I don't know where this concept that the word "miscegenation" was in itself offensive came from. It simply refers to the intimate involvement (marrying, dating, having children with, etc) of two people of different races. I mean, I'm not saying that the person wasn't offended, but I don't see it.

I didn't know miscegenation was often considered offensive when I was censured for using it not too long ago. I found a lot of usueful information on the wikipedia page.

there were ( and may still be ) laws against miscegenation. which changes it from a descriptive term to a negative. I never heard it used in a neutral or positive way.

Like beth, I've only ever heard the word used in a negative & offensive way, in the context of laws or social taboos against interracial marriages. Furthermore, I've only heard it applied to situations in which one of the partners is white. The term carries a strong connotation that the white person in the relationship is degrading him- or herself by mixing with a person of color. It may not have the same connotations in different countries & languages, but its history in the U.S. is pretty gross.

there were ( and may still be ) laws against miscegenation.

not in the United States. Loving v. Virginia overturned them.

My history teacher in tenth grade told us that it meant slave owners having sex with their female slaves. And that was what I assumed it meant until, when I was reviewing for the US History AP exam with my dad, I said something like "And there should have been a law against miscegenation" and he gave me a very odd look. Then I told him where I'd learned the word, and he told me to go look it up in a dictionary.

(OK, this really has nothing to do with anything.)

Alrighty. I'm kinda new.

...

What exactly is 'racewanking'?

In the movies, when Cho Chang speaks, does it throw in a disconnect?

Nope. But I totally get that YMMV.

wrt the international cover art, I actually liked the French artwork you linked to more than either the UK or the US cover art. Presently, though, I've got editions of all the books with the adult covers, which I like much more than the UK or the US 'proper' covers. (Which surprised me, because previously I'd really pooh-poohed the whole notion of having adult covers, thinking of it as a sort of brown paper wrapper to hide the shame of kidlit. Only then I saw them on the shelf and my first thought was "Pretty!" So I did a bit of a 180 on that one.)

Hey there, Matt!

"racewanking" isn't really a usual term per se, but 'wanking' is frequently used (and forgive me if any of the following is patronising - I'm going to assume that this is an aspect of fandom you're not familiar with) to refer to lengthy, heated debates about fannish things, usually spanning myriad different journals/sites. Check out the infamous 'fandom wank' site for examples of this, including the recent Harry Potter fandom kerfuffle about race:fandomwank

wrt said racewank - I've got to admit, I'd never heard the term 'miscegenation' in my life before I read Witchqueen's post.

Damn it, y'all got me reading the Teddy Lupin series. Which is actually kind of good....