Evra accuses Suarez of racism

[fah-q]

I was thinking that if he did use the word Negrita not Negrito it could very well be misheard "in the heat of battle" as the N Bomb. More so than Negrito.

[Nicey]

I wonder how many people have said "lets get a chinky tonight" when refering to a chinese takeaway and not don't see that as a problem.

My wife does all the time .. and she is Chinese .... its all about intent

[rudedog]

Calling a Chinese person a 'chinky' would be a racial slur but calling a restaurant/takeaway a chinky isn't.

[BringbackBiscan]

So he's called him a girl, and Evra's in his outrage, proves the insult by going on telly to have a cry instead of sucking it up.

[Assassin]

Conversation I had with my brother's girlfriend who is studying Spanish/teaching English in Bogota:

Me: In South America what does Negrito mean and can it be used in a negative/racist way?
Reply: anything that has 'ito' or 'ita' on the end, is said with love. its also quite common for partners to call their loved ones gordito/a (little fatty) and no one seems to bat an eyelid. xx
Reply: oh.. negrito = little black man.
Reply: or little black dog, little black plate, anything little and black!
Me: Thanks, that's quite interesting. Reason I ask is because a Uruguayan Liverpool player called another player negrito and has been accused of being racist. Lots of people defending him saying that this term isn't at all racist and that it is the English direct intepretation that is the problem.
Reply: had a little chat about this in class today. the general consensus was that they would only say it to friends/family/partners etc. could be offensive if you said it to someone you didnt know.
Me: It was definitely intended to be offensive or at least wind the guy up but the question is was it racist or just rude?
Reply: when i said offensive i really meant racist.

Hmmmm

Gordito, thanks for sharing

[JHP]

Trying to decide which mixture of letters is more or less offensive seems to me to be pretty close to madness.
Racism is deplorable but in terms of language the intent is what matters not the particular mix of letters. it becomes even more absurd when people with limited knowledge of other's language or colloquialisms try to determine what is/ not acceptable.

[BringbackBiscan]

So is it acceptable or not?

[JHP]

小黑人

Could be unacceptable to some.

[JHP]

太字 is what I think Suarez is alleged to have said but it has no impact on me.

He could even have said the equivalent in Dutch and probably no one would have raised an eyebrow.

[kingfunk]

Bold face?

[kingfunk]

That's like calling Peter Crouch an italic.

[JHP]

In the dialect of Guizhou Province it's unacceptable

[ronanm]

Getting off the oriental theme, is "Paddy" racist in your opinion?

[Nicey]

Yep, its a demeaning racial slur directed at people of Irish race, again though it depends on context and intent. Although I would say most Irish people are not too warm and fuzzy about being called a Paddy by non Irish people. It kind of implies a thick, laborer with a drink problem.

Someone called me a Paddy jokingly .. I would not kick off .. but it would be mentally noted somebody called me a Paddy who I did not like obviously i would have to break there face

[Nicey]

Trying to decide which mixture of letters is more or less offensive seems to me to be pretty close to madness.
Racism is deplorable but in terms of language the intent is what matters not the particular mix of letters. it becomes even more absurd when people with limited knowledge of other's language or colloquialisms try to determine what is/ not acceptable.