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My wife worked for Northants Police in the late 90's. They were massively pc and all employees were told in no uncertain terms back then that this phrase had slave trade connections and should never, ever be used.
GhostOfEscobar
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I never knew this about that word/phrase on 16:35 - Jan 26 with 2698 views
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 16:28 - Jan 26 by ghostofescobar
My wife worked for Northants Police in the late 90's. They were massively pc and all employees were told in no uncertain terms back then that this phrase had slave trade connections and should never, ever be used.
Today TWTD learned something, me included.
Let's embrace it and grow rather than having some kind of right wing cancel culture denial fest.
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 16:35 - Jan 26 by monytowbray
Today TWTD learned something, me included.
Let's embrace it and grow rather than having some kind of right wing cancel culture denial fest.
*post not aimed at anyone in thread at present*
I'm sorry I'm not sure what I am supposed to have learnt?
Is it from the BBC website:
"But language researcher Gary Martin, of the phrases.org.uk website, investigated the expression and said: “There is no evidence to support the suggestion that ‘nitty-gritty’ has any connection with slave ships."
Or is it that Northants Police banned the use of it in the late '90s.
Today's TWTD lesson doesn't seem to be very clear.
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I never knew this about that word/phrase on 16:50 - Jan 26 with 2615 views
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 16:47 - Jan 26 by FoD_Blue
I'm sorry I'm not sure what I am supposed to have learnt?
Is it from the BBC website:
"But language researcher Gary Martin, of the phrases.org.uk website, investigated the expression and said: “There is no evidence to support the suggestion that ‘nitty-gritty’ has any connection with slave ships."
Or is it that Northants Police banned the use of it in the late '90s.
Today's TWTD lesson doesn't seem to be very clear.
I didn't realise people were incapable of using Google alongside reading TWTD.
The google search throws up a few random results, but rather than just open and believe the first result, I decided to look at one that looks to be a creditable resource for information:
"There is no evidence to support the suggestion that 'nitty-gritty' has any connection with slave ships. It probably originated in the USA as an African-American expression, but that's as near as it gets to slavery. It isn't recorded in print until the 1930s, long after slave ships had disappeared, and none of the early references make any link to slavery."
So what was the lesson again, maybe this time without trying to patronise!
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I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:02 - Jan 26 with 2568 views
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 16:58 - Jan 26 by FoD_Blue
So it's Ok to use it then!
The google search throws up a few random results, but rather than just open and believe the first result, I decided to look at one that looks to be a creditable resource for information:
"There is no evidence to support the suggestion that 'nitty-gritty' has any connection with slave ships. It probably originated in the USA as an African-American expression, but that's as near as it gets to slavery. It isn't recorded in print until the 1930s, long after slave ships had disappeared, and none of the early references make any link to slavery."
So what was the lesson again, maybe this time without trying to patronise!
Looks like a reliable source? Okay, please tell us why that site has more authority as a factual statement than any other page on the internet.
EDIT: Just so show you how sources and reliability work, would you like to tell me how long it's been since said post was edited?
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:05 - Jan 26 by GavTWTD
Let's learn together and demonstrate again we're more than a football site.
I try my best but honestly, after 6 years of Brexit/Trump nonsense my patience slips with the general population's ability to use their brain to find reality.
It's not personal, just business. I know you're just trying to keep things calm also so Phil doesn't lose more hair :)
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:11 - Jan 26 by FoD_Blue
I'm happy to be educated, so what is your reliable source that has led you to your reasoning then please?
Expert opinion on historic matters and context.
But alas, I'm not the one who needs to be deflecting a question to begin with.
Life is so much easier if you don't double down about trivial matters that have no impact on your life beyond making living beings more tolerable to each other.
So now it appears, without any definitive evidence, that what everyone thought was just a saying to mean the important nub of an issue is now a potentially racist comment? Further more, we now have the situation where people are going to get offended who were not before, and by people who didn't mean to offend in the first place.
I can almost hear the South Park script writers scribbling notes for the next series (sorry,' season')
Sorry, rant over (bad day at the office - which is currently my kitchen)
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:33 - Jan 26 by azuremerlangus
So now it appears, without any definitive evidence, that what everyone thought was just a saying to mean the important nub of an issue is now a potentially racist comment? Further more, we now have the situation where people are going to get offended who were not before, and by people who didn't mean to offend in the first place.
I can almost hear the South Park script writers scribbling notes for the next series (sorry,' season')
Sorry, rant over (bad day at the office - which is currently my kitchen)
[Post edited 26 Jan 2021 17:45]
but, the twtd hive mind has prevailed. research has been done and no evidence of any link to slavery has been found. in fact they've been into the nitty gritty of it and there doesn't appear to be a real issue at all. phew. panic over.
And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show
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I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:39 - Jan 26 with 2370 views
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:38 - Jan 26 by lowhouseblue
but, the twtd hive mind has prevailed. research has been done and no evidence of any link to slavery has been found. in fact they've been into the nitty gritty of it and there doesn't appear to be a real issue at all. phew. panic over.
Glad to see you weigh in with your classic racism enabling take whilst clearly without much thought or research on the matter.
I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:33 - Jan 26 by azuremerlangus
So now it appears, without any definitive evidence, that what everyone thought was just a saying to mean the important nub of an issue is now a potentially racist comment? Further more, we now have the situation where people are going to get offended who were not before, and by people who didn't mean to offend in the first place.
I can almost hear the South Park script writers scribbling notes for the next series (sorry,' season')
Sorry, rant over (bad day at the office - which is currently my kitchen)
[Post edited 26 Jan 2021 17:45]
You can still use the word if you want.
But if, for whatever reason however unclear, some people connect it to racism then you’re making a choice that what you want to say and how you want to say it is more important than what others read or hear.
Not sure that’s the best way of looking at language and communication. I thing it’s more on the receiver’s terms.
Also, we should understand that words and meanings change and evolve for all sorts of reasons – and even sometimes for no reason at all.
Pronouns: He/Him
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I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:48 - Jan 26 with 2325 views
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