| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:49 - Jan 26 with 841 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
In the last year or so I've been told that the word "foreign" is not acceptable anymore, as it suggests someone or something different, an outsider, and is thus a little bit racist. You can't even say "they were speaking in a foreign language."
I like to think I'm fairly woke and on-the-ball with such things but even I struggle to keep up and wonder if it's all going a little too far sometimes.
As to the OP, no I had no idea there was a suggestion that nitty gritty was linked to the slave trade. |  |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
|  |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:51 - Jan 26 with 832 views | Illinoisblue |
There’s a bar here I used to frequent pre Covid called The Nitty Gritty. Food’s not great, service is slow. Other than that, fine. |  |
| |
| I don't think you can say...... on 17:52 - Jan 26 with 825 views | Bloots |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:49 - Jan 26 by The_Flashing_Smile |
In the last year or so I've been told that the word "foreign" is not acceptable anymore, as it suggests someone or something different, an outsider, and is thus a little bit racist. You can't even say "they were speaking in a foreign language."
I like to think I'm fairly woke and on-the-ball with such things but even I struggle to keep up and wonder if it's all going a little too far sometimes.
As to the OP, no I had no idea there was a suggestion that nitty gritty was linked to the slave trade. |
...."woke" anymore actually.
It upsets certain people.
Genuinely. |  |
| "He's been a really positive influence on my life, I think he's a great man" - TWTD User (May 2025) |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:56 - Jan 26 with 815 views | StochesStotasBlewe |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:49 - Jan 26 by The_Flashing_Smile |
In the last year or so I've been told that the word "foreign" is not acceptable anymore, as it suggests someone or something different, an outsider, and is thus a little bit racist. You can't even say "they were speaking in a foreign language."
I like to think I'm fairly woke and on-the-ball with such things but even I struggle to keep up and wonder if it's all going a little too far sometimes.
As to the OP, no I had no idea there was a suggestion that nitty gritty was linked to the slave trade. |
Same here.
Uppity and hip hip hooray also have racist overtones and a quick google search confirms this. |  |
| We have no village green, or a shop.
It's very, very quiet.
I can walk to the pub. |
| |
| I don't think you can say...... on 18:00 - Jan 26 with 794 views | m14_blue |
| I don't think you can say...... on 17:52 - Jan 26 by Bloots |
...."woke" anymore actually.
It upsets certain people.
Genuinely. |
It is pretty much the preserve of total bellends to be fair.
Dolly being an honourable exception obviously. |  | | |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:01 - Jan 26 with 789 views | monytowbray |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:56 - Jan 26 by StochesStotasBlewe |
Same here.
Uppity and hip hip hooray also have racist overtones and a quick google search confirms this. |
To me that's just more evidence of how much our culture derives from old attitudes from outright racism into institutional racism we're not even aware of.
British people have a very blinkered relationship with their past, if things like this raise wider discussion I'm all for it.
But instead, as predicted.
WOKE WARS TIME. THE LEFT ARE THE REAL PROBLEM.
The same people who do this on said forum are very rarely present in threads about racism they should be calling out, but are the first to dive into threads like these.
TWTD. [Post edited 26 Jan 2021 18:02]
|  |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:01 - Jan 26 with 790 views | Darth_Koont |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:48 - Jan 26 by factual_blue |
The point about etymology is that it doesn't change. A word that is Latin in origin, for example, will always be Latin in origin.
Clearly origins of a phrase like 'nitty-gritty' are less clear, but the evidence for it being derived from the slave trade seems slim.
It's rather like phrases derived from the navy; most of them aren't. |
Agreed the original etymology doesn’t change but there’s the etymology of usage that means the phrase is arguably now associated with racism.
So it’s similar to people using disinterested when they mean uninterested. But now disinterested does also mean uninterested, despite the original meaning.
Here, I would say the racist inference is still a minority view (no pun intended) so maybe the debate about origins will clear this up. But as that looks like it’s been ongoing for many years I think the genie’s out of the bottle. And it makes sense to edit it out if readers (rightly or wrongly) are going to read into it. It’s hardly a major choice to have to make as a communicator. |  |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:07 - Jan 26 with 777 views | lowhouseblue |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:48 - Jan 26 by Darth_Koont |
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. |
the issue is 'some people'.i suspect the number of people making that mistaken connection is tiny. so, even given the connection has no evidence to support it, if it offended a significant number of people, however mistakenly, you might have a point. but when there is both no evidence and any offence that 'some people' may take seems confected, the phrase seems fine.
while language evolves the actual derivation of words and phrases doesn't. |  |
| 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 |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:07 - Jan 26 with 775 views | SpruceMoose |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:49 - Jan 26 by The_Flashing_Smile |
In the last year or so I've been told that the word "foreign" is not acceptable anymore, as it suggests someone or something different, an outsider, and is thus a little bit racist. You can't even say "they were speaking in a foreign language."
I like to think I'm fairly woke and on-the-ball with such things but even I struggle to keep up and wonder if it's all going a little too far sometimes.
As to the OP, no I had no idea there was a suggestion that nitty gritty was linked to the slave trade. |
Which idiot told you that?! |  |
| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:10 - Jan 26 with 766 views | jeera |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 17:13 - Jan 26 by monytowbray |
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. |
Slow down.
The thread is still new and you're already on one attacking people.
As others have said, there is no apparent concrete evidence immediately obvious here, but yes, also as has been pointed out, if there's a chance it has an unsavoury origin then people should be reconsidering it as a choice of phrase. I certainly would if I used it anyway, which I don't because I'm not 90.
That doesn't automatically mean everyone who hadn't realised has to be slaughtered on the spot.
Give people a chance to breathe and think for a moment. |  |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:11 - Jan 26 with 763 views | factual_blue |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:01 - Jan 26 by Darth_Koont |
Agreed the original etymology doesn’t change but there’s the etymology of usage that means the phrase is arguably now associated with racism.
So it’s similar to people using disinterested when they mean uninterested. But now disinterested does also mean uninterested, despite the original meaning.
Here, I would say the racist inference is still a minority view (no pun intended) so maybe the debate about origins will clear this up. But as that looks like it’s been ongoing for many years I think the genie’s out of the bottle. And it makes sense to edit it out if readers (rightly or wrongly) are going to read into it. It’s hardly a major choice to have to make as a communicator. |
'Disinterested' is used wrongly, and primarily through ignorance, as a synonym for 'uninterested'. To accept the confusion merely rewards ignorance and deprives the English language of a useful word.
I don't even begin to understand what 'the etymology of usage' is, other than perhaps another misunderstanding of the meaning of a word (in this case 'etymology'). |  |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:12 - Jan 26 with 757 views | monytowbray |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:10 - Jan 26 by jeera |
Slow down.
The thread is still new and you're already on one attacking people.
As others have said, there is no apparent concrete evidence immediately obvious here, but yes, also as has been pointed out, if there's a chance it has an unsavoury origin then people should be reconsidering it as a choice of phrase. I certainly would if I used it anyway, which I don't because I'm not 90.
That doesn't automatically mean everyone who hadn't realised has to be slaughtered on the spot.
Give people a chance to breathe and think for a moment. |
I presented evidence of a flawed argument.
I can't help it if facts bother people. | |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:13 - Jan 26 with 753 views | jeera |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:12 - Jan 26 by monytowbray |
I presented evidence of a flawed argument.
I can't help it if facts bother people. |
Oh ffs do grow up. | |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:14 - Jan 26 with 750 views | jeera |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:07 - Jan 26 by SpruceMoose |
Which idiot told you that?! |
Probably some European? | |
| |
| Johnny Foreigner. (n/t) on 18:14 - Jan 26 with 748 views | Bloots |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:07 - Jan 26 by SpruceMoose |
Which idiot told you that?! |
| |
| "He's been a really positive influence on my life, I think he's a great man" - TWTD User (May 2025) |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:15 - Jan 26 with 738 views | Darth_Koont |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:07 - Jan 26 by lowhouseblue |
the issue is 'some people'.i suspect the number of people making that mistaken connection is tiny. so, even given the connection has no evidence to support it, if it offended a significant number of people, however mistakenly, you might have a point. but when there is both no evidence and any offence that 'some people' may take seems confected, the phrase seems fine.
while language evolves the actual derivation of words and phrases doesn't. |
So disinterested shouldn’t mean uninterested? But of course it now does.
Looks to be more than a tiny number of people given the references to the phrase over the years. And given the seriousness of a racist interpretation then it’s worth bearing in mind. As someone who has to write professionally then, now I know about it, I don’t see the point in using it.
I expect we’ll see it front and centre of a confected culture battle though. “You can’t call a spade a spade nowadays!” | |
| |
| Johnny Foreigner. (n/t) on 18:15 - Jan 26 with 735 views | SpruceMoose |
| Johnny Foreigner. (n/t) on 18:14 - Jan 26 by Bloots |
|
Maybe they were talking about the band. | |
| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:17 - Jan 26 with 725 views | monytowbray |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:13 - Jan 26 by jeera |
Oh ffs do grow up. |
I'd just like some evidence that isn't from 2006 earliest. And I am entitled to challenge that source.
I'm just here giving my take and information. What anyone chooses to say or do isn't on my back, people can live with whatever consequences or hindsight cringeworthy opinions they want.
Sort of like yours on veganism Jeera, I remember :)*
*It's a light hearted jab, DW. | |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:18 - Jan 26 with 722 views | monytowbray |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:15 - Jan 26 by Darth_Koont |
So disinterested shouldn’t mean uninterested? But of course it now does.
Looks to be more than a tiny number of people given the references to the phrase over the years. And given the seriousness of a racist interpretation then it’s worth bearing in mind. As someone who has to write professionally then, now I know about it, I don’t see the point in using it.
I expect we’ll see it front and centre of a confected culture battle though. “You can’t call a spade a spade nowadays!” |
Can't even buy Golliw*g dolls anhymore, PC gone mad. Etc. | |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:22 - Jan 26 with 713 views | Darth_Koont |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:11 - Jan 26 by factual_blue |
'Disinterested' is used wrongly, and primarily through ignorance, as a synonym for 'uninterested'. To accept the confusion merely rewards ignorance and deprives the English language of a useful word.
I don't even begin to understand what 'the etymology of usage' is, other than perhaps another misunderstanding of the meaning of a word (in this case 'etymology'). |
You’re confusing words with meanings and how they originate.
Where words originate can have a historic moment in time but their meanings are subsequently entirely fluid as that’s dictated by how they’re used. It’s beautiful stuff if you learn to let go! | |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:25 - Jan 26 with 704 views | lowhouseblue |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:15 - Jan 26 by Darth_Koont |
So disinterested shouldn’t mean uninterested? But of course it now does.
Looks to be more than a tiny number of people given the references to the phrase over the years. And given the seriousness of a racist interpretation then it’s worth bearing in mind. As someone who has to write professionally then, now I know about it, I don’t see the point in using it.
I expect we’ll see it front and centre of a confected culture battle though. “You can’t call a spade a spade nowadays!” |
the one thing that is definitely clear is that no one who uses the phrase uses it with a racist intent. almost all would do so without any inkling of this dispute. no one intends it as a reference to slavery in any way and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of it having been used in the past to carry racist implications. so using it today isn't a throw back to any dark history in the actual usage of the word. it's a fuss about nothing. | |
| 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 |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:27 - Jan 26 with 699 views | lowhouseblue |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:18 - Jan 26 by monytowbray |
Can't even buy Golliw*g dolls anhymore, PC gone mad. Etc. |
Oh ffs do grow up. | |
| 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 |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:29 - Jan 26 with 689 views | monytowbray |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:27 - Jan 26 by lowhouseblue |
Oh ffs do grow up. |
Once upon a time the argument you're making was made in that regard though.
If you live by what you think the future will look like, you can save a lot of mental bother. | |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:31 - Jan 26 with 682 views | J2BLUE |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:29 - Jan 26 by monytowbray |
Once upon a time the argument you're making was made in that regard though.
If you live by what you think the future will look like, you can save a lot of mental bother. |
If you live by what you think the future will look like
 |  |
| |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:33 - Jan 26 with 672 views | monytowbray |
| I never knew this about that word/phrase on 18:31 - Jan 26 by J2BLUE |
If you live by what you think the future will look like
|
I am and it seems to be working out well, cheers ;) | |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
