The Official ZBB Quote Thread

[Whimemsz]

if you noticed I clearly made sure it was noted I was referring to my Michigan dialect and not some Southern dialect.

I didn't notice. You just said "here", which I interpreted as meaning "the US" although it's pretty vague.

Also, "inbred" is nowhere near as insulting as any derivative of "cunt." I mean obviously there's real-world situations where you can use it in a very insulting way, but in this case it was clearly being used in a playful mocking way. Grow up.

Also:

Nigger is only offensive to black people when said by white people. Otherwise black people use nigger like white people use cracker

Glad you cleared that up for everyone.

[Legion]

there's a difference between judgment of speech acts and censorship.

100% of censors agree with you.

[Torco]

there's a difference between judgment of speech acts and censorship.

100% of censors agree with you.

100% of censors also agree that drinking water once in a while is good for your health

[Viktor77]

if you noticed I clearly made sure it was noted I was referring to my Michigan dialect and not some Southern dialect.

I didn't notice. You just said "here", which I interpreted as meaning "the US" although it's pretty vague.

Also, "inbred" is nowhere near as insulting as any derivative of "cunt." I mean obviously there's real-world situations where you can use it in a very insulting way, but in this case it was clearly being used in a playful mocking way. Grow up.

I don't know where you are from in the US, but inbred can almost never be used here in a playful way. I can't think of a single example. Here in Michigan, redneck and white trash jokes abound and being inbred is usually associated with that and that is a bad association here.

[linguoboy]

Here in Michigan, redneck and white trash jokes abound and being inbred is usually associated with that and that is a bad association here.

And in most of the rest of the country, "cracker" is a synonym for "redneck". Seriously, get out in the world a little more.

[Legion]

there's a difference between judgment of speech acts and censorship.

100% of censors agree with you.

100% of censors also agree that drinking water once in a while is good for your health

I am pretty sure this can be proven false.

[Viktor77]

Here in Michigan, redneck and white trash jokes abound and being inbred is usually associated with that and that is a bad association here.

And in most of the rest of the country, "cracker" is a synonym for "redneck". Seriously, get out in the world a little more.

I went ahead, for you Linguoboy, and asked my friends INCLUDING a friend from the Chicago area their thoughts on cracker and none of them, all white males, found it offensive. They didn't see it as synonymous for redneck, they saw it as the white equivalent to the friendly use of nigger by black people (I was told this, I did not make this up).

[Torco]

there's a difference between judgment of speech acts and censorship.

100% of censors agree with you.

100% of censors also agree that drinking water once in a while is good for your health

I am pretty sure this can be proven false.

missing the point, monsieur.

[Lyra]

I once called this guy cracker repetitively for whole week. At first he was laughing and all, because it was weird, but by the end of the week he was almost sulking from it...

Interesting social experiment.

~Lyra

[linguoboy]

Here in Michigan, redneck and white trash jokes abound and being inbred is usually associated with that and that is a bad association here.

And in most of the rest of the country, "cracker" is a synonym for "redneck". Seriously, get out in the world a little more.

I went ahead, for you Linguoboy, and asked my friends INCLUDING a friend from the Chicago area their thoughts on cracker and none of them, all white males, found it offensive. They didn't see it as synonymous for redneck, they saw it as the white equivalent to the friendly use of nigger by black people (I was told this, I did not make this up).

So in this EXTENSIVE survey of American white males, how many of them were from south of I-90? I live in Chicago, but I wasn't raised here, you know.

I NEVER use "cracker" as a term of endearment, and I don't know anyone who does. I don't doubt that people do, but it's a mighty leap to go from that to "it's not an insult". After all, I have friends who use "faggot" as a term of endearment.

Edit: Wiktionary entry for "cracker":

cracker (plural crackers)

(US, pejorative, racial slur) An impoverished white person from the southeastern United States, originally associated with Georgia and parts of Florida; by extension: any white person.

Synonyms: (whites): white trash, trailer trash, redneck, peckerwood, honky, (sometimes) crack head

[Viktor77]

So in this EXTENSIVE survey of American white males, how many of them were from south of I-90? I live in Chicago, but I wasn't raised here, you know.

I NEVER use "cracker" as a term of endearment, and I don't know anyone who does. I don't doubt that people do, but it's a mighty leap to go from that to "it's not an insult". After all, I have friends who use "faggot" as a term of endearment.

And as I tried to make clear (and I apologise for not better defining "here" as Michigan), us north of I-90 don't appear to find it insulting. I will ask more people but I've yet to find anyone who finds it insulting. Some find it bizarre, ugly, stupid, but not insulting so far. I don't doubt that in St. Louis it's offensive, but here it is not. There is nothing wrong with that. Language varies, that's why I made sure to say it is not an insult IN MY EXPERIENCES. And you can't cast doubt on my experiences because everyone's are unique.

[Pthagnar]

i cast doubt on my own experience frequently. if you don't, then probably this contributes to the mess you're making in the other thread.

[Viktor77]

i cast doubt on my own experience frequently. if you don't, then probably this contributes to the mess you're making in the other thread.

Why would you cast doubt on your experiences if everyone around you has contributed basically the same response, here that cracker is not insulting? Then I have to doubt everyone I know, and that doesn't make sense since they together make up regional variations in language.

[Torco]

And you can't cast doubt on my experiences because everyone's are unique.

see that's what I mean about crooked thinking. everyone's experience is not only unique, but everyone has privileged access to them, so far so good; that doesn't mean they're beyond doubt: your experience might be that rain falls upwards, but that doesn't mean that another can't say 'dude, that's wrong, rain falls downwards'.

[Viktor77]

And you can't cast doubt on my experiences because everyone's are unique.

see that's what I mean about crooked thinking. everyone's experience is not only unique, but everyone has privileged access to them, so far so good; that doesn't mean they're beyond doubt: your experience might be that rain falls upwards, but that doesn't mean that another can't say 'dude, that's wrong, rain falls downwards'.

Fine, but if enough people have similar experiences, then usually there's some validity unless it can be proven otherwise. Here doesn't seem an appropriate place for people to have false experiences because words like these are given meaning by society and not actively learned.

[Pthagnar]

Here doesn't seem an appropriate place for people to have false experiences because words like these are given meaning by society and not actively learned.

I have no idea what that last sentence means, and no interpretatios of it make sense -- people can't be mistaken about Things About Society? Never mind that.

But here's why I wouldn't say what you said. Look below.

You said "here in Michigan blah blah"
linguoboy said "meanwhile, in the rest of the country, blah blah"
NOW, if you REALLY meant to restrict yourself, it would stop there. But it didn't. You went on:
"blah blah, just for you i asked ALL MY FRIENDS and EVEN CHICAGO [which is not in Michigan, so falls out of your "i only meant to talk about Michigan!" disclaimer] and THEY AGREE WITH ME".
Why would you make a claim like that unless you wanted to disagree with linguoboy?

[Kereb]

I once called this guy cracker repetitively for whole week. At first he was laughing and all, because it was weird, but by the end of the week he was almost sulking from it...

Interesting social experiment.

~Lyra

hahaha :D

[Shm Jay]

I don't particularly like it only because it makes me think of saltine crackers, but sure, if you really want to go ahead, I'm not offended.

We’ll call you Ritz Cracker for your upper-class tastes

[Kereb]

We’ll call you Ritz Cracker for your upper-class tastes

[Qwynegold]

I mean imagine, deep fried potato french fries, deep fried shrimp, deep fried mushrooms, deep fried tater tots. Your arteries are clogging as you read this. In my dream kitchen, I will have a built-in deep fryer.

Or cream your Potatoes, make Scampi with your Shrimp, throw out the Mushrooms because they are icky, and so forth, rather than subjecting yourself to a painful, early Demise by Heart Attack.

I like the mushroom part. :3

[Lyra]

I once called this guy cracker repetitively for whole week. At first he was laughing and all, because it was weird, but by the end of the week he was almost sulking from it...

Interesting social experiment.

~Lyra

hahaha

It's interesting because it shows that any word can be made derogatory. An insulting word all depends on the unleasher's intentions and the relation the receiver has with the word and how much he really cares. I kept emphasizing on the word, kept drilling it with a jeer-like tone... I guess and insult depends on if it 'gets' to the victim, if the victim lets it get to him.


~Lyra

[Torco]

I once called this guy cracker repetitively for whole week. At first he was laughing and all, because it was weird, but by the end of the week he was almost sulking from it...

Interesting social experiment.

~Lyra

hahaha

It's interesting because it shows that any word can be made derogatory. An insulting word all depends on the unleasher's intentions and the relation the receiver has with the word and how much he really cares. I kept emphasizing on the word, kept drilling it with a jeer-like tone... I guess and insult depends on if it 'gets' to the victim, if the victim lets it get to him.

You hamster! D<|

[Lyra]

I once called this guy cracker repetitively for whole week. At first he was laughing and all, because it was weird, but by the end of the week he was almost sulking from it...

Interesting social experiment.

~Lyra

hahaha

It's interesting because it shows that any word can be made derogatory. An insulting word all depends on the unleasher's intentions and the relation the receiver has with the word and how much he really cares. I kept emphasizing on the word, kept drilling it with a jeer-like tone... I guess and insult depends on if it 'gets' to the victim, if the victim lets it get to him.

You hamster! D<|

Whaaat? I like getting to people and making them pop xD
I normally choose bullies or people that pride in their moronics.

Not that I never got attacked... fun sport.

~Lyra

[Radius Solis]

And in most of the rest of the country, "cracker" is a synonym for "redneck". Seriously, get out in the world a little more.

Not to doubt you, but I do find it bizarre. Calling someone a cracker reads to me like the sort of thing you'd find substituted for real insults on Sesame Street, suitable for toddlers - like "poo-head", but more so. I mean, it's food. This is also the first I've heard of it in reference to rednecks; as far as I knew it was just supposed to be a general pejorative for anyone white, and in 34 years I haven't yet encountered it in the wild.

(I bet the fact I was raised in white-flight suburbia is showing really hard right now.)

[Torco]

I thought it had to do with the cracking of the whips of slavers