But “Nip” is just an abbreviation of Nippon same as Jap is an abbreviation of Japan. Surely they’re basically the same thing?
Thanks to several of you for informing me that Bimbo isn’t establishing a “toehold,” but rather is an amazing success story of a Mexican company becoming a pan-North Anerican one (Cemex is another example, you might say).
And to the poster that asked about where in western Wisconsin: I’m in La Crosse, which does have an unusually small Latino population. But thanks for telling me about Sparta, etc. – that’s great.
It was all Pope’s nose for me. I’m sure, like many terms, it’s somewhat regional. I personally have never heard priest’s or parson’s nose in the wild, just in print. We just didn’t make that sort of distinction.
Growing up Catholic, I first heard the terms Pope’s nose or priest’s nose from friends from Protestant backgrounds when I went to college.
My father-in-law, who is a devout Catholic, explained that it was called Pope’s nose because what came out of the orifice underneath it was chickenshit.
Also, time for the obligatory Aunt Jemima callout (and no; updating her appearance doesn’t really help).
Yes, that’s where it comes from. But just because two words are formed the same or similar way doesn’t mean they are equally offensive. “Irishman” is fine, “Chinaman” is not.
I’m just going by my perception when I watched it when it was on TV in the 1960s. “Nips” and “Japs” are both regarded as offensive terms now, but were less so then. (They were still offensive, but could be used on TV.) I could be wrong, but I think McHale’s Navy used “nips” exclusively because it was less directly related to Japan and hence less insulting to the Japanese.
Northern Idaho grows a massive amount of this. We love to make rape jokes when we are in that area. (Not really tasteless jokes. Dorky things like “where’s my whistle?” and that sort.) It’s also good to shock the children by pointing out the car window at all the rape seed plants.
It’s awfully pretty in the spring when it’s blooming. I have no idea if the people who live around there call it canola plants. We’ve never stopped to ask.
Another classic one from Australia, which has long since ceased production under the name, was Golliwog biscuits.
Here’s a picture. Golliwog Packet
Un-PC as they were, They were very tasty biccies!
Heh, and I refer to my own ethnicity as “Wonder Bread”: I can’t claim to be Irish, Scottish, English, French, Scandinavian, Italian, Spanish, or Ashkenazi Jew, but by genetic analysis, it’s figured I’m mostly some mix of the above. Hence, “Wonder Bread”, squishy, mostly unidentifiable, and pretty fair skinned.
Not that I’m offended by the term, but someone’s bound to come along.
One of my grandmothers used to refer to black beans as pickaninny beans. Pickaninny is, I believe, a term for black children. Please feel free to blast my ignorance if that’s not correct.
That’s correct.
I fondly remember a tasty anise-flavored jelly-like penny candy that were commonly called n***er babies, due to their shape and color(I wonder what name was stamped on the box?) They are still made, I believe though they are now called Anise Bears.
According to this page, they became “Nibs”, a word which may appear innocent but is merely the first, second, seventh, and twelfth letters of the original term. However, this Snopes discussion points out that “[t]he edible part of a cocoa bean is refered to as the nib”.
There’s nothing intrinsically “non-PC” about the name of the rape plant, except its accidental superficial resemblance to the name of the criminal act. The plant’s name comes from Latin rapa “turnip”, nothing to do with raping people.
Similarly with the Mexican trade name “Bimbo”, which is not traditionally an insulting term in Spanish the way it is in English.
Such “accidental slurs” may be considered awkward in modern usage, but they’re distinctly different from foodstuffs that were consciously designated by words known to be ethnic slurs, even if they were considered harmless or mild ones.
Another example: “Turks-head cakes”, made in elaborate molds that are still sold under that name, were named for the elaborately wrapped turbans worn in many Muslim societies, which the scallops and twists of the cake design were thought to resemble.
There’s a type of bannock or skillet cake that’s called “squaw cake”, another dessert called “squaw pudding”, and a plant (American pennyroyal) called “squaw mint”.
Whitman’s Candy used to have a product called Pickaninny Peppermints (chocolate-covered, natch). Long before that, there was a brand of cocoa called Coolie.
And I don’t think anyone’s yet mentioned the Viennese dessert “Mohr im Hemd” or “Moor in a Shirt”, a small dark chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
Nestle has Nips candies, quite tasty, too.
I’ve seen Moor’s head cakes in Germany.
There was also Picaninny Freeze, which as best I can guess must be watermelon-flavored ice cream. The copyright date on this picture is 1922.
Okay, did some “research”. Apparently it was strawberry flavored ice cream with little chocolate dots mixed in. Hence, “Eat Seeds 'n All!”
Can’t believe no one has mentioned Shit on Shingles yet.
One of my faves growing up.
That was just military slang though, not the official name.
It’s not even color, in Spain the areas where it’s called moros y cristianos happen to be those where the beans are white.
Alubias con todos los sacramentos: beans with all their sacraments. Red or black beans cooked by themselves, and a separate tray containing seven kinds of cooked pork meat so each person can add whichever ones they prefer. Reason for the name is pretty obvious. Why is it un-PC? Because it’s a reference to religion! I swear we’re going as stupid as the French, in terms of trying to erase all references to religion.
Also, alubias sacramentadas, beans with some sacraments. But less than seven. I’ve heard people call these alubias protestantes but that requires the audience to understand the joke (Lutherans have less sacraments) so it’s not something you’ll see on the menu.
On the other hand, teta de monja produces snickers but AFAIK nobody has indicated its name should be changed. Nun’s tit, a kind of cheese.
Pan-half-the-world, they’re the default for that kind of bread through the Americas, in Spain, and I’ve seen their products in other European countries.
How is that name non-PC, though?
It may be kind of gross and vulgar-sounding, but unless I’m missing something, it’s not in any way disparaging or derogatory toward any group of people. And that’s the sort of thing that so-called “political correctness” is supposed to be about.
Opposition to having a potty mouth isn’t so much politically correct as it is just plain old-fashioned prudish.