African-American is an Inaccurate term as It would assume that someone with this branding was born in Africa and immigrated to America regardless of race. Most "African-Americans" aren't really African-Americans at all but simply Americans. Unfortunatly there isn't a better term since the proper (Negro which mind you is in most cases NOT derogatory same as Caucasian isn't derogatory either.) has been taken as racist because of the n-word.

[Deleted]

smashchu2 said:

Wondering why this was serious business to you Tei, then it hit me like a sack of bricks. DURR

I'm sorry I offended you, but that was clearly not the point. You, I and the American people are the victims of language evolution. Internet Memes and slang are no different. A meme comes though constant use. Some idiot post some crap over and over till everyone starts using it. Slang's the same way as one person will say something stupid till everyone says it. How else could "dawg" be a greeting and a pronoun for a friend.

Ratard is the same way. One who is retarted has an IQ below 70, but the word is used for everyone who has a mental (or not seen) disablility. Despite the fact their IQ could be higher then the person saying it.

I didn't mean Sonic was homosexual, or even happy. The life vest was a nice touch, but I found his facial expression kind of doopy.

Again, Tei, I'm sorry to offend you.

'Salright, Smash. Like I said before, I wasn't that offended in the first place...just disappointed. But you've owned up to it, which shows you're at least aware of things--so we're cool now.

I think I started a losing battle by making it "serious business" in the first place--but I'm the only active bicurious member on the board that I know about, so I can't really expect everyone to understand where I'm coming from. Tolerance isn't something learned overnight, and I get the feeling my way of thinking is childish and outdated compared to the language philosophy flyin' all over the place. Oh well. At least you all didn't call me a homophobe.

Oh, and Teev...nice story. Yeah, that's pretty much mine except applied to black people. XD

[Fryguy64]

The whole "black" debate is just as ridiculous. I'm white. Big whoop. It's a descriptive label.

If a "non-insider" uses either term in America and more frequently in England, other non-insiders get upset and angry about it. It reeks of inconsistency. It's an extreme liberal view, overly passive.

I've heard African-American used for people who are, in fact, not American at all! It's a pseudonym for black, designed, inaccurately, to replace a word that is not offensive to people it is used for, but is offensive for people who think black people might be offended.

As many Brits have said... "political correctness gone mad!"

[TV Eye]

admin said:

I've heard African-American used for people who are, in fact, not American at all! It's a pseudonym for black, designed, inaccurately, to replace a word that is not offensive to people it is used for, but is offensive for people who think black people might be offended.

No matter where a black person is or is from, American's always think the term African-American is politically correct. They're are not all from Africa. Some are from Jamaica, Britain, blah blah blah.........

It pisses me off when people get mad at you for not saying it. In my personal experience, all my black friends prefer to be called the n-word. But I wouldn't say that to random people.

[Flip]

Junior year of high school, English class. We're reading a story about the Apartheid in South Africa. This one girl, kinda pretty kinda smart, opens her mouth when asked about her thoughts. And she goes:

"Oh... all those poor, poor African-Americans!"

...seriously? Has our language become that convoluted that you assume ALL "blacks" are African-American? Beyond the ensuing laughter from the rest of the class, I died a little inside. I think it was from that point on I became ultra-aware of stepping on eggshells for other people and stopped giving a rat's ass.

I could go on with some examples, but unless you guys really want to create another thread for this or keep going here--I won't. Let's just say that going to school in Vermont, the leftiest lefty left state in the country, has been both very fun and very humorous ;p

[TV Eye]

fliptroopa said:

Let's just say that going to school in Vermont, the leftiest lefty left state in the country, has been both very fun and very humorous ;p

You think Vermont is bad, I used to live in Minnesota, and let me tell you, the people there are very very strange. Example? Three boys on the same street as me. All eight years old, and born on the same day, of the same year. Different families. How often does that happen?

[Deleted]

Um...Connecticut is full of yuppies, rednecks, and occasionally strange mixtures of the two. That's about as weird as we get.

Actually, there's a song called "Connecticut's for Fucking," and it's pretty true...so it gets boring having nobody to fuck. D:

[Flip]

sgtmajorkururu said:

Um...Connecticut is full of yuppies, rednecks, and occasionally strange mixtures of the two. That's about as weird as we get.

Actually, there's a song called "Connecticut's for wizzleing," and it's pretty true...so it gets boring having nobody to wizzle. D:

XD I'm from Connecticut, man. I can totally testify to that. Southeastern CT is really bad for rednecks and trash, but we also get a lot of funny immigrants who come just to work at the casinos. Western CT is where you get all the tight-assed yuppies

[Smashchu]

Surpisingly Florida has rednecks. Who'd figure.

Polictical correctness is a drain on society. It only makes us more racist. Rather then seeing everyone as equal, it promotes categories. Children don't learn human=human, but human=one of many different races that must be categorized differently.

I also distesst the Black=African American. If it's fair for them (and others) to call Caucasians white, but not Nigros black. Besides braking down this wall, I think we should go by the official names.

@tv Eye: There are actually two different words. The one they (the Negros) use is "Nigga" which specifically means a friend. The other is, of course, N*gger is a derogatory term for a Negro.

Tei the Spiffy: Don't worry about the making it "serious business". It's understood why you did it and it was never an argument. More of a discussion. Besides, no one has yet to post a Hitler image. Though I'm flattered you thought highly enough of me to be disappointed.

[kirbychu]

You gave me no choice, Smash.

[Spud]

kirbychu said:

You gave me no choice, Smash.

Dammit Godwin!

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kirbychu said:

You gave me no choice, Smash.

Fix'd

[Flip]

wtf was up with Hitler?

[kirbychu]

I have to uphold Godwin's Law. It's my moral obligation.

[Fryguy64]

fliptroopa said:

wtf was up with Hitler?

Is that a question about Masamune's picture? Or a more general historical enquiry into his psyche?

If the former: Read the post above the Hitler pic.
If the latter: Where do you want to start?