ball boy slur

Wed Mar 28 23:22:02 UTC 2012

"In my day..."

Stupid keyboard.

JL

On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 7:20 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> In my (or at least in my idiolect) a contemptuous name for somebody was an
> "epithet."  A "slur" was a false accusation of turpitude or something
> similar.
>
> Over the past thirty or forty years, "ep[ithet" has been fading and "slur"
> has muscled in.
>
> Now "slur" has gone too far.
>
>
> http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-hunger-games-fans-tweet-displeasure-over-black-actors-20120328,0,6398142.story
> headlines that 'HUNGER GAMES' FANS RACIAL SLURS<http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-hunger-games-fans-tweet-displeasure-over-black-actors-20120328,0,6398142.story>
> .
>
> The Tweets that it's fanned are pretty stupid and idiotically racist, but
> they're hardly "slurs." Typical:
>
> "<http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-hunger-games-fans-tweet-displeasure-over-black-actors-20120328,0,6398142.story>Why
> does Rue have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the movie."
>
> They're just "racial/racist remarks."
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 6:14 PM, Alice Faber <faber at haskins.yale.edu>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
>> Organization: Haskins Laboratories
>> Subject:      Re: ball boy slur
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On 3/28/12 6:02 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>> > In an incident in Seattle on Friday night, Houston Dynamo (soccer)
>> > player Colin Clark (a 2009 Colorado Rapids Humanitarian of the Year)
>> > yelled at the local ball boy what has been repeatedly identified in the
>> > press as a "homosexual slur". It's rather obvious what the most likely
>> > candidate is, but it took me quite some time--and moving from newspapers
>> > to blogs (Yahoo! Sports)--to confirm it. Even then, the reference was
>> > edited out.
>> >
>> > http://goo.gl/benJH
>> >> Angered by a Seattle ball boy who didn't hand him the ball exactly how
>> >> he wanted before a seventh-minute throw-in against the Sounders on
>> >> Friday night, Houston's Colin Clark called the kid a "f***ing f****t."
>> >> The gay slur was picked up loud and clear by pitchside microphones for
>> >> the nationally televised match (video here -- NSFW language,
>> >> obviously), so everyone watching at home immediately knew what Clark
>> >> had done.
>> >
>> > Here's the video link (texted out from the quoted passage):
>> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX2cX1JdZ1o
>> >
>> > There are some interesting details for the students of apologies, as the
>> > apology has been offered to the ball boy and "anyone who has been
>> > offended". I am not really questioning the sincerity of the apology, but
>> > I find it somewhat puzzling that even in run-of-the-mill sincere
>> > apologies we now get standard non-apology apology language. Furthermore,
>> > Clark offered the following line:
>> >
>> >> I didn't mean to disrespect anyone and am sorry for letting my
>> >> emotions get the best of me. It's not who I am and it won't happen
>> again.
>> >
>> > The first part is a bit hard to swallow--it's quite obvious that, at the
>> > moment of utterance, he meant every ounce of disrespect that he heaped
>> > on the ball boy. Furthermore, if he lets his emotions get a better of
>> > him in the seventh minute of a 90-minute match this early in the season
>> > (not even into the second week) one has to wonder if it would be wise to
>> > let him play in overtime of a playoff game.
>> >
>> > Despite the apology, Clark has been suspended for three games.
>> >
>> > Here's the standard taboo avoidance dance from the report today. (AP and
>> > ESPN)
>> >
>> > http://goo.gl/OtAUB
>> >> Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark has been suspended for three games by
>> >> Major League Soccer and fined for directing a gay slur toward a ball
>> >> boy during Houston's 2-0 loss at Seattle last week.
>> >> MLS commissioner Don Garber also ordered Clark to attend diversity and
>> >> sensitivity training.
>> >> "Major League Soccer will not tolerate this type of behavior from its
>> >> players or staff at any time, under any circumstances," Garber said.
>> >> The 27-year-old apologized on Twitter and said he will say he's sorry
>> >> to the ball boy in person.
>> >> "I believe that he will learn from this incident," Garber said.
>> >> Clark is in his seventh MLS season, and second full season with the
>> >> Dynamo.
>> >> "First of all, I want to apologize for what I did during the Seattle
>> >> match. I had a chance to speak to the ball boy after the game," Clark
>> >> said. "I'm sorry to everyone who I offended with that term. I intend
>> >> to never use that word again in any context. There's absolutely no
>> >> excuse for using that word.
>> >> "What I said doesn't represent me. It was out of character and out of
>> >> line. I made a huge mistake by using those words, and I truly regret
>> >> that."
>> >
>> > Clark may learn from this, but how will anyone else, if they don't even
>> > know what taboo word had been used?
>> >
>>
>> Not every web report of this was as circumspect as ESPN.com. I first saw
>> this reported by Deadspin.com; the link for the entry includes the slur
>> in question:
>>
>> http://deadspin.com/5897172/which-sports-leagues-care-if-you-call-someone-a-fucking-faggot
>> .
>>
>>
>> --
>> ========================================================================
>> Alice Faber                                       faber at haskins.yale.edu
>> Haskins Laboratories                            tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
>> New Haven, CT 06511 USA                               fax (203) 865-8963
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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