Shame that ain't true, 'cos it's a lovely soundbite. Still, I can't expect someone of your intelligence to understand that. (What? Offence is taken, not given, right? Free speech. I speak my mind. Political madness gone correct, innit.) But seriously, I don't mean it. I'm merely using the offensive and to the best of my knowledge untrue statement, which is not backed by any knowledge of your actual intelligence, to demonstrate that offence can most certainly be given. Also, you smell.
Another of my drunken rants starts something. Sorry I just don't like body hair which is my issue alone. Going through some shitty times right now. Who knows maybe I won't even be here next week.
One can intend to offend with words, but ultimately the choice to be offended is down to the recipient...Otherwise friendships wouldn't exist in Ireland.
That's how bad he smells: it carries over the internet. Again, untrue: if I say "all blue-eyed people are subhuman animals who should be gassed for the good of the rest of us," that's objectively, not subjectively, offensive. You can choose to turn the other cheek and not take offence at it, but that doesn't make what I said less offensive - and if you were offended by it, that's not a sign of PC culture (or PC Plod, for that matter.) Obviously, insert your favourite ethnic or religious group, sexual orientation, skin colour, or choice of gaming platform in place of "blue-eyed people." Rinse and repeat until offended. Avoid contact with eyes, blue or otherwise. If swallowed, read Mein Kampf. Dude, don't even joke about that. If you need help, reach out. There's no shame in that.
Agreed, but that's not what we're talking about. Your example was unequivocally incitement to hatred or violence. What we're talking about is the use of metaphor and simile in casual conversation. Wild as a Catholic schoolgirl, for example (I chose that example because they're unlikely to complain - too busy getting dicked hehe). I just hate to see how my fellow liberals have become so suffocating and sanctimonious with their suppression of language itself...and to their own political detriment because that active intolerance of relatively benign passive intolerance turns people off. I'll leave you with the words of Marcus Aurelius: "Failure to observe what is in the mind of another has seldom made a man unhappy; but those who do not observe the movements of their own minds must of necessity be unhappy."
So if I were a Catholic schoolgirl - and doesn't the metal image of me in a pleated skirt just start off the week perfectly - and I found your metaphor offensive, because you're actively stating that I must be a bit of a goer, that would be my fault and you're free to carry on using your metaphors and similes guilt-free? How far would you like to take that: is "n*gger in the woodpile" on the 'acceptable' pile? "Black as a nig-nog's face?" "I got gypped on that deal?" If I said "as smelly as a VipersGratitude," and you replied that as a representative of the proud race of VipersGratitudes you found that offensive, I probably wouldn't respond with "offence is taken, not given;" I'd probably apologise and look for a different way of saying something is super-stinky in the future. That's not an oppression of my God-given right to Frea Speach, that's just not being a dick about something that matters not a jot to me but clearly does to you. (The exemplar you, not actual you-you.) And I'll leave you with the words of Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan: "Be excellent to each other."
Unfortunately there's dickishness on both sides. If someone told me about januhairy and I said I didn't care and wasn't interested (Incidentally, I don't, and aren't), but they kept pushing the thing and didn't leave me out of it knowing that I don't care, doesn't that make them a dick? It's not always the case, but honestly, I feel like everyone is bombarded with awareness this, support that, care about them to such an extent that it really isn't feasible to do any of it anymore. Like.. On a scale, I feel like everyone knows about cancer, but not everyone knows about the varying degrees of the autism spectrum. I'm pretty sure women shaving is lower down the 'important to give a **** about' scale than knowing how to diagnose a stroke (Don't see FAST banded about.. FASTbruary.. AugFAST?). I'm sure women have it tough in a lot of regards, especially with all the horseshit you see on 'womens' magazines about ideal this that and the other, not to mention the minefield of clothing.. Blurgh. I'm rather glad I can buy one shampoo/bodywash/carshampoo/draincleaner bottle and t-shirts in one of six sizes. But shaving? Really? Is that a big deal? I've known a few women who didn't shave X, Y, Z and I don't recall any of them getting a hard time about it. I dunno, I feel like the judgement of both sexes is pretty strong in the looks department, albeit louder about women. Not always from men, either. I also think there are bigger things to worry about than whether Janet in accounting has shaved her armpits today or not. Maybe file this one under 'body acceptance things Terry doesn't get because it seems entirely stupid'.
Me neither - But I tend to keep myself out of social things that might present me with stuff like this, so it's not unusual for me to be days, weeks, months behind the latest 'thing' that's ensconced in people's worlds.
There are obviously certain phrases which, for reasons of historical persecution, are off-limits. Then there are some that aren't To take the racial angle, I don't think black men are offended by "Big as a black man's willy". Men of all other races, maybe, but not black men. If I wanted to get meta with it I could perhaps surmise that the reason I'm defending more liberal use of language is that I'm Irish - a group who know the difference between phrases with malicious intent, and "just a bit of craic"...and who are also supposedly drunk, violent and stupid. You never hear us complain about it, though, because craic and slagging is a part of our culture. It could therefore be argued that this wave of political correctness is an overt and sustained attack on our culture by imperialists who deem their own culture superior (and I'm talking about corporate California this time). Erasing cultural identity is surely beyond offensive and yet you still never hear any complaints because we're certain that everyone will wise up and allow themselves to be a little bit more human eventually. I'm still trying to get that image of you in a uniform out of my head. Thanks for that. Monday Bloody Mondaaaaaaaay!
I'm... I'm pretty certain that I wouldn't struggle to find a black man who found that offensive. Aye, aye. Well, apart from that guy who sued P&O 'cos of the Irish jokes told by comedians on board. Or the since-deleted Irish Herald article complaining about Red Dead Redemption's town drunk being called, literally, Irish. Or journalist Kim Bielenberg, writing for Independent.ie, suggesting it's time to sue Hollywood, for portraying Irish as "drunk, violent and toothless - and in some cases all three." Patrick Roberts didn't find Shamus McDerp, the drunk Irish leprechaun you can install on your phone, very funny. Mark O'Hagan thinks taking visiting dignitaries to the nearest pub ain't good craic, while Trevor McAuley didn't take jokes about "Irish logic" and "thick Paddies" in his stride at all (and nor should he.) How about the guy who bought all of Walmart's "offensive Irish T-shirts" ahead of St. Patrick's Day then returned 'em all afterwards for a refund and last year petitioned Walmart's head office to remove 'em from sale altogether (but, I'll grant you, he's actually Irish-American, so that one doesn't really count.) Same again for Urban Outfitters. And this petition. Stupid sexy Flanders Halfacree...
There are always outliers. I see those as exceptions that prove the rule. When you think about how globally pervasive Irish stereotypes are you'd think the entire country would be up in arms. It's worth pointing out that we've ribbed each other throughout this dialogue, and yet no one got offended. It's not the words and phrases themselves that offend, it's the intent behind them. It's syntax vs semantics, just like programming. What I take issue with is people focusing entirely on syntax - When certain words, in contextual isolation, are verboten it seems like the top of a very slippery slope.
It bears highlighting that "freedom of speech" does not mean "freedom from the consequences of speech". If you start thinking "I have a right to free speech!" means "you can't tell me to shut up just because you don't like what I'm saying!" you're in for a rude awakening. You are perfectly free to make whatever statements you jolly well like. Just as everyone else is free to respond "what a &%@£" and refuse to talk to you/let you in their establishment/host your website/etc.
But, by contrast, if you say something which relies upon an often-times negative stereotype (the Irish are drunk, Catholic schoolgirls are easy, so by the transitive property Irish Catholic schoolgirls are both drunk and easy) and a member of said demographic takes offence, then what you said is offensive regardless of whether or not you meant it in such a way. I'm actually reminded of the days when the missus used to watch Coronation Street - a habit she has since kicked, I'm pleased to say - and one character was overheard by whatever character Craig Charles used to play as asking a third character to "be a white man," as in "help me out/be generous." Charles' character, sharing the swarthy complexion of the actor himself 'cos people get funny about you putting bootblack on people these days, wasn't best pleased and it led to a massively long and drawn-out storyline betwix the two that could have been very easily resolved if Charles' character had just said "hey, bud, that's offensive and here's why" and the other guy had said "oh, bollocks, I totally didn't think the phrase through, my bad, I'll buy you a pint." (As I recall, the storyline was resolved when Charles went into a pub on the Bad Side of Town and nearly got lynched for being black, and "be a white man" dude saved his life thus proving that he wasn't actually racist honest - which, frankly, is a cop-out compared to my suggestions of just sitting down and listening to why the phrase itself is offensive, regardless of the intent behind its utterance, but probably better TV.) Funnily enough, I actually have an example from my own life: I used to say "Mad Arab." It was a phrase thrown around a lot when I was growing up, though for the life of me I'm not sure why: "you mad Arab," someone would say if I was being boisterous. I didn't even think of what it meant when I was saying it - it might as well have been a single word, "madarab." It wasn't until I was older and actually thought it through it hit me that, well, it's probably not something those of Arab descent would appreciate. Thankfully, that epiphany occurred before I went to live in the Middle East! These days, I just say something else. Doesn't put me out in the slightest.
