US Army twitter faces racism backlash for using phrase "chink in the armor"
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thats a common phrase :/
afternoon delight
Member
I know, which is why I said "the saying isn't racist."
What I'm saying is that they shouldn't have added additional words in between "chinks in" and "armor." It drags out the phrase and people who don't read the whole thing only see "chinks" and freak out.
Prototype Viktor
Member
i just made up a stupid reason to explain this stupid outrage over someone not knowing the definition of the word used in the twitter
freenudemacusers
Member
"mixing races is a bad idea in a single event as it tires out competitors" would be racist if you gave up half way through..
Oh, I'm supposed to be offended? Oh. Erhem- OMG RACIST ZOMG. Am I doing it right?
Seriously though, people are becoming SO SENSITIVE that they people have to tell us we're being offended. The Jeremy Lin incident was an unfortunate oversight, but cmon. This was nothing.
Soon we'll be calling Avengers' Black Widow "Rainbow Widow", Californian Sushi Roll "American-style Japanese Sushi" and black tea "rainbow tea" out of fear of saying something racist.
Seriously though, people are becoming SO SENSITIVE that they people have to tell us we're being offended. The Jeremy Lin incident was an unfortunate oversight, but cmon. This was nothing.
Soon we'll be calling Avengers' Black Widow "Rainbow Widow", Californian Sushi Roll "American-style Japanese Sushi" and black tea "rainbow tea" out of fear of saying something racist.
Souldestroyer Reborn
Banned
I think it's more worrying how it seems like everyone throws their arms in the air and screams Racisim!!!! Oppression!!!!! At every single opportunity.
Quite depressing tbh.
For the umpteenth millionth time...
Context is everything.
Well who's fault would that be for not reading the whole phrase?
Like I said above,
Context.
Niggle is a UK thing as far as I'm aware, more North than South. Hear it quite often in Scotland.
We use it as another word for say having an itch/feeling about something.
Finally.....
No.
No it didn't.
Context.
3 strikes and your out.
Nice playing with Y'all.
Quite depressing tbh.
For the umpteenth millionth time...
Context is everything.
Well who's fault would that be for not reading the whole phrase?
Like I said above,
Context.
Niggle is a UK thing as far as I'm aware, more North than South. Hear it quite often in Scotland.
We use it as another word for say having an itch/feeling about something.
Finally.....
No.
No it didn't.
Context.
3 strikes and your out.
Nice playing with Y'all.
Rice-Eater
Member
Not racist to me and shouldn't be considered racist. The incident with Jeremy Lin at least made sense even if it was a mistake, this doesn't. It's a common phrase that I've known since I was a kid. Now if they used a Asian soldier without a mask so we could clearly tell he's Asian then that would be a different story, but this isn't the case. I know we Asians have been easy targets for a while now and we let people get away with it all the time and we should stand up for ourselves, but this isn't a fight that should be fought.
No, I use it a lot. That's why I was confused at what backslashbunny was saying. It's a great word!
BreezyLimbo
Banned
Yeah, some words are great. Like when I first read 'Niggardly' I was amazed at it.
Then GRRM decided to spam it another 20-30 times and it just....became...GRRM, gotta cool it.
Souldestroyer Reborn
Banned
Ahhhhh may bad! I thought you weren't sure of the meaning
I agree
The more I think about this, I'm actually starting to think that the people who point this sort of stuff out are actually the racists.
Racists in denial.
I mean reading that headline with that picture would have made sense to me. I wouldn't have thought of it any other way. Any normal, rational human being wouldn't even have thought of that headline in a racist context at all.
Who the fuck actually uses that word besides assholes looking to either make a joke or make a racist comment? I mean, realistically and honestly, when's the last time you have ever used that word or heard it in the right context?
Anyways, this isn't racist because there's no connection to the slur, but people should really stop being oblivious to chinks being an offensive term. I don't really care that the term has been around since the 1400s, you can easily see flaw or something else. It's asking for trouble because people are hellbent on being insensitive.
Also where have I been to have not ran across chink in the armor like everybody else in this thread? Apparently I've missed out on it being an extremely popular phrase that everyone knows.
The word "chink" has been in use in literal works for hundreds of years. To this day.
It's not some obscure word people use as a double entendre or to rile people up.
This is about some ignorant people not knowing the word and only sticking to the slur because they can't bother to pick up a book to read.
It's not some obscure word people use as a double entendre or to rile people up.
This is about some ignorant people not knowing the word and only sticking to the slur because they can't bother to pick up a book to read.
Souldestroyer Reborn
Banned
It's not our fault people are illiterate and suffer from reading comprehension.
People who are making a big deal out of this are literally idiots.
gutter_trash
Banned
that's an old old saying from old timey time England
Wouldn't mind putting a chink in her armor. If you know what I mean.
Souldestroyer Reborn
Banned
Let's get a list going!
- Milky Way.
- Oreo.
- Mayonnaise/Mayo.
- Choc Ice.
- Spick and Span.
- Chink in the armour
- Slippery Slope
- Nip it in the Bud
Why?
Because hey! Fuck context!
Sorry, I won't let my vocabulary be dictated by people who get thrown for a loop by a simple prepositional phrase. On fucking Twitter.
I'm not saying they have a right to be offended over something as non-offensive as this, but I've never heard anyone use chink in its normal phrasing and refusing to acknowledge the slur is ignorant as fuck. Feel free to continue using, but don't feel high and mighty about sticking your fingers in your ears and acting like you don't know it's used as a racist slur. It's not too different from those people that say nigger means ignorant or, god forbids, looks in the dictionary for some definition nobody actually uses.
Souldestroyer Reborn
Banned
But the phrase, which this thread is about, is not a racist slur at all, in this context. Fuck the phrase has been around for longer than the word Racisim.
You are wrong. Flat out.
As for the bolded, nice try but no. It's nothing like it. Just because you personally have never come across the phrase/used the phrase does not mean that using the phrase is wrong in any way/shape or form. Gotta love the reaching to try and hold up your argument.
If people want to get upset and cry about it then that's on them.
Except it's a standing phrase and not one word. And that phrase has no racial connotations. None.
If people can't be bothered to parse the complete sentence they're supposedly outraged by, well, it kinda hinders their cause.
Careful, there.
Whatever, guys. Sure, this antiquated term is still necessary with the racial connotations the first word of the phrase has. It's not like there are any other words that could replace it and still make sense, but why change it or even care when it's not you being offended. I get it. The phrase itself isn't racist, but it has a word in it that is commonly seen as a racial slur. You really don't see the potential problem in that? There's literally no reason to cling to this phrase as passionately as you are, besides for insensitivity. You guys are seriously acting like this phrase is so commonplace and necessary that if you replace chink with crack that it would lose all meaning and the world might end.
I suppose. I only found three uses on gaf, which is actually somewhat less than I had expected. All in gerund form.
There's a renaissance festival about 15 mins from me. So it's good fun especially when I used to work there in booths running for school fundraisers and a blacksmith was next door. Could watch him work when things got slow.
Necromanti
Member
I have never heard people use the word 'niggardly' in daily speech, but I've heard phrases like 'niggling pain' or 'niggling self-doubt' relatively often. (Sometimes it's synonymized with 'nagging' in its connotation.) I don't think I've ever seen anyone note any significant similarities to a racial slur with 'niggle' in the same way that 'niggardly' has, either.
You have fun using the "@JarheadPAO-revised" dictionary from now on.
I'll continue to use words and phrases I know the meaning of.
*sticks fingers in ears*
Idek what your post is implying besides you being unable to realize changing the first word doesn't actually change the term, which is weird since you seem intimately close to that whole jargon and the term. If they change the first word, you'll still know what it means. You know this.
I would be surprised if they didn't think of the slur, tbh, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. But I can definitely see both. They're probably not using words like these or being outwardly racist to them, but definitely unaware/uncaring of the racism. Honestly, I'm not too informed on the racism of Asians in America, but I'm willing to learn and at least be considerate of things.
Tye The Czar
Member
Yep. Just an issue of people extracting the wrong meaning from it. It's unfortunate that the word chink shares two different meanings like that.
HOMEBOY OVER HERE
Banned
if it sounds racist, it's a dumb word to use.
can you imagine a white person describing something or using the word in a sentence in relation to a black person? that would be offensive as hell to many people and rightfully so.
Count Dookkake
Member
So wong.
Yeah, I pretty much agree with you.
You Are Viewtiful
Member
I've seen "niggardly" a few times... mostly in writing though, never spoken.
Chink in the armour is way too common to be offensive. It's probably more common than the slur itself, especially if you're reading those kinds of books/genre.
edit: I want to know what's "racist" about terms like "wet back" and "slippery slope"... for educational purposes of course XD I've never heard of anything being described wet as a slur before.
I'm quite serious. I honestly can't remember anyone ever actually using it as a slur, ever. Not growing up in Chicago and not for the past decade here in SF. I run with a fairly mixed group of friends, and have heard plenty of insults over the years.
The idea of "chink" as an active slur is about as anachronistic as someone using "colored" as a slur. Yes, you know it's wrong and yeah, you'd yell at the idiot who thought it was a good idea, but to want to ban a relatively common phrase (that had nothing to do with race) because it contained either of those words is just silly.
I've heard niggle most commonly as "niggling thought" or something along those lines. It's usually an adjective when I've seen it used, not a verb.
I'm sure it's still used in writing because authors and all of us pretentious assholes online like flexing our vocabulary and using archaic words, but I guess my point with that was that poster was implying the word is still in common usage today. If you were to just throw that word in a conversation you would probably get bad looks or something, even if the person knows the definition. It just seems like something a person only uses in an attempt to make racist jokes or some other bullshit.
I don't think the phrase itself is racist, just that it seems unnecessary to still use it or defend it when the word the phrase depends on is currently a racial slur and not even a new one. I know I've heard chink way more than I've ever heard chink in the armor in normal conversations or online. But like you said, it might just depend on the genre/books. Chink should just be retired as a word.
What's silly is somebody saying chink as a slur is outdated, but chink in the armor is a common phrase. That's bullshit. Idek what other slur there is for Asians, tbh. That's how popular that word is. Maybe banana or Twinkie, but if chink is never used than I feel like I was the only person in the world to hear those two,
Yeah, usually the one with the facts on his side is the ignorant party in a discussion. That's how that works.
I won't retire words or phrases because of idiots on Twitter. If they call me a racist for it, so be it. I'll call them illiterate.
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
My question is how rampant is this so called outrage?
This article only talks about two random tweets from random nobodies. MIght as well write an article about random tweets from people calling obama the n-word. Seriously, who cares?
I mean, I'm still totally up for the news covering real twitter activism from both sides of the aisle, but was this an actual movement, or like 5 people that made a mistake in taking things too far?
This article only talks about two random tweets from random nobodies. MIght as well write an article about random tweets from people calling obama the n-word. Seriously, who cares?
I mean, I'm still totally up for the news covering real twitter activism from both sides of the aisle, but was this an actual movement, or like 5 people that made a mistake in taking things too far?
Wet back refers to Mexican's crossing a river (the Rio Grande?) to cross the border I believe. The other I have no clue
BreezyLimbo
Banned
And 'Maple Lovers' is a slur for Canadians.
But seriously though, if we start nixxing words from existence simply because of the negative connotations they may carry to some people-IE Yellow, Brown(Yes, being Mexican, I've had the word 'brown' thrown my way as an insult), then we're going to end up with a very bland, very small dictionary.
the only fact you have is that the word/phrase has been around for a long time and if you truly believe that alone means your argument has merit, then yeah, you're being ignorant of why this is possibly offensive.
So are you willing to acknowledge that chink is a racial slur? If so, tell me why you're adamantly defending a phrase that could easily be changed without causing any problems?
Fucking idiots. :/
You are suggesting changing a word that has the same sound but very different derivation to a slur on the basis it may be misunderstood?
You are suggesting changing a word that has the same sound but very different derivation to a slur on the basis it may be misunderstood?
BreezyLimbo
Banned
There's a difference between chink being a racial slur, and the ability to USE chink AS a racial slur. Don't mince words here, we all speak English. If you try hard enough, you can use ANY word as a slur. If you try hard enough.
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