# Is the word 'slope' a racial slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576 "2003-07-01T14:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![andymurph64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@andymurph64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andymurph64)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/21 "2003-07-02T15:35:32Z")
There are many Australian people on the BB and so would explain why they do it. The replacing of words really is humorous sometime… “The documents show that the panzer on the slope of the hill was shelled by Molotov Cocktails” comes across as… “The docbodyfluidents show that the panzer on the racial slur of the hill was shecked by Molotov Chickentails” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/22 "2003-07-02T16:25:01Z")
So, in that case, one calculates the racial slur of a line by dividing its rise by its run. Likewise the intensity of a grade’s racial slur is usually stated in percent, which is the percent of increase in altitude per unit of horizontal distance. In addition, one can calculate the racial slur at any instant of a curve by suitable application of differential calculus. And let us not forget in winter how much fun it is to ski down the racial slurs, although some of us do have to admit that we stick to the bunny racial slurs, but the hotdoggers prefer to take their snowboards down the most extreme racial slurs they can find. And let us never forget Sir Edmund Hillary’s magnificent ascent up the racial slur of Everest until he reached the summit!!! ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/23 "2003-07-02T17:55:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andymurph64 \* > I came across it because I said ‘slippery slope’ which came across as ‘slippery racial slur’. I did not like the way it came out ☹ Something similar happened to me with the word “squid”. Is there some list of frequently-censored words somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Headcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@Headcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headcoat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/24 "2003-07-02T17:55:39Z")
Whats the origin of this term and what asian feature is it referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/25 "2003-07-02T18:18:19Z")
My take is that it relates to the shape of the eyes. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/26 "2003-07-02T18:54:54Z")
Interestingly, despite the fact that it’s mostly Australians who have heard of this usage, the _Oxford English Dictionary_ lists the term as American in origin. > [@](#): > > **slope** > > **6.** U.S. slang. \*\*An oriental; more recently, _spec._ a Vietnamese. (Abusive.) Cf. _slopehead_ s.v. SLOPE- a, SLOPY n., and SLANT _n._[sup]1[/sup] 10. > > **1948** G. H. JOHNSTON _Death Takes Small Bites_ v. 121 He seemed a hell of a lot more concerned with his bunch of flea-bitten slopes and his pots of medicine. **1966** _Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1964_ XLII. 45 Slope and slopehead were the most popular terms applied to all ‘indigenous personnel’ [in Korea in 1950-1]. **1966** _New Statesman_ 25 Mar. 436/3 He confirms the soldiers’ contempt for the Vietnamese (‘slopes’ and ‘gooks’). **1969** [see **DINK** n.3]. **1978** R. THOMAS _Chinaman’s Chance_ iii. 35 All the Chinaman’s gotta do is get into Saigon… Once he’s in nobody’s gonna notice him, because all those slopes look alike. Interestingly, however, the first citation in the _OED_’s list is from an Australian author, George Johnston (any Aussies out there read _My Brother Jack_ in school?). ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/27 "2003-07-02T20:00:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mhendo \* > \*\*Interestingly, despite the fact that it’s mostly Australians who have heard of this usage, the _Oxford English Dictionary_ lists the term as American in origin.Interestingly, however, the first citation in the _OED_’s list is from an Australian author, George Johnston (any Aussies out there read _My Brother Jack_ in school?). \*\* Next someone will come up with the fact that it was first used by Pvt. Joe Bob Willis, whose home town was Moody’s Crossroads, AL. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/28 "2003-07-02T20:02:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\*Next someone will come up with the fact that it was first used by Pvt. Joe Bob Willis, whose home town was Moody’s Crossroads, AL. :rolleyes: \*\* Colour me confused. I may have missed something, but i don’t quite get your reference, or your intended point. ---
**Author:** ![hapaXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@hapaXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hapaXL)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/29 "2003-07-02T22:37:32Z")
My recollection, which is rather foggy and for which I can produce absolutely no evidence, is that “slope” is a term that originated in the eugenics movement when Western scientists were trying to classify and rank the races. One of the characteristics that placed the Mongoloid (Asian) race closer to the gorillas is what was perceived to be a “sloped” forehead in Asian people. Seeing that the usage of the word seems to have occured only after WWII, I wonder whether the racist propoganda about the Japanese featured the term somewhere. I imagine films or literature talking about how to identify the Japanese: “…with their squinty eyes and sloped foreheads.” For those who know [the history](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0394751728/qid=1057185142/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-4395573-0439845?v=glance&s=books) , this scenario doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Anybody with further evidence in this direction? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576/30 "2003-07-02T23:06:17Z")
So what does the BB do to the word “slant”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-slope-a-racial-slur/185576.md?page=1)