There is a thread in IMHO called Irksome names for children. It would stand to reason that the thread would be devoted to making fun of people’s names. The OP is devoted to making fun of people’s names. The posters in the thread have contributed 5 pages of posts making fun of people’s names.
Then, partway through the fifth page, Achernar posts the following:
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out from the thread title what the thread is about. The OP confirms it. And the thread goes in the expected direction. It’s pretty idiotic for Achernar to jump in on the fifth page and chide people for discussing the topic of the thread–highlighted in red, no less.
Then, Gazelle, feeling bad because of what Achernar said, felt the need to backpedal:
Gazelle’s heart was in the right place, but she had no need to feel bad about making fun of the name “Kaden” in a thread…devoted to making fun of names. Besides, (potentially offensive material to follow) Kaden is a patently ridiculous name
If you’re the type to be easily offended by posts making fun of people’s names, don’t read a thread devoted to it.
I agree with you Green Bean, to an extent. Whenever someone starts an ‘annoying names’ thread, I know racist comments will probably be made so I steer clear of them.
Incidently, right before I went on maternity leave I got into a little tiff with one of my favorite posters in one of those threads. I hope he and I are still cool…
Heck, I’'ve got no problem with people arguing with each other over what constitutes an “annoying name.” In fact, I’d be interested to hear some input on whether some of our ideas of what’s an annoying name are in fact based on racist ideas. (I understand why you might want to steer clear, though.)
In one thread, if I recall correctly, some clown posted that he discarded resumes that had any name like Sheniqua or Keisha because he wouldn’t want someone with a name like that working in his company.
If that doesn’t fit your definition of racist, I don’t know what does.
Actually, I wonder if the thread you mention was prompted by the study done at (wish I could remember what college), some east coast college (or colleges).
It was a study done by students in which they purposely used “young, black” names. The purpose was to see what responses were made to the resumes that supposedly belonged to a young black person.
Sorry I don’t have a cite, the only reason I’m aware of this is because a local black community group here in Anchorage picked up the study and used it here to determine what conclusions would be drawn by those types of names.
Incidentally, in the study I watched, it was not so much a “black” issue" as one of the image of the “young hip hopper”. Maturity and type of person were of concern to the interviewers, NOT Race.
It’s actually kind of an interesting study. I’ve always been a bit curious as to why people would go to such fantastical lengths to name their children something with an “eesha” or “rone, rel, ree etc” ending.
Anyway, I got off track and this was already a hijack. The committee doing the study here in town were themSELVES black (but of the Baby boomer or earlier generations) and found that they tended to have preconceived notions about those types of names.
That being said, I don’t think a dislike of the “eesha” names (for black girls) is anymore “racist” than a dislike of the “itney” names for whites.
Both types of names sound “affected” and silly. Nothing racist abou that.
This is my first time posting in this forum, so I apologize if I get it wrong. But here goes:
I understand what you’re saying about not reading something you’re not going to like. But that attitude doesn’t give you a free ride to say whatever you want, wherever you want. I think that that thread contained some hateful and offensive things, and as such, it belonged in The Pit, which I don’t read, because I won’t like it.
I try to keep an open mind about this sort of thing, so I did think it through. If I thought I was the only person who would be offended by it, I wouldn’t have made that request. But I meant what I said about a name being a very personal thing, and I believe you really can hurt someone’s feelings by making fun of it. I think maybe people don’t realize this, and they’re unintentionally hurting others.
Also, here’s the reason that I put the first sentence of that post in red. It was not because I thought my post was more important, but because I wanted people to see it. Most of that thread is not really directed to other people, and I think a lot of people posted without reading other people’s posts, which is fine with me. But this was a post that I wanted people to read, in the middle of a huge thread, and I knew that it would be hard to notice.
Oh, also, I would have posted earlier in the thread, when the posts I didn’t like were being made, but I honestly didn’t see the thread until that late. I read through everything carefully to make sure that what I had to say hadn’t been said yet. Seriously, I don’t know how I missed the thread up to that point, because this is a topic that’s important to me, and I usually try to read what people have to say on it.
Would you mind sharing which posts you found particularly offensive? (omit the names, if you want) I haven’t gone back through the thread, but upon first reading, it seemed like a pretty typical “annoying names” thread.
Okay, sure, but looking at my post to that thread, you can probably guess. Here are some:
“I HATE HATE HATE yuppie-ish wannabe WASPy names that make kids sound like banking firms. All trendy flavor-of-the-month names are pretty stupid, for that matter. Look, people, if you want to name your kid something “unique,” find something unique yourself, not something that makes you look like a mindless sheep.”
“These are just cruel, and the parents should be beaten about the head and shoulders severely. I mean, WTF are they thinking??”
“Bleccch! HUNTER! It’s just … it’s bloody ridiculous. Ditto, CODY. Down with CODY!”
“Bailey, whether male or female, to me, belongs on a dog, not a child. Blech.”
“brother in law named his kid Mercedes. It just sounds awful.”
Now, I’m going to say two things that seem contradictory, and I guess you’re going to have to trust that I mean both of them. First, I really do think it’s immature to say that someone has an ugly name, and I feel no qualms about speaking out against it. Second, it’s not my intention to make Gazelle or anyone feel bad, and I’m sorry if I did.
I don’t think those two things are contradictory at all. I know what you mean. I don’t find those statements particularly harsh considering the topic of the thread, but I think we can agree to disagree on that point.
Well that’s obvious. Get a clue, wouldja. You’re not supposed to rationally explain your side of the story here. You’re supposed to get irrational and call people nasty names and stuff. Try again.
Okay, here goes… Hey you, dumb-dumb-head! How was that?
Green Bean: Considering the topic of that thread, I think maybe it belonged in The Pit to begin with. I couldn’t decide at first whether to request that a moderator move it, or make the request that I did. I decided to make the less intrusive (IMO) request.
