Back in the late 1990s I was at work and talking through a hydraulic installation with a mechanical fitter and his apprentice, this young kid was of Afro-carribean heritage and was 'tsk'ing and scowling at me.
I asked him what was the problem and then had to talk him through the fact that there really were control components named slave valves and master valves.
He looked a bit sheepish when I'd finished, this lad had genuinely thought I was trying to get a racist dig in at him
So, you confronting him over it was great because you taught him the terms (which are still used, e.g., hard drives). Did he explain why he felt insulted at the terms? We had a home in Jamaica and used to visit particular other resorts often, and unlike many tourists, we never had a problem. Without derailing the thread much further, Jamaicans and other Caribbean nations are extremely proud of their centuries long fight against brutal slavery and colonialism. The simple history on wikipedia for Jamaica will tell you enough. That said, Jamaicans are intolerant of such a slur, though very polite. Most regularly encounter numerous racial and poverty slurs from the visitors there--who have not the courage to say the same thing back home--yet have to take it to keep their jobs.
On another note, I'm saddened to see the word "Retarded" essentially banned from the lexicon.
by 30 years ago the term was no longer used for the developmentally challenged.
There simply is no other single word that so perfectly described when an able-bodied fully intelligent person acts without any forethought OR any thought to consequences.
"Retarded" fit that bill so perfectly. So, if anyone has an alternative term for me to use I'd love to know what it is. I'm saddened to have that hole in my language that I now need to talk around to communicate the idea.
Well it's not. The ignition timing on my car might be retarded. An assembly line might be retarded to match production downstream, etc.
To call someone that might be an immediate slur toward that individual, yet the slur is there because the term implies they are quietly considered a lesser class of person; people who did not have a choice in the disabilities they have to face daily, for that matter. More than that, unlike decades past when such children were locked away from society, their protective parents face those challenges with those kids, often for life. To them it likely feels like you're indirectly attacking their children and insulting their considerable sacrifices.
For a replacement word, perhaps it's time to make use of some of that swearing. Dumb-a**, dumb-s***, and dumb-f*** come to mind. See, there is a place for curse words
Past that, people IMO are a little too sensitive overall. I've had countless things yelled at me in crowds or bars with the intent of humiliating me for my race, gender, character, body, etc. many times. It has never killed me yet. Maybe I'm dumb?
K2
