Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Maybe in Malaysia
Just a fun note. Might be a scam, but according to Google Stats, this blog has been viewed 36 times in Malaysia this week.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Slur: Slinging Mud
- One of the best ways to understand culture and the way people think is to look at the language they use. The words we use to insult others offer a unique insight into our psyche.
- However, do you know the origins of these words? If you knew their original meaning, would you still use them?
- A prime example of a commonly used insult is the racial or ethnic slur. These are used by all groups of people to label and define anyone who isn't like them, sometimes even within their own race and ethnicity.
- A slur is defined as a deliberate slight. First used in the 1600s, the word originally referred to “thin or fluid mud.” It is derived from the Middle English “slore” Middle Low German “sluren” and Middle Dutch “sloren”, all of which mean “to trail in mud.”
- The word “slur” is closely related to the East Frisian “sluren”, meaning “to go about carelessly” and the Norwegian “slora”, meaning “to be careless”. In 1746, “slur” was also used in a musical sense to mean “sliding.”
- Ethnic slurs are also known as ethnophaulisms (if we want to get linguistically complicated). These words/phrases are insinuations or allegations about a specific ethnicity or refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or insulting manner. I will be delving into several of the more common slurs in my next few posts.
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| Admit it - we all use them |
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| Is this what it means to sling mud? |
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| Being careless with words can be dangerous! |
In
the meantime, what are some of the more colorful or creative slurs
you have used or heard others use?
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Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Didn't Learn THAT in College
Washing windows with my step-dad today, I was reminded that I lack common sense. I have always been more book-smart than street-smart when it comes to pretty much anything. I didn't exactly expect to be washing windows for my mom to make up for borrowing $100 last month.
My step-dad asked me: "What did they teach you in college?"
My reply: "Literary analysis."
Him: "That doesn't help you clean windows, does it?"
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| Window Washing 101? |
It also doesn't teach you street-smarts or common sense.
A person who is street-smart is attuned to and adept at surviving in an urban, poor, and often criminal environment. I have always lived a sheltered life, and when I ventured into the great unknown, I cried for my mommy. It has taken practice but I have learned to keep my ignorant mouth shut... most of the time.
The word "street-smart" is a back-formation of the word "street smarts," which originated in 1972. Yes, I had to look up the definition of back-formation: a shortened word created from a longer word. For example, "bus" is a back-formation of "omnibus." Like a nickname for a kid with a massive moniker.
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| Remember Dodger from Oliver & Co.? |
Common sense has a more detailed history. In the 14th Century, the word referred to the philosophy of mentally combining information gathered by the five senses, a.k.a. "ordinary understanding." It came to mean the sensible and logical understanding that enables a person to make good decisions and sound judgements.
My biggest problem washing the windows was figuring out how to reach them. Some were very tall and most were behind bushes. A few were on the other side of a koi pond. It involved a lot of manoeuvring, standing on steps, and extending the length of the squeegee.
None of which I learned how to do in college.
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| Why didn't someone warn me? |
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