# Is calling Muslims "Kebab" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498 "2013-01-17T12:36:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheCrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@TheCrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCrow)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/1 "2013-01-17T12:36:23Z")
A couple times I saw Muslims were called “Kebabs” and Islam was called “Kebabness” on the internet. I don’t know whether it’d be offensive IRL. Perhaps, it’s just an online joke, originated from 4CHAN or something similar. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/2 "2013-01-17T12:41:57Z")
I think most ethnic groups would rather not be referred to by the name of [a food item that originates in their culture.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebab) See for example [kraut](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraut) (although I did once know a fellow whose actual last name was Kraut). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/3 "2013-01-17T12:45:23Z")
Can you think of a reason anyone would refer to an Islamic person as a “kebab” that was not intended to be dismissive or denigrating? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/4 "2013-01-17T12:58:48Z")
Yeah, if it’s one person’s nickname it may just be harmless fun between friends, but whenever strangers are using a (non-standard) term for people of a given ethnicity, it usually has some kind of pejorative nature. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/5 "2013-01-17T19:37:16Z")
I have never heard of this term being used for Muslims, but I can’t imagine it being used as anything but an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/6 "2013-01-17T19:38:35Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I have never heard of this term being used for Muslims, but I can’t imagine it being used as anything but an insult. Likewise on both counts. “Towelhead,” “haji” or “sand nigger” are, in my unfortunate experience, much more common. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/7 "2013-01-17T19:40:29Z")
I’m not going to shout “Racist!”, with no context to the comments, but it’s probably a safe assumption that yes, it’s racist. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7feea3/32.png) [@Old\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Red)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/8 "2013-01-17T19:56:29Z")
Of course it is offensive. And why not? I find it deeply offensive to be referred to as ‘Steak & Kidney Pie’ or, even worse, ‘Old Mutton Chops’. No sir, the days of Caucasian humour have long passed, thanks to the importation of ‘Political Correctness’ in most Western countries. Want to tell a joke…Have you heard the one about the Englishman, the Irishman and the Scotsman…forget it. Today everyone is entitled to feel offended about something - no matter how trivial. The next time someone call me a ‘White Man’ they will have a Writ on their doorstep the following day. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/9 "2013-01-17T20:03:35Z")
It sounds like a juvenile and desperate attempt to gin up a brand new offensive term out of thin air. Perhaps the plan is to throw it around a whole lot, wait until someone finally gets offended, then make a big huff about how one can’t use a perfectly good word for a food anyomore because of that gosh darn “political correctness”. It could be a South Park plot. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/10 "2013-01-17T20:11:20Z")
There is no hard and fast rule about these things, context is everything. Perhaps the terms were being used ironically? That said, a stranger calling a group of anonymous Muslims “Kebabs” could be almost as insulting as referring to black people as “Monkeys”. > [@Old\_Red](#): > > No sir, the days of Caucasian humour have long passed, thanks to the importation of ‘Political Correctness’ in most Western countries. Want to tell a joke…Have you heard the one about the Englishman, the Irishman and the Scotsman…forget it. That’s not a good comparison. We might well be offended at those jokes if the English, Scottish and Irish had suffered as much recent prejudice as Muslims have. Lets play it safe, and stick to insulting lawyers. > [@Old\_Red](#): > > Today everyone is entitled to feel offended about something - no matter how trivial. The next time someone call me a ‘White Man’ they will have a Writ on their doorstep the following day. The writ would slide down the slippery slope fallacy you have installed outside your door and be washed down the drain. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/11 "2013-01-17T20:27:59Z")
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with roast beef, but if a Frenchman calls a Brit a “rosbif,” he probably did not mean it in a complement to English cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7feea3/32.png) [@Old\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Red)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/12 "2013-01-17T20:46:46Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > That’s not a good comparison. We might well be offended at those jokes if the English, Scottish and Irish had suffered as much recent prejudice as Muslims have. Lets play it safe, and stick to insulting lawyers. > > The writ would slide down the slippery slope fallacy you have installed outside your door and be washed down the drain. Oh for goodness sake, can’t you see parody when it hits you between the eyes? You really do need to lighten up. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/13 "2013-01-17T21:57:31Z")
Didn’t read like parody Old Red. That’s the thing that many people don’t understand about humor, it must be humorous to qualify as such. Not quite "between the eyes. " ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/14 "2013-01-18T02:41:39Z")
Moved to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/15 "2013-01-18T11:28:04Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with roast beef, but if a Frenchman calls a Brit a “rosbif,” he probably did not mean it in a complement to English cooking. Typical Frog behavior. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/16 "2013-01-18T12:07:59Z")
Kebab is the best he can come up with? I am a lot more insulted by whichever ass whore in this thread wanted to insult lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/17 "2013-01-18T16:17:25Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I am a lot more insulted by whichever ass whore in this thread wanted to insult lawyers. Then you miscomprehended. I said it was _safe_ to insult lawyers, not that I approved of the practise. I was making an oblique point about when people feel they can play to the crowd. What do you call an obese Texan, Porsche-driving lawyer with an NRA bumper sticker? Anything you like. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/18 "2013-01-18T16:22:19Z")
of course it’s intended to be offensive. Good grief, why is this even a question? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/19 "2013-01-18T16:45:24Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Kebab is the best he can come up with? > > I am a lot more insulted by whichever ass whore in this thread wanted to insult lawyers. In my experience, the people who say the worst thing about lawyers, are lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498/20 "2013-01-18T16:49:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > In my experience, the people who say the worst thing about lawyers, are lawyers. In my experience, it’s judges.😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-calling-muslims-kebab-offensive/647498.md?page=2)