Re: [Callers] That g word

On Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 6:10 PM, Aahz Maruch via Callers < callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Sounds like you're policing what other people choose to spend their time > on. Oddly enough, I've seen comments like yours countless times when the > subject lands on sexism, racism, homophobia,

Re: [Callers] That g word

On Fri, Jan 22, 2016, sargo...@gmail.com wrote: > On Jan 22, 2016, at 12:34, Aahz Maruch via Callers > wrote: >> On Fri, Jan 22, 2016, via Callers wrote: >>> >>> I disagree. If it is fair to condemn a word despite widespread >>> ignorance of its racist etymology

Re: [Callers] That g word

On Fri, Jan 22, 2016, Lindsay Morris via Callers wrote: > > I'm about to leave this list because I'm so appalled at the amount of time > spent on this discussion. So many smart, good people: surely we all have > something better to do? Sounds like you're policing what other people choose to spend

Re: [Callers] That g word

I'm about to leave this list because I'm so appalled at the amount of time spent on this discussion. So many smart, good people: surely we all have something better to do? On Friday, January 22, 2016, via Callers wrote: > Honestly, it will be next December when

Re: [Callers] That g word

Honestly, it will be next December when I sing Christmas carols again :-) > On Jan 22, 2016, at 12:34, Aahz Maruch via Callers > wrote: > >> On Fri, Jan 22, 2016, via Callers wrote: >> >> I disagree. If it is fair to condemn a word despite widespread >>

Re: [Callers] That g word

Reminds me of a mediation I was sort of part of, where a pure-breed female dog was unsuccessfully inseminated by another of that breed. "Bitch" and "Stud" were used liberally, and, of course, accurately... (It was a small claims court, we mediated, and the resulting decision--validated by the

Re: [Callers] That g word

On Fri, Jan 22, 2016, via Callers wrote: > > I disagree. If it is fair to condemn a word despite widespread > ignorance of its racist etymology (such as the very real problem > with the verb "gyp"), then the inverse must be true: it is fair to > exonerate a word despite widespread ignorance of its

Re: [Callers] That g word

If half of a group of people say it's a slur, and half say it's not, do we ignore the half that say it's a slur? No. Regardless, this discussion has been had before. International Roma bodies view it as a slur. But also, the two are not mutually exclusive. People might use "redneck" as a term of

Re: [Callers] That g word

But even the Roma cannot agree on whether the word is offensive. There are some who do find it offensive and others who proudly embrace it. Regarding the question yesterday about Flowers of Edinburgh, I cannot find the reference again, maybe I was imagining things, or associating the Scottish

Re: [Callers] That g word

"Dick" is a preferred name of your friend. "Gypsy" is a slur to the Roma. Do you get the difference? On Jan 22, 2016 12:15 PM, "Martha Wild via Callers" < callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > And I don’t ban those words from my conversation if they are appropriate > and in context. My

Re: [Callers] That g word

I agree with you completely that marginalized communities are indeed the gatekeepers of the language used to describe themselves. But that right ends at the limits of words that do not involve their community. Should a term like gypsy originate, evolve, and operate in a linguistic universe

Re: [Callers] That g word

My point was that some words are offensive enough where context is *not* relevant. I don't use the word "cock" to mean rooster, unless I really want to make it a double entendre. Etc. And whether that word is offensive when it describes a group of people is up to that group. On Jan 22, 2016

Re: [Callers] That g word

My point exactly. Context IS relevant. We have a lot of words for body parts that people use in slang that are considered highly offensive and not for use in polite society. And yet, many of those words are perfectly acceptable words if you say them in a different context - when talking to your

Re: [Callers] That g word

It also means that I refrain from the following word uses: "Gay" meaning happy. "Cock" meaning rooster. "Pussy" meaning cat. "Douche" meaning to shower. This, as an aside, was a funny email to write. Apologies for any offended, but I use slang/swear words to make a serious point, and we're all

Re: [Callers] That g word

I disagree. If it is fair to condemn a word despite widespread ignorance of its racist etymology (such as the very real problem with the verb "gyp"), then the inverse must be true: it is fair to exonerate a word despite widespread ignorance of its non-racist etymology (e.g., niggardly). That a

Re: [Callers] That g word

I've been dancing both roles since before I started calling. I remember dancing once with David Cantieni at Spring Weekend in the 80s, and women getting mad at us because we should have danced with them... And, I started using "Men" and "Women" almost when I started to call. I used to say,

Re: [Callers] That g word

On Thu, Jan 21, 2016, Read Weaver via Callers wrote: > > I expect at the time you made the change from "ladies" to "women," > very few men would have considered dancing with another man, and > those who did would have faced confusion at best, and hostility from > some--I speak from my own

Re: [Callers] That g word

I will NEVER be using gyre, but several of the younger callers have decided that's what they like. I think it is a ridiculous choice for a move, but then I am one of the hold outs that believes that words have more than one meaning and our use of gypsy is not offensive, so why listen to me? But,

Re: [Callers] That g word

I expect at the time you made the change from "ladies" to "women," very few men would have considered dancing with another man, and those who did would have faced confusion at best, and hostility from some--I speak from my own experience. As that has changed, so has the language. Sorry if you

Re: [Callers] That g word

Whew, it’s been a while since the earlier iteration of this conversation and my mind is fuzzy. Does that mean that in the midwest you’ll be calling “gyre” as in “With your partner, gyre and swing”? Or actually “gyrate”? Or…? I tried using gyre at a dance in December, saying that it was a great

Re: [Callers] That g word

I'm not ignoring you guys (well, most of you anyway), I just got busy and I was a bad student again and didn't write down my reference so I will have to find it again. Right now I have glue in my eye, so it will have to wait. I also did not hear any more back from Carol, so I will report on what

Re: [Callers] That g word

Alan Winston asked (replying to Janet Bertog): > Where did you find a dance description for Flowers of Edinburgh in the 1500s? I, too, am curious. I suspect that Alan is asking this question, as I am, more from an interest in the history of dancing and dance terminology than for the purpose of