Shocked at my friend.

missbiggles1

summerspring wrote: »

Sorry, can you tell me what part of the following sentence you don't understand?



And look at old silly-nose, thanking your post, lol

You really don't like being proved wrong, do you?:rotfl:

summerspring

missbiggles1 wrote: »

You really don't like being proved wrong, do you?:rotfl:

You can't even debate, missbiggles1/Dunroamin

I have answered all of your assertions, including your somewhat spurious grasp of Latin and its influence on the etymology of the English language, and you've not been able to refute a single thing I've said.

Rosemary7391

Can I interrupt with a question?

Say I come across word X. I've never heard it before, but it's clearly used to refer to Y group. How do I tell if it is offensive?

Soleil_lune

Well I know one thing for sure, MissBiggles's nose is offended! :eek:

summerspring

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

Can I interrupt with a question?

Say I come across word X. I've never heard it before, but it's clearly used to refer to Y group. How do I tell if it is offensive?

Good question. If you're not familiar with the word and you ask around and no-one else knows then maybe google it and see what comes up.

I am not familiar with youthspeak but I have vaguely heard of the word ghey (spelt that way for some reason) and I have no idea if it's meant to be offensive, but seeing as I am not likely to use it I never got curious enough to find out!

Then there are words which are familiar, like gingers, which some people find offensive but which isn't offensive in itself.

Languages tend to have different registers, different words for the same thing, according to its nuance or the social class or attitude of the speaker. It all gets quite interesting.

summerspring

Soleil_lune wrote: »

Well I know one thing for sure, MissBiggles's nose is offended! :eek:

:rotfl::rotfl:

I was trying to think of a suitable term that would get through MSEs profanity filter

AubreyMac

My nationality is British as I was born and bred here.

Ethnically, I am Asian.

I do not take offence to being called 'coloured'. In fact, I even call myself this. As someone else said it comes down to intent and context in the way it's delivered.

Many people can not differentiate Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka so any dark skinned Asian is described as 'Indian' even if they are not of Indian heritage. Same with Chinese/Korean/Japanese/Vietnamese or Nigerian/Ghanaian or Jamaican/Barbadian, the list goes on. Often when I correct people their response is "they all look the same".

What annoys me the most is the assumption/conclusion that white people are the ones who are racist. I have experienced racism from all sorts of people.

Pollycat

suki1964 wrote: »

Don't forget this country didn't see any immigration until the last decade.

Really?
Are you sure you're talking about the UK?

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/immigration.htm

Extracts:

Immigration from the West Indies was encouraged by the British Nationality Act of 1948, which gave all Commonwealth citizens free entry into Britain, and by a tough new US immigration law introduced in 1952 restricting entry into the USA. The symbolic starting point of this mass migration to the 'mother country' was the journey of the SS Empire Windrush from Kingston, Jamaica, to Tilbury, Essex, in June 1948. On board were almost 500 West Indians intent on starting new lives in Britain.

From the Indian subcontinent, the majority of immigrants arrived in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. Although often lumped together as one group by white Britons, these newcomers in fact came from a variety of backgrounds. They included Hindus from the Gujarat region of western India, Sikhs from the eastern Punjab region, and Muslims both from the west part of Pakistan and from East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1972.

Doesn't sound like the last decade to me.

barbarawright

Pollycat wrote: »

Really?
Are you sure you're talking about the UK?

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/immigration.htm

Extracts:
Doesn't sound like the last decade to me.

To be fair, the poster is talking about Northern Ireland.

Pollycat

barbarawright wrote: »

To be fair, the poster is talking about Northern Ireland.

OK, I see that now.
However, when I posted I was thinking about this post she made:

suki1964 wrote: »

Nope I live in NI and outside of Belfast it's rare to see anyone who is black other then tourists

My step daughter has lived here all her life other then the two years she lived with me in London. Hence the schooling problem

Pollycat wrote: »

Are you sure you're talking about the UK?

And Northern Ireland is in the UK.

And is Northern Ireland really a country?
From wikipedia:

Descriptions

There is no generally accepted term to describe what Northern Ireland is: province, region, country or something else.[8][9][10] The choice of term can be controversial and can reveal the writer's political preferences.[9] This has been noted as a problem by several writers on Northern Ireland, with no generally recommended solution.[8][9][10]
Owing in part to the way in which the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland, came into being, there is no legally defined term to describe what Northern Ireland 'is'. There is also no uniform or guiding way to refer to Northern Ireland amongst the agencies of the UK government. For example, the websites of the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom[51] and the UK Statistics Authority describe the United Kingdom as being made up of four countries, one of these being Northern Ireland.[52] Other pages on the same websites refer to Northern Ireland specifically as a "province" as do publications of the UK Statistics Authority.[53][54] The website of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency also refers to Northern Ireland as being a province[55] as does the website of the Office of Public Sector Information[56] and other agencies within Northern Ireland.[57] Publications of HM Treasury[58] and the Department of Finance and Personnel of the Northern Ireland Executive,[59] on the other hand, describe Northern Ireland as being a "region of the UK". The UK's submission to the 2007 United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names defines the UK as being made up of two countries (England and Scotland), one principality (Wales) and one province (Northern Ireland).[60]
Unlike England, Scotland and Wales, Northern Ireland has no history of being an independent country or of being a nation in its own right.[61] Some writers describe the United Kingdom as being made up of three countries and one province[62] or point out the difficulties with calling Northern Ireland a country.[63] Authors writing specifically about Northern Ireland dismiss the idea that Northern Ireland is a "country" in general terms,[8][10][64][65] and draw contrasts in this respect with England, Scotland and Wales.[66] Even for the period covering the first 50 years of Northern Ireland's existence, the term country is considered inappropriate by some political scientists on the basis that many decisions were still made in London.[61] The absence of a distinct nation of Northern Ireland, separate within the island of Ireland, is also pointed out as being a problem with using the term[10][67][68] and is in contrast to England, Scotland, and Wales.[69]
Many commentators prefer to use the term "province", although that is also not without problems. It can arouse irritation, particularly among nationalists, for whom the title province is properly reserved for the traditional province of Ulster, of which Northern Ireland comprises six out of nine counties.[9][63] The BBC style guide is to refer to Northern Ireland as a province, and use of the term is common in literature and newspaper reports on Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. Some authors have described the meaning of this term as being equivocal: referring to Northern Ireland as being a province both of the United Kingdom and of the traditional country of Ireland.[67]
"Region" is used by several UK government agencies and the European Union. Some authors choose this word but note that it is "unsatisfactory".[9][10] Northern Ireland can also be simply described as "part of the UK", including by UK government offices.[51]