This is a poll about which word, tits or nigger, you feel is more generally offensive. Because of the information I’m seeking, I intentionally did not include options for voting each word as being offensive - you can be offended by both but you have to pick the one you feel is worse (unless you feel neither is).
You’re walking down the street with an acquaintance, who is a white man. He looks across the street and sees someone (who is out of hearing range and is black or female as appropriate). And your acquaintance says:
Look at the tits on that woman.
Look at that nigger over there.
The speaker apparently did not intend to offend or shock you by what he said. He spoke matter-of-factly like this was not an unusual comment.
You don’t expect many people to pick tits, do you? Tits is hardly even the most offensive term for breasts anyway - I find “fun bags” much more objectionable because they suggest breasts exist solely for the enjoyment of people using the term. But even that pales in comparison to the casual use of nigger.
You need to plot those two words with a logarithmic scale to even put them on the same graph. Nigger is orders of magnitude worse, it’s arguably the most offensive word there is.
In George Carlin’s original Seven Words You Can’t Say On Television (shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits), he mused that “tits” was a cute little word and shouldn’t even be on the list.
I’m in agreement with the previous posters. Tits isn’t even in the same ballpark of offensiveness even when you are trying your hardest to be sexist with the term.
Tits is just a short form of the word titties. Titties isn’t offensive at all where I come from. People say it as an innocent noun in front of just about anyone including kids in some contexts. Tits implies something more sexual but still isn’t that bad. It is right up there with Hooters. I have never seen a restaurant called Niggers though and I don’t think it would do well.
As a woman, I find the word “tits” annoying and juvenile. A male friend using it in conversation with me would probably get an eye roll and a snide remark.
“Nigger” is exponentially more offensive and would instantly cause my opinion of that person to sink through the floor. It would probably result in a very angry discussion wherein I’d try to assess exactly how big of a jackass they were and why I hadn’t seen it earlier, and I’d probably want little to do with them afterward.
The same would go for anyone using fag/faggot, FWIW.
So far, two people. One in this thread and one in the original thread (which you can go read if you’re confused). Which is already more than I expected.
I agree with the majority on this thread. As a white female, the use of the term tits does not bother me in itself, only when it is attached to leering and disrespect. The n-word makes me shudder.