Wikipedia has no offensive etymologies for it. So let's just pretend I said "Indian giver," okay?
I would pick the one ethnic reference that actually isn't offensive.
Honestly, you meet the most appalling sort of people....
Giles ,'Chosen'
Natter 36: But We Digress...
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Emily - Jun 20, 2005 6:49:51 pm PDT #3281 of 10001
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
Trudy Booth - Jun 20, 2005 6:54:05 pm PDT #3282 of 10001
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
it's because you have a pure heart, emily
Matt the Bruins fan - Jun 20, 2005 7:16:57 pm PDT #3283 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
My folks use "mighty white of you" ironically, but I've never heard it used in a sincere manner.
The gold medal for thoughtless offensive speech has to go to my uncle who cracked some tasteless joke and then apologetically introduced himself to my cousin's new husband as "the black sheep of the family." The new husband being, of course, the first African-American to marry into our family. I felt like crawling under a rock after that one, and I was only a bystander.
Cass - Jun 20, 2005 7:18:37 pm PDT #3284 of 10001
Bob's learned to live with tragedy, but he knows that this tragedy is one that won't ever leave him or get better.
re: Pope's Nose
She was mortified about using the phrase
and I got scared for a second that I was saying something I didn't know I was saying.I think I just got that mortified feeling. Dude, that part of my family is Catholic even... There should really be a scorecard.
What does "pope's nose" = "chicken butt" mean in a derogatory sense? I can't suss it out.I always heard of it as the little nugget of mostly skin that gets super crispy when you roast a chicken. Some lemon, some garlic, some sage and crispy skin is delicious. It might be in the butt region but frankly I am already shoving lemons there, so it seems like a nummy place not something gross.
Scrappy - Jun 20, 2005 7:23:10 pm PDT #3285 of 10001
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Catholics were working class or poor and chicken was the cheapest meat?
Emily - Jun 20, 2005 7:37:10 pm PDT #3286 of 10001
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
it's because you have a pure heart, emily
Shyeah.
Also, some people speculate that it originated with the use of "Indian" as an adjective to mean something false, like Indian corn or Indian tea. To be honest, I've never heard of Indian tea, but there you have it. And of course, I can't think of how to Google "Indian tea" without getting tons of sites about, say, Assam tea.
Typo Boy - Jun 20, 2005 7:38:38 pm PDT #3287 of 10001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
In Houston (in the friggin 90s) I heard someone use the word "N-rigged) only no hyphen. Completely without irony, completely without understanding how anyone could take offense.
Daisy Jane - Jun 20, 2005 7:40:55 pm PDT #3288 of 10001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
My very progressive cousin once used it when she couldn't think of anything else to describe what she wanted to say. I'd always said jury-rigged anyway. In the sense that you can do it, and it might work, but it's going to be much trouble if it doesn't.
Typo Boy - Jun 20, 2005 7:41:43 pm PDT #3289 of 10001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Yeah - I told him the word was Jury-rigged. His response was "not in Houston".
Daisy Jane - Jun 20, 2005 7:43:51 pm PDT #3290 of 10001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Eeeesh. I can understand not having another word, don't like it, but can see how it might slip out. But when someone gives you a perfectly good non-offensive word?