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> However, here's a thought experiment for you, one I don't know the answer • to,
> and one I don't necessarily want to debate in depth, just something to • ponder.
> Is it OK to use a word merely because it's in common use elsewhere? • Suppose
> that the scenario is the US in the '50s instead of Oz in the '00s, and the
> word is "darky". I'd posit it isn't. But I dunno.
Offence is a subjective assessment made by the observer. I note also that a
man who makes a joke about his own racial group is a wit, while the man who
makes a joke about another racial group is a bigot [courtesy of Mad
Magazine].
Scenario. X says something to Y, Z overhears it. There are a number of
questions to ask:
* did X intend the remarks to be offensive to Y?
* did X suspect the remark might be offensive to Y?
* did Y perceive the remark to be offensive in general?
* did Y perceive the remark to be offensive because X said it (i.e. Y might
not perceive the same remark to be offensive if made by someone other than
X)
* did Y perceive the remark to be offensive because Z overheard it (things
said privately are different to things said publicly)
* did Z overhearing the remark perceive the remarks to be offensive to Y?
* did Z perceive the remark to be offensive to Z?
* does it make a difference to Z that the speaker was X as opposed to
someone else?
* did X know Z would overhear the remark?
* did X suspect Z would find it offensive (on their own behalf or on behalf
of Y)?
Crikey, that's a lot of things to think about before you open your mouth!
Clearly in a public forum like a newsgroup, it is impossible to tell if a
remark may cause offence to an arbitrary reader. However, one can make a
number of intelligent guesses. In the case of lugnet.loc.au, it is
reasonable to assume that most of the people are Australian and hence the
use of Australian colloquisms will be fairly high. Hence, I would avoid
remarks that I suspect would give offense to an Australian (based on my
understanding of offensive language in this country derived from living here
all my life). However, I am less able to judge whether those same remarks
are offensive to a wider audience, but certainly if someone tells me they
find it offensive, I'd be inclined to not use that expression again.
Kerry
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: New Pricing??
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| In lugnet.loc.au, Kerry Raymond writes: <excellent summation> I can't really add any more except to say that people shouldn't feel constrained in speaking because someone else took offense, in and of itself. No one has a right not to be offended by (...) (24 years ago, 6-Sep-00, to lugnet.loc.au, lugnet.org.au)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: New Pricing??
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| (...) Didn't say you couldn't, just said I found it derogatory, that's all. Mostly I was just taking the p*ss out of you anyway. However, here's a thought experiment for you, one I don't know the answer to, and one I don't necessarily want to debate (...) (24 years ago, 6-Sep-00, to lugnet.loc.au, lugnet.org.au)
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