# "Injun" is derogatory? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827 "2012-02-14T17:48:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/41 "2012-02-16T11:39:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Even in the Pit hate speech is verboten. You mean you can’t hate in the Pit? Boy, those mods have their work cut out for them! ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/42 "2012-02-16T18:40:49Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > You mean you can’t hate in the Pit? Boy, those mods have their work cut out for them! Hating is allowed, it’s _mentioning_ it that’s forbidden. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/43 "2012-02-16T19:25:53Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > The word Indian is (imo) derogatory. It’s incorrect, and it was a mistake to begin with, and continuing to call Native Americans Indians is somewhat ignorant. Indians are from India. Accept that most Native Americans prefer it. As blacks prefer “black” to African American. That is, most do. So I wouldn’t sweat it. Unless I was in a sweat lodge… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/44 "2012-02-16T19:33:01Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Per the great reference Urban Dictionary it is a [pubic hair wig](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=merkin). Apparently mercury was used to treat STD’s, which would cause pubic hair loss, hence a merkin was used as a wig to cover the now bare, um, nether region. > [@Colibri](#): > > Per the even greater reference, Peter Bowler’s _The Completely Superior Person’s Book of Words_: [Tsk. Nobody mentioned the greatest reference of all?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/743/what-is-a-merkin) Though admittedly Cecil was pretty much just Googling this one. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/45 "2012-02-16T21:14:34Z")
So which is it? “Often offensive” (which implies it’s sometimes not offensive), “offensive”, or “extremely offensive”? It can’t be all three. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/46 "2012-02-16T23:33:50Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > So which is it? “Often offensive” (which implies it’s sometimes not offensive), “offensive”, or “extremely offensive”? It can’t be all three. Sure it can. Depending on tone, context, etc. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/47 "2012-02-16T23:47:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Macmillan dictionaries are primarily published for students, so they include usage instructions and so on. Specifically, for students from other countries who don’t speak English as a native language. It’s useful for explaining things that native speakers take for granted, such as the difference between _few_ and _a few_, or how to use _just_, _already_, and _yet_. The cultural subtleties that determine whether a word is offensive is hard enough for native speakers, apparently, let alone for those who don’t have the advantage of a lifetime within the society. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/48 "2012-02-17T09:28:37Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > The word Indian is (imo) derogatory. It’s incorrect, and it was a mistake to begin with, and continuing to call Native Americans Indians is somewhat ignorant. Indians are from India. By this argument we shouldn’t be calling Slavs _Slavs_ because they’re not slaves, the Slavs shouldn’t be calling the Germans _nemets_ because they’re not mute, the Germans shouldn’t be calling the Swiss _Schweizer_ because they don’t all come from Schwyz, and so on ad nauseam. Fortunately etymology does not determine the literal meaning of a word. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/49 "2012-02-17T18:58:50Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > “Context, context, context.” > > If a potato, it’s OK. > > Washington football player–still OK, but contentious. > > If you applied it to a current poster on the SDMB with which you have a problem, then probably not OK. Unless they are badly sunburned. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/50 "2012-02-17T19:32:04Z")
If a Native American gets a sunburn… eh, nevermind. More of a GQ question. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/51 "2012-02-17T20:02:53Z")
Joey Belladonna can still wear his hat, right? Grandfather clause? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/52 "2012-02-18T11:35:55Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Hating is allowed, it’s _mentioning_ it that’s forbidden. Not sure what your getting at. Seems to me that hate speech is fine as long as its in the form of well constructed sentences/paragraphs. OTOH a couple of words and the so-called “hate speech” become the baby-mama of the race card… or whatever card serves the desired purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/53 "2012-02-18T16:01:34Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Not sure what your getting at… Umm… Woosh? I didn’t have a point. You made a joke. I responded with another one. Unless your previous post had a serious point, and I missed it, in which case the woosh is on me. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/54 "2012-02-19T05:54:26Z")
The term Native American shouldnt be allowed in GQ because its not factual; humans arent native to the Americas. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/55 "2012-02-19T06:01:01Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > The term Native American shouldnt be allowed in GQ because its not factual; humans arent native to the Americas. They aren’t? :dubious: Cite, please? Seeing’s how they’ve been ‘in situ’ for at least the last ten thousand years, IMHO you can’t get much more “native” than that. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/56 "2012-02-19T06:10:51Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > They aren’t? :dubious: > > Cite, please? > > Seeing’s how they’ve been ‘in situ’ for at least the last ten thousand years, IMHO you can’t get much more “native” than that. > **[Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data](https://languages.oup.com/)** > > Explore Oxford Languages, the home of world-renowned language data. an animal or plant indigenous to a place: the marigold is a native of southern Europe Humans arent indigenous to the Americas. Native American conveys more of a political twist than a factual one. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/57 "2012-02-19T12:31:42Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > [Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/native?q=native) > > an animal or plant indigenous to a place: the marigold is a native of southern Europe > > Humans arent indigenous to the Americas. Neither are any of the animals or plants there. If you trace their lineage back far enough, they all come from somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/58 "2012-02-19T15:01:55Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Neither are any of the animals or plants there. If you trace their lineage back far enough, they all come from somewhere else. Like Pangaea. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/59 "2012-02-19T16:01:43Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Neither are any of the animals or plants there. If you trace their lineage back far enough, they all come from somewhere else. Evidence please. Brazil has the greatest biodiversity in the world. This IMO would indicate that it has the most native animal and plant species in the world. > **[Wildlife of Brazil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_of_Brazil)** > > The wildlife of Brazil comprises all naturally occurring animals, plants, and fungi in the South American country. Home to 60% of the Amazon Rainforest, which accounts for approximately one-tenth of all > species in the world, Brazil is considered to have the greatest biodiversity of any country on the planet. It has the most known species of plants (60,000), freshwater fish (3,000), amphibians (1,188), snakes (430), insects (90,000) and mamm... “Brazil is considered to have the greatest biodiversity of any country on the planet.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/60 "2012-02-19T17:23:22Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Humans arent indigenous to the Americas. Native American conveys more of a political twist than a factual one. Hmm. Going to Merriam-Webster for indigenous we find > [@](#): > > 1: produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment \<_indigenous_ plants\> \ While humans migrated to the Americas from elsewhere, the many human cultures that were found in the Americas when Europeans showed up clearly arose in the Americas and since a people is identified by its culture, native appears to be quite accurate. The references to the American indigenes generally refers to Aztec, Chinook, Inca, Iroquois, or Yanomamo, etc. peoples, not general humanity. (In fact, if one looks at the “Native American” _vs_ “Indian” discussions, one discovers that often a person will express a desire to be identified by his or her tribal appellation, accepting “Indian” as a general term, but not really preferring it.) Your argument would have greater traction, (though it would still fail), if you noted that Indian appears to be preferred by the people so identified, but like Negro and colored, Native American is simply not currently popular among that group while being neither pejorative nor inaccurate. (Using the word “human” in place of persons or people would appear to be the “political” effort as it attempts to set a different standard for gauging whether or not a word conveys correct meaning, regardless of the word’s ability to actually convey that meaning. 😉 ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827.md?page=4)