# The other use of the word Thug - by rappers **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 2, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462 "2015-11-02T21:28:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/1 "2015-11-02T21:28:37Z")
When Sean Hannity uses the term “Thug” to refer to a black person, there is an EXPLOSION on social media. When a rapper uses the word Thug all it does is sell more records. Why does social media explode for the first category and not the second? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/2 "2015-11-02T21:31:10Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > When Sean Hannity uses the term “Thug” to refer to a black person, there is an EXPLOSION on social media. When a rapper uses the word Thug all it does is sell more records. > > Why does social media explode for the first category and not the second? Maybe the rapper isn’t using the term as a substitute for “black.” The word has a non-racial meaning that might work in a rap song. In fact, I think of Hannity as a bit of a thug. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/3 "2015-11-02T21:41:58Z")
When some white guy uses the word “nigger,” he is vilified. But when a rapper does it, all it does is sell more records. What’s up with that? Not saying they’re equivalent in degree. But IMO “thug” is the same phenomenon writ small. . ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/4 "2015-11-02T21:47:07Z")
Did Sean Hannity have killer beats spewing through the subwoofers when he said it? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/5 "2015-11-02T22:07:43Z")
> [@andros](#): > > When some white guy uses the word “nigger,” he is vilified. But when a rapper does it, all it does is sell more records. What’s up with that? > > Not saying they’re equivalent in degree. But IMO “thug” is the same phenomenon writ small. > . White people behaving badly used to be called niggers on a regular basis by the more upstanding white members of society? I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/6 "2015-11-02T22:09:47Z")
> [@andros](#): > > When some white guy uses the word “nigger,” he is vilified. But when a rapper does it, all it does is sell more records. What’s up with that? > > Not saying they’re equivalent in degree. But IMO “thug” is the same phenomenon writ small. > . Ok, let me be more specific, and BTW… I am normally on the “don’t use the word thug Sean Hannity!!!”… side of things… But for the moment i am saying, yes, making racist comments is bad, but so is emulating a criminal lifestyle to impoverished people who look up to you… how come only the first causes social media to “blow up” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/7 "2015-11-02T22:54:42Z")
Could it be hypocrisy in the liberal media? Whoa, heavy info, **Bob**. K, tx, bye. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/8 "2015-11-02T23:04:07Z")
I was very interested to learn that the word thug is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu. > **[What A Thug's Life Looked Like In 19th Century India](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/11/18/245953619/what-a-thugs-life-looked-like-in-nineteenth-century-india)** > > Today's thugs can trace their literary ancestry to the highway robbers who formed the Thuggee Cult of India. The thuggees were hunted down, imprisoned or killed in the 19th century during British rule. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/9 "2015-11-02T23:09:48Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > I was very interested to learn that the word thug is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu. > > [What A Thug's Life Looked Like In 19th Century India : Code Switch : NPR](http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/11/18/245953619/what-a-thugs-life-looked-like-in-nineteenth-century-india) Somehow, I doubt that is what Tupac was referring too… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/10 "2015-11-02T23:14:55Z")
How the hell did thug become racial? It is a generic term for violent assholes not specific to one group. If anything it points to one small subset of violent Kali worshipers, not African Americans. Thugs are the petty dumb criminals of all walks life and races. Enforcer types for the mafia and various mobs have been called thugs for a long time. When did this specific racial bit happen? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/11 "2015-11-02T23:16:52Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > How the hell did thug become racial? It is a generic term for violent assholes not specific to one group. If anything it points to one small subset of violent Kali worshipers, not African Americans. > > Thugs are the petty dumb criminals of all walks life and races. Enforcer types for the mafia and various mobs have been called thugs for a long time. When did this specific racial bit happen? Well, that really wasn’t the focus of my question but it has been a debate in the “culture wars” for 2 or 3 years now, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/12 "2015-11-02T23:22:11Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > How the hell did thug become racial? It is a generic term for violent assholes not specific to one group. If anything it points to one small subset of violent Kali worshipers, not African Americans. > > Thugs are the petty dumb criminals of all walks life and races. Enforcer types for the mafia and various mobs have been called thugs for a long time. When did this specific racial bit happen? When people started using it to refer to [Richard Sherman](http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24417234), who is not a violent criminal at all. > [@](#): > > During a Wednesday press conference, Sherman was asked if “thug,” a word that was used often on message boards and social media to describe the Seahawks cornerback, bothers him more than any other term. > > “The reason it bothers me is because it seems like it’s an accepted way of calling somebody the N-word now,” he said. "It’s like everybody else said the N-word and then they say ‘thug’ and that’s fine. It kind of takes me aback and it’s kind of disappointing because they know. > > “What’s the definition of a thug? Really? Can a guy on a football field just talking to people [be a thug?] … There was a hockey game where they didn’t even play hockey! (Laughter from the media) They just threw the puck aside and started fighting. I saw that and said, ‘Ah, man, I’m the thug? What’s going on here?’” (More laughter from the media). So I’m really disappointed in being called a thug," he said. > > * * * > > Deadspin notes that the word “thug” was uttered 625 times on American television the day following the Seahawks’ win. That’s more than any other single day in the last three years. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/13 "2015-11-02T23:24:03Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Somehow, I doubt that is what Tupac was referring too… Why? Did he not rap in English? I think you might be underestimating how much[more intelligent Tupac was than his critics, and how thoroughly he outclassed them](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCcQtwIwAWoVChMI7ePS-O7yyAIVAm0mCh14DwR8&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzNYz0GG8gZM&usg=AFQjCNG1Kj3Hr1ZrJ4VSrCCTwV4oz0Kirg&sig2=lgOFuKNGfPLxm3uyKG_iMw). ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/14 "2015-11-02T23:25:27Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > Why? Did he not rap in English? > > I think you might me underestimating how much[more intelligent Tupac was than his critics, and how thoroughly he outclassed them](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCcQtwIwAWoVChMI7ePS-O7yyAIVAm0mCh14DwR8&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzNYz0GG8gZM&usg=AFQjCNG1Kj3Hr1ZrJ4VSrCCTwV4oz0Kirg&sig2=lgOFuKNGfPLxm3uyKG_iMw). Oh, I really like Tupac, both as a Rapper and as a person. But seeing as he was the first mega popular “gangsta” rapper, I can’t help but be a bit critical of his legacy… ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/15 "2015-11-02T23:34:37Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > When people started using it to refer to [Richard Sherman](http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24417234), who is not a violent criminal at all. You don’t have to literally be a violent criminal to be a “thug” IMO. Part of the definition of a thug, at least to me, is a propensity to use the tool of intimidation, physical or otherwise, to get what what you want or prevent others from doing what they want to do. I barely follow sports, but I have no trouble imagining some atheletes where the label thug would probably be appropriate. PS. I have no idea of Shermans thuggishness or lack of. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/16 "2015-11-02T23:35:27Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > You don’t have to literally be a violent criminal to be a “thug” IMO. Right. Often, it’s enough to simply be black. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/17 "2015-11-02T23:36:56Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > The other use of the word Thug - by rappers > > When Sean Hannity uses the term “Thug” to refer to a black person, there is an EXPLOSION on social media. When a rapper uses the word Thug all it does is sell more records. > > Why does social media explode for the first category and not the second? Thug means thug, as in a violent person. Except for those people who are trying to alter the English language to better suit their particular biases. \*THUG noun [C] › a man who ​acts ​violently, ​especially to ​commit a ​crime: Some thugs ​smashed his ​windows.\* > **[thug](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/thug)** > > 1. a man who acts violently, especially to commit a crime: 2. a man who acts… OTOH, social media is chock full of whiney assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/18 "2015-11-02T23:37:02Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > You don’t have to literally be a violent criminal to be a “thug” IMO. > > Part of the definition of a thug, at least to me, is a propensity to use the tool of intimidation, physical or otherwise, to get what what you want or prevent others from doing what they want to do. Then how come no one is calling Tom Brady a Thug? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/19 "2015-11-02T23:41:47Z")
This is silly and ridiculous. Thug means anyone, of any race. I usually use it to mean any one who is sort of a bully lackey of someone else, the muscle behind them, but I also use it to mean anyone who is a criminal-type too. To say it’s equated with talking about someone who is black is laughable and I’ll continue to use the word without worrying that someone will think me a racist. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462/20 "2015-11-02T23:45:31Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Then how come no one is calling Tom Brady a Thug? Is Tom Brady thuggish? I don’t know either way. I do recall somebody I would probably call thug or at least thuggish. Who was that Baseball manager years back that REALLY used to get in players and the umpires faces? Only reason I would call that thuggish rather than thug is that as nasty as it was, it was almost always a hollow threat on his part. Lets imagine a sports figure that regularly seems to use the slightest excuse to start a fight with others on the field. And when he isn’t doing that, he is using the threat of doing so to try to intimidate others. That the sports version of a thug. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-use-of-the-word-thug-by-rappers/736462.md?page=2)