You’re not the only one. That’s exactly what I thought the word meant.
Well, the word “kaffir” is falling out of favor in the English-speaking world. You might not have come accross it, but if you’ve ever cooked Thai or even other Southeast Asian food, kaffir limes and lime leaves are common. The word itself is extremely offensive in South Africa, on the level of the word “nigger” in the US (to my understanding). The preferred term now is either “makrut limes” or “Thai limes”. (Now the etymology of the “kaffir” in “kaffir limes” may not be the same as in the pejorative word – it is uncertain. I don’t think I’ve read any definitve etymology, but it’s so strong and occasionally I do interact with South Africans, so it’s just safer for me not to ever need to use it except in discussions about the word.)
“Gypsy” is maybe another one. That’s crossed the line into a word I avoid.
Apropos of this thread, Hergé supposedly gave Haddock his trademark array of insults because the censors wouldn’t let the character “swear like a sailor.”
I think there are too many offensive words. We will end up with guessing what word is not spelled out. I’m quite certain that my vocabulary is not up to that challenge.
In recent months I used that word and a friend told me “Gypsy was just as bad as the n-word.” Another friend piped up, “It can’t be just as bad because you were willing to say it but wouldn’t say the other word.” But you’re right, it’s a word that is rapidly fallout out of favor here in the United States and I try to say Roma when I’m talking about the Roma. Language does change and sometimes what was acceptable becomes unacceptable.
On reflection, this was really beyond the pale, and this is a formal warning for being a jerk, and dancing around referring to another poster by an ethnic slur.
The British are trying to come to terms with their colonialism. This is becoming a bigger deal as Britain becomes more multicultural (or, perhaps rather, as the post war colonial POC immigrants have become a second and third generation that holds money and power). Like in the U.S., its a push pull - Brexit being a pull back to the “good ole days” of white colonialist Britain - recognizing and addressing colonial language being a push forward to “maybe its important for us to address our past.”
(Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera is worth a read - very readable. Also, reading about Sara Baartman is worthwhile - she’s the “Hottentot Venus” and her body was owned and displayed and analyzed in some really disturbing ways. And thanks Odesio for using the word Roma, its a long battle to get Americans to even realize there is a historically oppressed ethnic identity in there - frankly, Americans are so focused on our own horrifying treatment of African-Americans that we tend to have blinders on that we and the rest of the world have been engaging in racism against a LOT of different people for a LONG time)
We’ve been here before with the “c-word” - there are a few words - and its only a few - that are so offensive that when a person who is in that group reads them or hears them there is sometimes a physical response - they are trigger words. But context can matter. For instance, I don’t get a visceral response to “gypsy” generally - I did when reading it in a recent academic paper about the Roma in the Holocaust - there is was not an appropriate word and the author and their reviewers should know better. I almost always do to the c-word.
Just in case it isn’t obvious: Offensiveness is not an all-or-nothing dichotomy. Not all problematic words are equally bad. Just because one word isn’t as bad as another doesn’t mean we can or should use it with impunity. And, conversely, just because some people find a word offensive does not mean it should necessarily be the same level of taboo as other offensive words.
Which is why its best to avoid those words altogether. Because just like most people don’t want to accidentally trip someone else, most people don’t want to hurt someone with their words.
“The past is a foreign place, they do things different there.”
Addressing words that are used today is important (renaming sports teams, for instance). Disclaiming them as they’ve been used in the past is important (identifying them as used in Mary Poppins and putting the disclaimer around it). However, trying to edit history, rewrite literature, bury art - that isn’t great. We need to see the past to understand it.
See also “if the study of history isn’t making you uncomfortable, you are doing it wrong.”
I had no idea that the word existed until I saw Trevor Noah’s riff on that word versus the N-word, and how in America, he gets assaulted in the dairy aisle.
You know how I know that “barbarian” isn’t offensive nowadays? Because only white people are called barbarians. Non-white people are called “savages” - which is offensive.