# Words I didn't realize were pejorative until later in life **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 22, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604 "2024-07-22T13:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/101 "2024-07-23T14:13:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve heard that ‘brainstorm’ means an epileptic seizure in the UK. It may have at some time in the past, but I’ve never heard it used that way. It means just what it does in the US. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/102 "2024-07-23T14:16:57Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Cf. “Jewish goodbye” (= making as if to leave and then spending another fifteen minutes chit-chatting). I’ve heard that one used by Jews. Sometimes while committing it. – admittedly, just because we can use it doesn’t mean the rest of you can. But I don’t think it’s seriously offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/103 "2024-07-23T14:31:03Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > Regarding “pollywog”, I have heard the term “wog” used in dramas set in India during the British Raj as a racist term for the native Indians. Could there be a connection? There was also an episode of “Fawlty Towers” where a resident called the Major explained the proper use of the term, as opposed to one used on native Africans. Some may find it offensive There’s a scene in one of George Macdonald Fraser’s MacAuslan novels - _The General Danced At Dawn_, I think - where the pipe sergeant of the narrator’s fictional World War II Highland regiment corrects another NCO when he refers to Afghan tribesmen as “n----rs”: “You shouldnae call them n----rs. They wasn’t n----rs; they wis wogs”. Fiction, but the MacAuslan novels are a very thinly-fictionalized account of Fraser’s time with the Gordon Highlanders immediately after the war. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/104 "2024-07-23T14:39:25Z")
I’d always heard that while “jerk” was related to masturbation, that it also encompassed the belief that it led to mental feebleness and that a “jerk” was someone who had engaged in that practice so extensively that it resulted in that end. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/105 "2024-07-23T15:00:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve always done the Irish Goodbye, but nowadays call it ghosting. I’ve always understood the “Irish goodbye” as being the opposite of ghosting: In ghosting, you leave but don’t say goodbye, while the “Irish goodbye” is saying goodbye but not leaving. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/106 "2024-07-23T15:10:06Z")
Nope, I’m pretty sure I’m correct. I’m not Irish (though I drink like I am), but an Irish Goodbye is leaving an event/party without saying goodbye to anyone. > **[Irish Goodbyes Are the Perfect Way to Leave a Party—I Did One at My Own Wedding](https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/09/irish-goodbye-exit-why-chronic-illness.html)** > > It's not immature. Quite the opposite. > **[What Is An Irish Goodbye & How To Do It The Right Way](https://anindigoday.com/what-is-an-irish-goodbye/)** > > Okay, I know these photos have NOTHING to do with today's topic, but who cares. They're some of my favorites that Hannah and I have shot and I just love ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/107 "2024-07-23T15:10:27Z")
No, an Irish goodbye is definitely just leaving without saying goodbye, although I wouldn’t call that ghosting either. At least, that’s how my circle has always used it. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/108 "2024-07-23T15:13:32Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Paddy wagon. Not so pejorative as all that, though. It [likely](https://www.etymonline.com/word/paddy#etymonline_v_2978) refers to the Irish cops operating the vehicle, and not the customers. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/109 "2024-07-23T15:14:35Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > although I wouldn’t call that ghosting either Agree. Ghosting is more negative. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/110 "2024-07-23T15:34:11Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > One relatively recent one is the renaming of the citrus fruit to Makrut Lime from it’s formerly pejorative term Kaffir Lime. And the word “kaffir” is not commonly known as racist at least in some areas; I had never heard of it until reading a Harry Turtledove book in which near-future South African white nationalists went back in time to the US Civil War to equip Lee with AK47s, to prevent future problems with “kaffirs”. For thsoe who are unfamiliar with the word (like I was), I gather it’s the South African equiivalent of n\*\*\*\*r. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/111 "2024-07-23T15:38:09Z")
I changed my name here due to that as well. Originally I was SpazCat and then I realized that was not a good name anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/112 "2024-07-23T15:40:26Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > No, an Irish goodbye is definitely just leaving without saying goodbye, although I wouldn’t call that ghosting either. At least, that’s how my circle has always used it. Huh. I’ve always heard that practice referred to as “French leave”. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/113 "2024-07-23T15:43:43Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > I changed my name here due to that as well. Originally I was SpazCat and then I realized that was not a good name anymore. A varlet’s choice indeed! There was a Doper whose name was Venus Hottentot, until called out on the negative connotations; IIRC, she changed it to Nzinga, Seated. Again going back to the “so old it’s nearly forgotten” concept. Though that particular name is well-enough documented that its unfortunate origins can be easily dug up. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/114 "2024-07-23T15:44:49Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Cf. “Jewish goodbye” (= making as if to leave and then spending another fifteen minutes chit-chatting). I never heard it called that, but that’s what my parents always did. Drove me crazy when I was a kid; we’d have to stop playing and put our coats on, then stand around while the adults talked. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/115 "2024-07-23T15:45:31Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > “Varlet” comes from a word meaning servant or attendant. Huh - interesting. Those would not seem to be construed as insults, all in all. I guess if you are a “gentleman”, calling someone a varlet in a fight might imply they are of a lower class and undeserving of being treated as a gentleman. But at least it means I can use it here in this thread without being called out as offensive, right? > [@DPRK](#): > > Even if true, there is nothing pejorative about pidgin languages or pidgin speakers. Nothing pejorative about those, as such, but MIMICKING them might be seen as making fun of the speakers. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/116 "2024-07-23T15:47:42Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Cf. “Jewish goodbye” (= making as if to leave and then spending another fifteen minutes chit-chatting). Around here, in the Midwestern U.S., the term “[Midwest Goodbye](https://www.jupmode.com/blogs/news/how-pull-off-perfect-midwestern-goodbye-simple-steps)” is used for the same idea. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/117 "2024-07-23T16:17:12Z")
I had to reset a password for a co-worker and I set it to “Banana” because there was a banana sitting on my desk. He grew up in the Texas panhandle but his parents are Chinese. He let me know that “banana” is used to refer to people that are (his words) “yellow on the outside but white on the inside.” It didn’t bother him. He was just letting me know. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/118 "2024-07-23T16:22:12Z")
The list of “_X_ to refer to people that are _A_ on the outside but _B_ on the inside’” food items is kinda long. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/119 "2024-07-23T16:24:38Z")
No doubt. But I can only think of one other. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/120 "2024-07-23T16:27:40Z")
Oreo, coconut, banana, apple, and watermelon (‘green’ on the outside but ‘red’ on the inside) without looking them up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604.md?page=7)