[Ads-l] thug

[Jonathan Lighter]

The point seems to be that "thugs" implies that they are incorrigible and
unregenerate. It misses the point that some were indeed "kids,"
thoughtlessly joining a mob on impulse.

"Kids" suggests youthful irresponsibility and moral innocence - they just
didn't know any better [!]. It also allows for the argument that conditions
and the system are the real culprits.

But those points are irrespective of race. The idea that "thug" is or ever
was a "code-word" for the "n-word," or that white "kids" doing the same
things would not have been called thugs, strikes me as ridiculous. The
claim that the word has been effectively "racialized" as an ethnic slur
seems absurd.

My impression is that  "thug" became especially attached to '90s gangsta
rap - performed by some (usu. African-American) who reveled in the
designation. And there, perhaps, is the source of the perceived semantic
difficulty.

E.g.: "Young Thug takes the stage at the 2014 Hip Hop Awards."

JL

On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 10:33 AM, David Barnhart <dbarnhart at highlands.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
> Subject:      Re: thug
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Another case of indecipherability.  Please repost.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Michael Newman
> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 8:48 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: thug
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Michael Newman <Michael.Newman at QC.CUNY.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: thug
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
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