# A blatant ethnic slur by Tranquilis **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 17, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574 "2002-05-17T16:06:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/1 "2002-05-17T16:06:06Z")
In this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=115619](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=115619), **Tranquilis** posits that an Italian surname makes a person likely to be involved in organized crime. I think this comment was made mindlessly and hastily, not maliciously, and I don’t want to come off as hypersensitive, so I’ll wait for a retraction before I get out the flamethrower. ---
**Author:** ![Aristides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Aristides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aristides)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/2 "2002-05-17T16:17:52Z")
Um, I think that the post in question is just saying that the person is connected, not that if you have an Italian surname you are involved. I don’t see any thing that suggests that he thinks every Italian is involved in organized crime. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/3 "2002-05-17T16:23:18Z")
“I don’t want to come off as hypersensitive,” he/she said, starting a Pit thread over the poorest excuse to get offended yet seen on the SDMB. This OP is lame. So lame. Oh so so so lame. Could I just point out that **Tranquillis** was talking about a specific person? Not just a person, but what sounds like a friend? Eh, I’m already bored explaining why this OP is lame. LAME!!! ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/4 "2002-05-17T16:32:12Z")
Damn those WOPS are oversensitive! ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/5 "2002-05-17T16:34:21Z")
You are coming off as hypersensitive. I’ve a _Sicilian_ surname, and when I want to play with a few minds, I hint that my family is in the hauling business. I certainly did not read that as an indictment of all Italians being members of La Cosa Nostra. YMMV, but I think you are clutching at straws. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/6 "2002-05-17T16:54:02Z")
Hypersensitive, IMO. My Italian-descent husband makes jokes frequently about his dad’s line of work and possible “connections”. (He’s not connected. Really.) When I read **Tranquilis** ’ post earlier this morning, I took it in that spirit. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/7 "2002-05-17T16:54:13Z")
May this thread sleep with the fishes. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/8 "2002-05-17T17:07:46Z")
My SO once flew from Las Vegas to New York next to a large, swarthy gentleman in an expensive suit. They chatted, for much of the flight. When she asked him what he did for a living, he replied in a deadpan Brooklyn accent, “I represent a consortium of independent businessmen in the greater Las Vegas area.” She’s still wondering. I mean, she _thinks_ he was yanking her chain . . . ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/9 "2002-05-17T17:37:08Z")
I look vaguely Italian but I was born in Yorkshire, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/10 "2002-05-17T17:39:47Z")
OK, I’ve been ably defended already, but let me put this to bed. Angel is, in fact an individual, and she is, in fact, of 100% Italian extraction, and she does, in fact, have relatives whom are convicted members of organized crime. She is funny-coy about it, and I have, in fact, used her _exact_ self description. She is, in fact, a tough Italian (American) girl from a hard family. Deal with it. In no manner do I believe that all Italian-descended people are members of organized crime, any more that all Scottish-descended people are skinflints. Nor did I actually say or imply so. I merely speculated how SuperTech would handle dealling with a tough, hard girl who knew her shit. **Hyperelastic** , I’m sorry that you’re offended, but I take no responsibility for your offence. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/11 "2002-05-17T17:42:44Z")
Oh, BTW: My very first Pitting, that I didn’t start myself! 😃 Hooray! Can I join the Clique[sup]tm[/sup] now? ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/12 "2002-05-17T17:49:14Z")
what was that about Scottish people? WHY I AUGHTA… now i’m offended. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/13 "2002-05-17T17:55:55Z")
Heh! **jar** , my first name is **Laird**. Why d’ya think I picked on the Scots? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/14 "2002-05-17T18:11:48Z")
I’m Irish, does that make me a Brooklyn cop? ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/15 "2002-05-17T18:16:21Z")
no, it makes you a lousy drunk catholic ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/16 "2002-05-17T18:29:47Z")
> [@](#): > > My very first Pitting, that I didn’t start myself! Hooray! Can I join the Clique now? _:: Jodi hands Tranq his fez and shows him the secret handshake ::_ ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/17 "2002-05-17T18:59:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tranquilis \* > \*\*Oh, BTW: > > My very first Pitting, that I didn’t start myself! 😃 > > Hooray! Can I join the Clique[sup]tm[/sup] now? \*\* No. You haven’t been initiated yet. And you can’t be initiated at the moment since we’re out of eels. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/18 "2002-05-17T19:05:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jarbabyj \* > \*\*no, it makes you a lousy drunk catholic \*\* How dare you! Most of us Irish are _expert_ drunk Catholics! ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/19 "2002-05-17T19:13:58Z")
::throws back a Miller Lite:: youwannafightaboutit? ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574/20 "2002-05-17T19:26:39Z")
Damn! I’ve got the Fez and the Handshake, but no Eels. Will lampreys do? How about raw clams? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blatant-ethnic-slur-by-tranquilis/109574.md?page=2)