I can’t remember ever being insulted by anyone black, but white insults are so unimaginative (I think there are only about five of them) that they’re hardly worth notice. Except for Westley in “The Princess Bride.” Now there’s a guy who could hurl and insult!
British comedians can do it, and so can people who know how to imitate them. 
Yeah, it’s not even meant to be a blow to you as an individual. It’s how they see the world. What’s really frightening about the kind of thing you describe is that they’re not consciously insulting anybody. They just think “ghetto” stuff is crappy, or black people are stupid.
And, oh, yeah, white people consciously or unconsciously tear down other white people all the time. I certainly had my self-image screwed up by people’s assumptions growing up, & this was supposedly my own “race.”
Ah, that’s it. That’s what I was going for in my first post. Thank you. One day I’ll learn to write that well.
I’d ask for that was a sig, but I love my current one too much.
It sounds like the people you met are a bunch of ignorant racist asshats. (Is that insulting like a white guy? 
) I don’t even know if they realized how insulting they were being.
Larry. See, I can’t honestly say it’s racist, though. Almost all of these are memorable because they were weird ass racial/class tinged comments taken out of context in otherwise perfectly innocuous everyday interactions. Some of them – like my supervisor struggling to come up with small talk and common ground over lunch, or my art teacher’s worrying about me going to live with my father – were people significantly older than me, who had looked out for me. The comments about how ghetto “Moesha” sounds and the girl who ohhed and *ahhed * over all the original artwork all over my grandparents’ five bedroom three bathroom house were just ignit. If my personality were less forgiving, I’d have reacted muuuuch more angrily. When dealing with racial matters I try not to get pissed as a first reaction, especially when its someone who’s obviously trying to provoke me.
Askia, your experiences given are about,(like your term)," just ignit", operating from stereotypical mindset, whether they mean well or not. Bound to be frustrating.
I think this is a fine jumping off point, though: your quote " If my personality were less forgiving, I’d have reacted muuuuch more angrily. When dealing with racial matters I try not to get pissed as a first reaction, especially when its someone who’s obviously trying to provoke me."
Monstro’s fine post in mind: I’ve found that insult in Black American tradition is well-honed and incredibly astute in framing the insult with double-entendre and wordplay, with allowance for the insultee to come back and show their mettle. Within culture, you’re allowed to say your piece back, and you better be good at it, cause everyone might hoot at you otherwise. When insulting the powers that be, one needs to be more nuanced, to avoid the fallout, and leave them scratching their heads as to what was really said. A beautiful art.
White people have never had to develop this nuance, and are allowed to harrangue and insult without fear of having their, or their family’s, asses supremely kicked into the ditch. It can be in more your face without the same reproach Black commentators have had to deal with.
The majority of those “white” sample insults in this thread sound like they came straight from “Insults for Dummies.” When someone calls you a “fuckhead,” he’s really saying, “I don’t have the vocabulary, creativity, or English skills to say what I want to say, so I’ll fling out an old, trite, completely meaningless phrase that used to have shock value a few decades ago.”
Casual male-bonding insults (“How are you doing, you ugly old bastard?”) are intentionally banal, and aren’t meant to hurt, or even to have a point.
Trying to insult someone for real with a ridiculous word like “douchebag” is pointless. If you want to tell someone that he’s a loud, arrogant, obnoxious, puffed-up clod who’s monopolizing the conversation with jokes that aren’t funny and observations that miss the point, say that. Don’t just call him an asshat.
The insult game that the black guys play (there’s a word for it, but I can’t remember what it’s called) is a whole different story. There, it’s not about accuracy or making it hurt for real. It’s all about being creative. It’s an art form. It’s enjoyable entertainment. It makes you want to buy a drink for the winner.
Just for the record, it’s “pantywaist,” not “pantywaste.” The older generation will remember pantywaists as child’s underwear where the shirt buttoned to the underpants. We’re talking about serious sissy stuff here, which is how the word pantywaist came to refer to someone wimpy.
I know that. But Franken chose not to rise above it, but rather start slinging third-grade playground insults himself. It’s only one of many examples, of course.
Come on, guys. It’s Charlie Murphy. In the contxt of the actual bit, I felt like “white” did just mean that he hadn’t been exposed to that kind of humour a lot and that it was infused with a sense of self-entitlement (all “white guilt” aside) and absolute disregard for what others and their judgment.
Fun Fact!: The Shakespearean insult “A plague upon you!” doesn’t seem very hurtful to modern people, until you consider that during Shakespeare’s time, the plague was very real; most people lost at least one loved one to the plague. Saying “A plague upon you!” to an englishman 400 years ago is equivalent to saying “I hope you die of AIDS!” to a gay man today.
True enough. Like when George Costanza had to entertain the Texans.
Since Charlie was familiar w/ the guy, I still am skeptical of the lack-of-exposure aspect, but the sense of utter, and utterly sincere, contempt in the insult really came through in the story. I’m getting the impression that “insulting like a white guy” has to do with communicating sincerity (sp?) and contempt, as though the insultee really is no better than a douchebag. (Not that I have anything against douchebags.)
If I really want to insult someone, I try to get into their head a bit before I speak and look for vulnerabilities that they can’t do anything about. For example, I once told a young man that I was annoyed with that he had below average intelligence and that he would die broke, fat and stupid. I phrased it just that way.
It does no good to reference all purpose and overused general insults. The real target is their self-esteem and self image.
Hi, Mom!
HOOLIGAN: So I tell the swamp donkey to sock it before I give her a trunky in the tradesman’s entrance and have her lick me yardballs!
COOPER: Wow. You guys are on a completely different level of swearing here.
Though Mr. Barnard is a good one, too:
“Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke you vacuous, toffy-nosed, malodorous pervert!”
[John Cleese as the Angry Frenchman]
“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!”
“I fart in your general direction!”
[/John Cleese as the Angry Frenchman]
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
And regarding those “unintendedly racist/condescending” insults described above - sorry, but I don’t buy it. Even if the person isn’t fully conscious of the implications of what they are saying, its still some passive/aggressive bullshit and they should be called on it - or at least the person on the receiving end should take note about the quality of the insulter’s character.
[John Cleese as the Angry Frenchman]
“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!”
“I fart in your general direction!”
[/John Cleese as the Angry Frenchman]
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
And regarding those “unintendedly racist/condescending” insults described above - sorry, but I don’t buy it. Even if the person isn’t fully conscious of the implications of what they are saying, its still some passive/aggressive bullshit and they should be called on it - or at least the person on the receiving end should take note about the quality of the insulter’s character.
Rats.
Sorry for the double-post - and wouldja believe it if I told you I even checked to see if my post made it before I tried again? :smack:
Yeah. That’s why I read “He insults like a white guy,” as a terrible, terrible thing to say about somebody. Viscious and intentionally hurtful.
Gee, I wish I could insult like a black man. I’m stuck being unnuanced and artless because of my culture. 
Because you have a rather than a :rolleyes:, I thought I just might note that if you consider George Costanza’s experience vis-à-vis Charlie Murphy’s, the absence of nuance is in the eye of the beholder. You’ve got all the art & nuance you need with body language and inflection. I believe in you!
Yeah, but those are usually too subtle while my speaking style is too dry. I don’t know how many times* I’ve been at a company party and a co-worker’s wife turned to her husband and said, “**drop ** seems so quiet and polite but then he lets off a real zinger. Why didn’t you tell me he was so funny?”
“He is? I never noticed.”
I’m condemned to a life of casting my pearls before swine, but if I could rip off never-before-told “Yo mama” jokes at the drop of a hat that’d be sweet!
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- Okay, I lied. It was twice, but that’s more than once and my egomania says that makes it a consensus.