# What they say/what it really means

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-they-say-what-it-really-means/532288>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 12, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-they-say-what-it-really-means/532288 "2010-03-12T20:02:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-they-say-what-it-really-means/532288/4 "2010-03-12T21:19:56Z")

</div>

Bringing in a quoted post from the other thread:

> [@Proposed: No Toleration of any Slur Words in Pit Titles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-no-toleration-of-any-slur-words-in-pit-titles/531641/77):
>
> I had a dog who I referred to as Blackie for several months because I couldn’t be bothered to come up with a name. My mom said, “You can’t call the dog that!” I said, “Why not?” When she just kind of grimaced at me instead of answering, it dawned on me, oh yeah, that. We might have gotten less flak for shouting “Blackie!” in public because we were (still are) black, but I would still imagine it would have been an unpleasant thing to hear for some people.

And I completely understand it from that point of view, but it never occurred to me at all. :o I had an Orange cat that I called Orangey and a white (feral) cat I called Whitey (which I guess could also be offensive now that I think about it). It’s not that I like using slurs, it’s just that I am really uncreative in my naming schemes. 😉

I am glad that you understand too, though. 🙂 And you made me giggle with the “(still are)” addition.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-they-say-what-it-really-means/532288)._
