Squaw Daffiness (sociolinguistics)

[Sean M. Burke]

At 11:14 AM 2003-09-15, Andre Cramblit wrote:
>The  third argument is that 'squaw' is offensive to Indians, in the same
>way that
>'nigger' is offensive to African Americans.

My only criterion for whether a word is offensive is whether people
generally use the word to offend.  Etymological rumors and notions that
people might think that people might think that people meant to offend with
it, are aimlessly exasperating.


I once knew a lady who told me she found the word "lady" offensive.
I deduced that she had too much free time, and spent it badly.

--
Sean M. Burke    http://search.cpan.org/~sburke/