Rolf 'other' Harris named and shamed.

[cronus]

Words can hurt if they are intended to, otherwise you find it'll be ignorance from the listener that is causing self-inflicted pain on the brain. Does someone on the autistic spectrum who may come out with 'inappropriate comments' repeatedly even though causing great offence intend it? Are you going to call them a racist because of their illness?

PS The US is a special case where everything must be polite and positive and nice with a huge big smile, 'cause they give shooters out in cereal packets.

Humans generally have excellent social antennae; most people would pick up on someone with Tourette's syndrome, for example, and discount their words because of lack of intent. To a degree, the same is true for children, and naive foreigners. The latter, however, are expected to quickly learn that the use of certain words is both insulting and harmful. This isn't just political correctness; racist words can be used deliberately, as a verbal lash and as a way of exerting power.

Not that "abbo" was necessarily used in an angry or cruel way in the past; often, it was used unthinkingly, and without intent to hurt. However, in the few occasions where it is used by whites in Australia now, it is used with malice and aforethought to disparage indigenous people.

The original context of this derail, BTW, was mm's use of it to reprise a line from Rolf's "Tie me down" song; I said at the time I saw nothing wrong with historical quoting, as long as mm understands that its current use in a modern context to name indigenous people here is definitely racist.

Only in Australia. Holds no meaning here. I could say it in the local shop and the people at the till would not take offence unlike if I said *** ******* **** which would start a riot.

[JimC]

If it were shouted out at a visiting team of aboriginal sportsmen?

Only in Australia is too narrow...

[mistermack]

These words are gradually drifting from being one thing to another.

Even the word nigger. My dad never used any other word for black people. And he worked with them all the time.
I used to deal cars, back in the late 1970s.
There was one crew who used to travel together, and one of them was from Barbados.
One of the guys nicknamed him ''nigger-dick''. He was a mouthy git, and it didn't come across well when he said it. It jarred a bit. But not so much that anybody said anything.
After about a week of this, I heard the black guy, ( who was a big powerful guy, I certainly wouldn't be insulting him) say to the ''leader'', ''why does he keep calling me nigger-dick?'' in a half amused, half pissed off kind of way. The boss said, '' I don't know, I'm surprised you haven't flattened him for it''.

It wasn't the nigger part that he objected to, it was ''nigger-dick''.
That was in the late seventies, about 35 years ago. Nigger was definitely not taboo then. (although nigger-dick was a bit strong).

What's happened since isn't that people have been saying nigger with a more and more abusive intent.
It's that the pc brigade have decided that it's offensive, and over the years it's become so because of that.
So it's PC that has made nigger offensive, when it certainly wasn't before. And the same goes for abbo.
Same goes for chinky. It's in the middle of the same process. It was the only word for a chinese meal, just a few years ago. Now people look up, if you say it.
Any nickname of a non-white group is now ''racist''. It's not that it's gone any more abusive.
It's just the rise of PC.

[Hermit]

Any nickname of a non-white group is now ''racist''. It's not that it's gone any more abusive.
It's just the rise of PC.

I called a Vietnamese refugee a slopehead. Don't know why she gave me a roundhouse kick in the nuts. I mean, what's so racist about that word? Everybody else was using it for the same reason as they did when referring to gooks. Niggers, kaffirs, chinks, japs, camelfuckers, slanteyes, abos and whatnot are terms of endearment rather than denigrations of individuals on grounds of their "race".

[cronus]

If people would stop moving around and stay in their own countries all this PC stuff would wither on the vine. It is easier to offend when standing in peoples personal space and that varies nation to nation and culture to culture. Do you ever see a PC sort say to the more tactile and octopus like Aussies to stand back a bit...when in ol' blighty?

[Hermit]

If people would stop moving around and stay in their own countries all this PC stuff would wither on the vine.

So true. Without Caucasians swamping North America, Australia or Africa, and in fact staying wholly within Europe, there'd be no PC issue at all. Except of course those regarding gender, class and regional differences.

Did you know that Bavarians are the missing link between Austrians and humans, and that East Friesian women wear scarves so that we men can differentiate them from cows?

[mistermack]

I called a Vietnamese refugee a slopehead.

Prince Philip, is that you? !!!

It's a grrreat honour for us, for you to be posting on rationalia, you most wonderful majestyness.
You fuckin greeko !

[pErvinalia]

What's imbecilic, is your claim that I implied that it was one thing or the other.

It was implicit in this: "Which is actually worse, people saying abbo, or children being brought up in squalid conditions, with very little chance of advancement?"

I see what's happened here. It's another case of Australians fucking up the English language.
Over here, it's HYPOCRISY when you do one thing, for public effect, and then do the opposite in private. Like caring so deeply about aboriginal rights, you don't like them being referred to as abbos, but doing fuck-all about how their kids are growing up without a future.

But obviously, in Australia, the expression hypocrisy has been taken over by false dichotomy. Perhaps it's because there's so much of it about.

But of course you are always fucking up our language.

It would be hypocrisy if you were correct. Since you are only dribbling random ideas out on to the keyboard, it can't be hypocrisy. Perhaps you should study up on the English language (if you've got time between studying up on climate change and psychology). It must be a busy life being an ignorant old bigot.

We gave you aboriginal people. You made it aboriginals. Then abbos. Then back to ....what now? Is it aboriginals again? Or aboriginal people? Or first nation? What's pc right now?

I don't know and it doesn't matter. What matters is that "abbo" is a racial slur, and you are a bigot for using it after being corrected multiple times.

[cronus]

If people would stop moving around and stay in their own countries all this PC stuff would wither on the vine.

So true. Without Caucasians swamping North America, Australia or Africa, and in fact staying wholly within Europe, there'd be no PC issue at all. Except of course those regarding gender, class and regional differences.

Did you know that Bavarians are the missing link between Austrians and humans, and that East Friesian women wear scarves so that we men can differentiate them from cows?

In modern times with modern communications there's no need for mass human transit. With a population that'll potentially approach 9 billion the disease risk makes a keyboard approach sensible. Then all you need is some sophisticated AI censoring software that'll allow people to set their own PC level online....from nil where anything goes to tighter than my wallet...where nothing is said that can be even coincidently provoking, or be misinterpreted?

[pErvinalia]

These words are gradually drifting from being one thing to another.

Even the word nigger. My dad never used any other word for black people. And he worked with them all the time.
I used to deal cars, back in the late 1970s.
There was one crew who used to travel together, and one of them was from Barbados.
One of the guys nicknamed him ''nigger-dick''. He was a mouthy git, and it didn't come across well when he said it. It jarred a bit. But not so much that anybody said anything.
After about a week of this, I heard the black guy, ( who was a big powerful guy, I certainly wouldn't be insulting him) say to the ''leader'', ''why does he keep calling me nigger-dick?'' in a half amused, half pissed off kind of way. The boss said, '' I don't know, I'm surprised you haven't flattened him for it''.

It wasn't the nigger part that he objected to, it was ''nigger-dick''.
That was in the late seventies, about 35 years ago. Nigger was definitely not taboo then. (although nigger-dick was a bit strong).

Cool story, bro. No, really.

What's happened since isn't that people have been saying nigger with a more and more abusive intent.
It's that the pc brigade have decided that it's offensive, and over the years it's become so because of that.
So it's PC that has made nigger offensive, when it certainly wasn't before. And the same goes for abbo.
Same goes for chinky. It's in the middle of the same process. It was the only word for a chinese meal, just a few years ago. Now people look up, if you say it.
Any nickname of a non-white group is now ''racist''. It's not that it's gone any more abusive.
It's just the rise of PC.

Yes, that's right, not being a bigot is a giant conspiracy like climate change. You are an idiot.

[pErvinalia]

Your daughter, MM?

[cronus]

Your daughter, MM?

George Orwell must be rolling....on high spin these days. Remove the cameras and they'd all be icy stoic, like it was a couple of decades ago in those situations.

[pErvinalia]

[Hermit]

The downfall of Rolf Harris. Ignore the typos.

[Calilasseia]

About an hour ago, MSN reported he'd been sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in prison. Sentence would have been reportedly longer, but it's anticipated he won't live long enough to serve this sentence, let alone a longer one.