Of course it is, honky.
That depends: if your parents got divorced, would they still be related? If so, then maybe…
Hey, keep Wisconsin out of this…
Either my Google-fu is failing me, or the Internet is not really the compendium of all knowledge that Apple 1984 ad promised, because I cannot find two quotes relevant to this discussion.
One was from an African-American linguist, who said “the problem with white people saying ‘nigger’ is that they don’t pronounce it correctly”. What he meant, I think, was that using that word - or any such loaded term - requires awareness of and sensitivity to subtle social cues, that are not easily accessible to people who are not intimately familiar with the specific culture.
Which ties into the other thing I cannot find: an essay by folklorist Roger Welsch. published in Natural History magazine years ago, in which he talks about in-group rituals and how use of a slur can be a marker of identity in that group. It’s the “I can bitch about my family, but don’t you dare” principle. So I can refer to myself as a “redneck cracker” amongst my white, Southern friends and it can be a sign of inclusion; but if, say, an African-American calls me that, it has a whole different resonance - even if it’s used in friendliness or jest.
By the way, you know that “cracker” doesn’t simply mean “white person”, right? It’s synonymous with “redneck”, and means a rural Southern white of lower status. Think Bob Ewell in To Kill A Mockingbird. He could be called a “cracker”; Atticus Finch wouldn’t be.
Except that wikipedia article is so out of date that it considers the 1980’s “recent”
It’s still pretty offensive in the UK. Not sure about Australia. Of course, when I explain to people that I’m Indian I often say “dots, not feathers.” It’s okay if I say it, of course.
I suppose it could be offensive to American Indians.
No it doesn’t. It refers to a 1980s show as “an early example.” “More recently” refers to other shows since then, some as recent as 2010. You don’t seem to have actually read the article.
What’s your point? That wog is no longer offensive anywhere?
My point is that since the 1980’s, “wog” is not used as an offensive term in Australia.
Since Alex Jesaulenko (1970) the wogs ARE Australian. It certainly was self-adopted as a non-offensive term (2000: “who let the wogs out? {Woof, woof, woof, woof}”, but even that has disappeared.
It might be offensive if it was used as an offensive term: so might “educated”, “smart”,“strong” or “friendly”, but it is not normally used in that way.
What year do you think Romper Stomper came out?
Several times in the store I’ve been asked “Do you sell crackers?”
I’ve always wanted to reply “No, slavery was abolished over a hundred years ago,” instead of “Check aisle 8.”