# Let me be real clear: this message board does NOT need conservatives **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 28, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474 "2021-07-28T02:12:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 30
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/584 "2021-08-02T16:46:10Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I am aware that note everyone likes to be introspective, though; some people are afraid of what they’ll find if they look too deep inside. Underground parking? Something tells me that if I accused you of being a fatuous bore, it wouldn’t be your first time. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/585 "2021-08-02T16:48:44Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Don’t insult my intelligence by feigning ignorance about what that anecdote is meant to convey. I’m genuinely trying, but you’re not making it easy for me. Maybe if you made less stupid arguments it would help? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/586 "2021-08-02T16:50:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Maybe if you made less stupid arguments it would help? I’m trying to be sensitive to my target audience. There’s only so much I can do. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/587 "2021-08-02T16:53:11Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Something tells me that if I accused you of being a fatuous bore, it wouldn’t be your first time. I think the fact that you’re this wound up over the idea of examining American culture with a critical eye is really telling. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/588 "2021-08-02T16:57:07Z")
Who the hell is Noone? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/589 "2021-08-02T17:03:28Z")
Tell me again how this board would suffer without these voices? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/590 "2021-08-02T17:03:47Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I think the fact that you’re this wound up over the idea of examining American culture with a critical eye is really telling. Wait… you think I’m too afraid to cast a critical eye at American culture and explore the role my ancestors may have played in the history of black slavery and oppression? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/591 "2021-08-02T17:08:26Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Wait… you think I’m too afraid to cast a critical eye at American culture and explore the role my ancestors may have played in the history of black slavery and oppression?. I have no idea, I don’t really remember interacting with you outside of this one thread and that’s not a conclusion I’d jump to. I’m just noting my confusion at the fact that you are so opposed to a discussion about why American writers, when picking a phrase meant to not be insulting but to evoke other more vulgar phrases in a humorous way, settled on a phrase whose roots lie in slavery. I think figuring out why this is, or noticing instances of that sort of behavior, is interesting, and may tell us some subtle things about race relations in America. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/592 "2021-08-02T17:09:32Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Tell me again how this board would suffer without these voices? We would be missing their valuable perspective that discussion is a dumb waste of time and introspection is for wimps? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/593 "2021-08-02T17:12:50Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > If you post on an internationally public board a term that’s offensive anywhere that board is being read, then while you may have done so in entirely unintentional and unblameable ignorance, if somebody who does know about the offense points it out to you I don’t think that a response amounting to (not a direct quote) ‘I don’t care if somebody’s insulted as long as they’re not from around here’ is a really good look. You have people here _choosing_ to post and read an international board knowing full well that they may come across language, words, terms etc. that cause offense in one culture or context but not in another. Expecting people using an inoffensive term to change how they use their language seems arrogant. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/594 "2021-08-02T17:15:10Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > > [@QuickSilver](#): > > > > It’s a bit obnoxious to imply that everyone who posts has to do so being mindful of an American cultural & historical perspective. > > What’s funny is that he’s a Brit living in China. Does political correctness there mean not criticising the Party? Thanks @DemonTree. I don’t completely follow the joke, but I’m choosing to parse it as you speaking up for me. @QuickSilver I’m not suggesting anyone has to do anything. The discussion was about what are safe words to use and I explained why “cotton”-whatever may cause offense in some cases and is best avoided. Think of it like the word “oriental”. I grew up saying and hearing “oriental”. In the UK it was the standard way to refer to people from (South) East Asia, as “Asian” was typically shorthand for people from the Indian subcontinent. It had no negative connotations that I was aware of. However, I subsequently learned it is an offensive term in the US. At that point I didn’t “have” to switch to saying “East Asian”, but I did, because I prefer to err on the side of not offending people. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/595 "2021-08-02T17:25:36Z")
No one is expecting people to not know. Where hoping people would give a damn when they find out. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/596 "2021-08-02T17:37:11Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Cotton headed clearly is a reference to kinky hair and ninny is derived from pickaninny. Anecdote: I once got dinged by a poster for using the phrase “woolly-headed”, until others pointed out that the phrase refers to wool _in_ the head (i.e. “woolly thinking”), not on it. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > Something tells me that if I accused you of being a fatuous bore, it wouldn’t be your first time Are you fatuous-shaming? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/597 "2021-08-02T17:39:29Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > @QuickSilver I’m not suggesting anyone has to do anything. The discussion was about what are safe words to use and I explained why “cotton”-whatever may cause offense in some cases and is best avoided. No. You asserted, like @Babale below: > [@Babale](#): > > …settled on a phrase whose roots lie in slavery. … that it is an offensive term. Neither of you have provided any evidence for these assertions. You are simply putting them forward as self-evident facts and recommending that people should avoid their use. I suppose you consider “wool-headed” to be right out too. Ninja’d by @Gyrate ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/598 "2021-08-02T17:42:49Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > You are simply putting them forward as self-evident facts and recommending that people should avoid their use. Oh, so now you are lying about what I said, too? Hint: I never said it was offensive, not did I say that you should avoid using the phrase. I said it is interesting how, when coming up with a silly phrase that is not insulting but has the structure of an insult, the writers settled on a phrase with roots in slavery. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/599 "2021-08-02T17:45:49Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@QuickSilver](#): > > > > It’s a bit obnoxious to imply that everyone who posts has to do so being mindful of an American cultural & historical perspective > > Since the phrase you’re quoting comes from an American movie, I think we can have a conversation about how that phrase ended up there. Noone is saying we need to get out the pitchforks to chase you out of town for quoting the movie. Just for another perspective: I never saw that movie, and didn’t recognize the quote. I thought @QuickSilver was intentionally picking an even more offensive term as some kind of joke. I have since realized I was wrong. But I read “cotton headed ninny” and immediately thought “cotton picking pickaninny”, and was honestly a little shocked to see if here. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > Don’t insult my intelligence by feigning ignorance about what that anecdote is meant to convey. I don’t get it, either. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/600 "2021-08-02T17:51:16Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Not true; especially about “moron”. “Idiot” has had a wider range of meaning all along, but I’ve seen objections to that also. Who’s objected to the term ‘moron’ in the past 30 years? Or ‘idiot’ for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/601 "2021-08-02T17:58:00Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Oh, so now you are lying about what I said, too? Don’t you fucking play that game with me. I fucking quoted what you said, separately from what Mijin said. But I’m addressing you both in a single post. Allow me do so again in full: > [@Babale](#): > > I’m just noting my confusion at the fact that you are so opposed to a discussion about why American writers, when picking a phrase meant to not be insulting but to evoke other more vulgar phrases in a humorous way, settled on a phrase whose roots lie in slavery. Not, ‘ **may be** rooted in slavery’. It’s an unambiguous, “ **…settled on a phrase whose roots lie in slavery** ”. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/602 "2021-08-02T17:59:58Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I don’t get it, either. I linked to a video above (You’re Offended? So What?), in which Hitchens elaborates a more robust anecdote on the subject of people finding ways to feel offended. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/603 "2021-08-02T18:01:18Z")
The irony of you sharing that video in the middle of a temper tantrum has not been lost. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474.md?page=31)