"Canadian" is now code for "n-word"?!

[Cervaise]

I’m hungry. I’m going to crack open some Canadian toes.

[Otto]

@Canadian rabbit

I’ve heard of it second hand, from folks that work in restaurants. FWIW.

Well, that clinches it for me.

Sorry. So, so sorry. Could not resist.

[Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun]

This puts a whole new spin on Bill O’Reilly’s comments on Canadian restaurants:

@Bill O'Reilly

I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by Canadians, primarily Canadian patronship. It was the same as here in the U.S.A.

@Bill O'Reilly

There wasn’t one person in Mountie’s who was screaming, “M-Fer, I want more maple syrup." You know, I mean, everybody was — it was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white American suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.

[Cat_Whisperer]

This is one of the weirdest things I’ve heard lately. I find it offensive, not because being equated with black people is a bad thing, but Canadian means one thing, that you’re a citizen of the country of Canada, and I don’t much care for it meaning something else for lowdown people.

[BrainGlutton]

@Daithi Lacha

I move that we now call Puerto Ricans “New Zealanders!”
D
who is 1/2 New Zealander

“New Zealand: Australia’s Canada”

– from America: The Book, by John Stewart and TDS staff

[Ponder_Stibbons]

Man, I missed the “Canadian please” joke by two hours.

[andros]

.
I first heard the term used in reference to African-Americans around 1990 in restaurant work in Durham, NC. The chain of logic given, as I understand it, was derived from the one-liner that “canoes tip easier than blacks.” So: Black --> Shitty tippers --> Canoe --> Canadian.

But I have no idea if that’s even close to a reasonable etymology, and I have only anecdote to support it.
.

[ShadowFacts]

Once you go Canadian, you never go… back again?

[Rube_E.Tewesday]

@andros

.
I first heard the term used in reference to African-Americans around 1990 in restaurant work in Durham, NC. The chain of logic given, as I understand it, was derived from the one-liner that “canoes tip easier than blacks.” So: Black → Shitty tippers → Canoe → Canadian.

But I have no idea if that’s even close to a reasonable etymology, and I have only anecdote to support it.
.

There’s also the old joke in the service industry “What’s the difference between a Canadian and a canoe? A canoe tips.”

[Mr.Moto]

This is interesting. My wife used to bitch about non-tipping “Canadians” all of the time. Of course she had an excuse - she worked as a teenager in a pancake house in Plattsburgh, NY, and served an awful lot of Quebecois.

[Dante]

We used the same joke about Americans (specifically NYer’s over for shopping). And I’m with you on the Quebecois. Abysmal tippers.

[Weirddave]

@Liberal

That’s what happens when you suppress speech. The ideas remain. Only the words change.

You speak the truth.

[control-z]

@Paul in Saudi

You see, this is why I need to go to the White People meetings. Its not like they put this stuff in the newsletters.

I thought it must have been in one of the newsletters I didn’t get. Of course I’m too busy to go to the meetings too.

[Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew]

@control-z

I thought it must have been in one of the newsletters I didn’t get. Of course I’m too busy to go to the meetings too.

Well hell, I’m about ready to stop paying my dues.

[Chingon]

This has nothing to do with “suppressing” speech and everything to do with getting away with saying something racist with no social consequences.

I would figure libertarians would understand that much.

[BrainGlutton]

@Chingon

This has nothing to do with “suppressing” speech and everything to do with getting away with saying something racist with no social consequences.

I would figure libertarians would understand that much.

Liberal’s point seems to be that the PC social and political demonization of the n-word (whether that counts as “suppression” is debatable) was always futile because they can always find another word.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@BrainGlutton

Liberal’s point seems to be that the PC social and political demonization of the n-word (whether that counts as “suppression” is debatable) was always futile because they can always find another word.

Well, sure, but if the force pushing the word nigger underground is public disgust over its use, it’s hardly been “suppressed”.

You can still say it on the radio, among much else.

[Chingon]

@BrainGlutton

Liberal’s point seems to be that the PC social and political demonization of the n-word (whether that counts as “suppression” is debatable) was always futile because they can always find another word.

What’s the alternative? These words are used specifically to elicit an emotional reaction. The PC patrol didn’t make people stop using “nigger”, societal pressure did. Stopping racist language is like killing cockroaches, when you turn the light on they scatter and new words get used, but that doesn’t mean you should stop pointing out people are using racist terms.

It just seems this was an opportunity for Lib and others to blame the mythical PC machine for something else.

I mean seriously, people are using racist code words because they want to talk bad about other races without being held accountable, PC or no.

[Spoons]

@detop

I guess it puts a new meaning to Pierre Vallières’ book : White Niggers of America

I gotta say, this is priceless. Good one, detop!

[OtakuLoki]

Whether you call it suppression, or social pressure, the fact remains that people will find ways to be express their offensive, or unpopular, views one way or another. I don’t agree that that means that it’s useless to use that pressure to change word usage, but it is still infuriating.

Though I’d never heard of Canadian in that context before. The coded version I’ve heard has always been chocolate.