[Ads-l] translation requested of redacted racist insult

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Mon Nov 8 02:53:25 UTC 2021


I first heard it in the late '70s, in grad school in the U.S. A drolly
cynical fellow student from Southern California used it. He was majoring in
philosophy.

JL

On Sun, Nov 7, 2021 at 5:17 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Confirmed:
>
> https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/nov/03/azeem-rafiq-to-give-evidence-in-parliament-over-yorkshire-racism-allegations-cricket
>
> On Sun, Nov 7, 2021 at 3:45 PM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I assume "paki", which is used disparagingly to refer to anyone from the
> > subcontinent, or looks like it.
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 1:41 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > The story, by Shamim Chowdhury, describes conflicts at Yorkshire County
> > > Cricket Club where this word for years was used to a Zimbabwean
> teammate
> > > and passed off as "banter".  Chowdhury recalls her own experiences with
> > it
> > > from as early as age five.  The article cites the word only as "p***".
> It
> > > begins
> > > >>>>>
> > >
> > > I knew I was a “p***” at the age of five. I was standing alone in the
> > > school playground, bewildered and anxious, my eyes flitting this way
> and
> > > that, searching for a friend. “Who’s that p***?” a boy asked loudly as
> he
> > > eyed me up and down in disdain. His friends sniggered.
> > >
> > > It was the first time I’d heard the word but I knew instantly that it
> > > referred to something terrible – and that terrible thing was me. The
> boy
> > > had spat it out, his tone sneering and contemptuous. It broke me.
> > >
> > > For years afterwards, it became a reference point for how others
> defined
> > me
> > > and, consequently, how I came to see myself. When it came to picking
> > teams
> > > for sports matches, I was the last to be chosen because I was a p***;
> > when
> > > we went on a school trip to Dorset I was put in a room where there was
> a
> > > double bed. The white girls refused to share it with me because I was a
> > > p***. And so it was that I learnt of my place in the world order.
> > >
> > > <<<<<
> > > LINKED ARTICLES:
> > > *The Telegraph*
> > > Exclusive: Yorkshire consider releasing Azeem Rafiq racism report by
> > > Wednesday
> > > <
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-yorkshire-consider-releasing-azeem-164250559.html
> > > >
> > >
> > > *Independent*
> > >
> > > Yorkshire racism scandal finally forces those in power to feel the heat
> > > <
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://news.yahoo.com/yorkshire-racism-scandal-finally-forces-094333683.html
> > > >
> > >
> > > Mark Mandel
> > >
> > > Aka Dr. Whom
> > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> > > From: *[a friend]*
> > >
> > > Do you have any idea of what p*** is as a four letter word?
> > >
> > > I’ve been called a ‘p***’ all my life. Racial slurs are never just
> > ‘banter’
> > > <https://news.yahoo.com/ve-called-p-life-racial-112524818.html>
> > >
> > > I’ve been called a ‘p***’ all my life. Racial slurs are never just
> > ‘banter’
> > >
> > > Gary Ballance and Yorkshire cricket have not demonstrated any
> > appreciation
> > > of the degree of trauma Azeem Rafiq h...
> > > <https://news.yahoo.com/ve-called-p-life-racial-112524818.html>
> > >
> > >
> > > https://news.yahoo.com/ve-called-p-life-racial-112524818.html
> > >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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