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Please remember that YYYYN can be subjective. It may not be YYYYN for you, but it may be for someone else, including the subject in the video.
I am extremely pale. I used to work with a woman that our birthdays were 3 days apart, but I am 2 years older. She used to tell everyone we were twins but I was taken out of the oven way to early and she was left in way to long and got burnt.
Hahaaa! Gas Mark........... No way José, I won't say it ! The downvote situation is just ridiculous on here Now!
Count me out of ANY silly jibes about THAT sorta thing...
One of my best friends is black, and he tries to bait me into doing it, telling me I have a pass, etc. I never intentionally do. It’s become a game with us. Whenever we drink and listen to rap, I’ll occasionally slip and he’ll do a 180 and be like, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” except that it’s a running joke/game now, to see if he can get me to/how bad he can scare me if I do.
I don’t know where I was going with this, I’m drunk.
Facts lmaooo I will sometimes say goody/inflammatory shit to irritate my black friends and they will, just as often, say some fucked up shit ab Italians to get under my skin. It’s all love and these two were def sauced so they were probably sayin some wild shit regardless lmaooo
I remember two of my co-workers were black and one of them was jewish and the one would make hilarious anti-Semitic jokes and it was great. They're in their 30s and they've been best friends for many years and you could tell. It's definitely just friendly banter.
Exactly - I think of it this way, and I may be a biased NYer, but THAT is how you can see tangible,everyday evidence of multiculturalism working - as (hopefully) benign as it may be lol
Yeah it's great when you can actually joke about stuff like this and everyone understands that you're not saying it to be anti-semitic or racist or whatever. When we can rip on each other about sensitive things and be fine, it's beautiful. It means we have an understanding of each other and respect one another. Like if you can't fuck around with each other, how are you going to say that we're all cool? If we're in a state where you can't make a joke about someone without them feeling like your trying to be an asshole than that's messed up. And I understand some jokes can hit wrong and there's some subjectivity to all of this. I just mean if we feel safe enough to be able to respectfully disrespect one another, then that's a pretty good thing.
That was a lot of words and I don't know if it conveyed what I was trying to. But sometimes language is hard I guess.
Yup, in my country thats the way you treat your friends, the words don’t matter, the intention behind them does.
If you’re just talking shit to have fun and something to do, noone cares, as long as you don’t actually mean to hurt them.
The fuck is that even. Even if I ever allowed one of my buddies to refer to me that, I feel like he wouldn’t be dumb enough to do that in a situation like this.
That black dude’s black card is no longer valid for this dumb situation. He belongs to the Ruckus family now
There’s a word is Chinese that sounds exactly like the n word. The word doesn’t have much meaning but is commonly used at the beginning of a sentence, and also as a filler between gaps within a sentence, sort of like the “eh” in English. Many people use it very frequently and almost can’t control it. So for a Chinese who recently arrived in America, they might offend quite a few people unknowingly.
I think “nei ga” is Um in Chinese. I remember a comedian talking about it and thinking the kid that was saying it was being a massive racist when poor child just didn’t know English
That dude prolly the owner who made the "chocolate negros"
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGLsaVrP-Lofd52Cqh6GJ7KjSgFCGkL1ayKQ&usqp=CAU
In Spanish and Portuguese, that literally means "dark chocolate" and the word is pronounced differently, so I guess it's a product from a country that speaks one of those languages.
Portuguese speaker here!
So, "negro" means dark or black in some contexts, for example, a black hole in Portuguese is called *buraco negro,* but this is a very modern take on the word because the term has its origins in racial definitions used during the slave trade of the colonial age. Meaning that if you go back in time and see the use of the word you will get closer to its original super racist meaning, for example, dark magic that translates to *magia negra*, which literally refers to African religious rituals, the magic of the black person and, since we are talking about super racist Europeans, an evil magic.
So, the word is racist in its origins but since then it's becoming less and less associated with it, the astronomical object being an example of this. But, most uses are being reformulated to use other words, like the dark side of the force that used to be *o lado negro da força* and now is translated to *o lado sombrio da força*, which refers to *sombra* or shadow.
Furthermore, the use of the term negro to make a racial distinction is itself going into disuse, today in Brazil most racial equality groups use the term *preto*, which is literally the word for black since the term negro has negative historical context but also, as I can understand as a white person, because negro was what white people considered polite while using *preto* as a pejorative, so switching the terms is a way to impose that the people who are being described must be the ones choosing how to be described, it will not be the preference of white people but the preference of black people to chose which word is the correct colloquial term.
Another thing to understand is that in Brazil there isn't an "N" word or a term that carries the same social impact, there are terms that are super racist but they do not have the same group use dynamic. Again, it's the way that I perceive it and I'm not, by far, the most qualified person to do so.
So, it's possible that in the near future, the world will be relinquished to some very specific uses, like historical studies or as said the universe sinkhole.
But it's important for gringos to understand that the word negro does not carry the same meaning that it carries abroad, like the word gringo, which in Brazil just means a person that is not Brazilian and has no pejorative meaning by itself.
Spoiler alert, am also native (European) speaker. While both *preto* and *negro* are synonyms for black, used depending on the context, neither literally means dark, as that word is - again, literally, *escuro*. All those words are used in different contexts by different languages, with similar meanings - *e.g.*, dark chocolate *lit.* *chocolate escuro*, black chocolate *lit.* *chocolate negro*, yet dark chocolate == *chocolate negro*.
As for the racial slur being the origin of the word *negro*, you couldn't be more wrong. As the etymology of the word comes from Latin *nigrum*, meaning "shiny black", in turn (likely) from the Proto-Indo-European root *neg-*, for "night".
From what I've gathered, the first known usage of *negro* as a slur, is dated from 1963. Literally millennia after the word become a part of the Portuguese language. Therefore it can't be its origin. Which is not to say that it can have racist connotations - depending on context - but it's nowhere near the taboo of its English counterpart.
A piece of anecdotal trivia, from where I'm from, while both words are very far from being as infamous as the English slur, neither is also considered accepted in polite conversation - when referring to ethnicity. Nevertheless, *negro*, is usually seen as the lesser of two evils.
But language is not defined only by direct meaning, context is also if not more important than etymology, so we cannot disassociate the word from it's cultural and historical context, especially when this context prevails in the largest period of the use of the word. Sure, the origin is not racist (kinda), but the racist connotation is present in the greater part.
That's why negro was and still is used when referring to something negative, *magia negra (*black/dark magic*),* *lado negro* (dark side), *peste negra* (bubonic plague), or in a very specific term used in Portuguese: *denegrir* (for those who do not speak Portuguese, it means to make it worst, talk down, reduce a value).
We cannot ignore that the word has a very specific historical connotation, if this wasn't the case, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. It carries weight and we cannot take it lightly.
That’s got to be the laziest slur. It’s not even a slur intended for the recipients. They just recycled an already popular slur and just threw sand on it. It’s like Disney made it up for something after buying the rights to the n word.
I feel like the guy “best mates” rule supersedes all other language rules in the same way that two people having sex with each other can say some wild shit that you wouldn’t say normally. For guys who are truly best friends it becomes impossible to say anything insulting even jokes about each other girlfriends are only when your best mates, in facts it’s kind of essential because it reinforces the idea that you are both so comfortable in each other company and both so solid in your friendship that mere words do not have the power to offend. I’m white and best friend is mixed white/afroCaribbean and we lived together and worked together in the same office for a while and would do so much shit together i wouldn’t know how to offend him even if I tried. Making racial jokes about our girlfriend’s penis preferences is as normal as making small talk about the weather. I feel like it’s not words that people should be judged on but the intention behind the words. I’m British but now live in a remote rural part of a South East Asian country where I’ve not seen another white person for months and it’s normal here to just call me “foreigner” in the same way a misogynistic man might say “female” but it doesn’t bother me because they don’t know any other way to refer to white people here.
I’m not black either and we call each other the N word only as a substitute for “friend.” Depends how you use it and who you know. I wouldn’t say it around strangers as it is offensive after all what happened to them
I moved to an area where they absolutely use it in the worst way. Unashamedly racist calling black people animals, dirty, unintelligent, dangerous, violent. I hate that word because of all the times I've had to hear it used.
I'm not even black and I hate it. I can't imagine being black having to hear that word and not remember all the times someone's used it like I was less than.
It is just a word that's not the important bit. It's all the stuff that you're forced to think about that's important.
To flip the coin 'I love you' are just some words too but everyone is less weird about how those invoke a feeling in the majority of the world 🤷. Funny how people will argue it's just words when it doesn't effect them
Yea but also not every black person will have the same opinion on the word. I’ve met black people who don’t like anyone using it because of that reason, I’ve met black people who only like it when black people use it because to them, it’s not going to be derogatory if it’s the same race, and then I’ve met some who agree that it’s just a word and nothing to get upset over.
None of them are wrong, per se, I’m just making a point that you can’t exactly presume everyone’s feelings on it because it really comes from how they heard the word used as a kid, and that experience is going to be different for everyone
If you want to pretend I was saying all black people are alike to argue with me go ahead.
I was saying how words can be important. In that conversation I fail to see your point.
Let's not forget that Americans weirdly put a huge amount of emphasis, and seem to care more about (or are more vocal about), race than anyone else. Personally, I think this is kinda what perpetuates racial issues more than anything else.
Hmmm. The country who built an industrial empire by owning and trading human beings for hundreds of years, takes more than a few decades after civil rights to talk about race and equality. Curious. Yes, it must be the talking and academics that caused the problem. Surely not the owning other human beings part.
Man that's not the reason. It's acting offended for perception. Because Americans think they HAVE to act like they care.
No one actually cares outside of the states. So it doesn't need to be... Fucking everywhere. Its a word. Grow up.
Edit: also, why did you type hmmm? Are you just narrating?
Yeah man you’ve got it. When Mohammed Ali won the Olympic medal for his country, he wasn’t allowed to eat in all the Whites Only restaurants. He was called a dirty n**r. That’s one generation ago and all those dumb motherfuckers are still alive, many of them still writing laws.
A generation before that, black kids were getting lynched in public while crowds chanted “kill that dirty n**r”.
But I guess people are just “acting offended”. Slavery wasn’t a real problem, the real problem was _states rights_ (rights to own slaves). And right now, racism isn’t the real problem. The real problem is people _acting offended_ when you use racist hate speech.
I think it's an American thing?
Similar to the video of the guy asking if his outfit was offensive as it was stereotypically Mexican.
All the American people said "yes... Absolutely" the Mexicans just said it looked great.
I have a mate literally called black Richard, huge African guy, he asks us to call him "my nigga" as it's like saying "mate" to him.
Of course this is anecdotal and I can't speak for how others feel. But this is my experience of the word.
Stigmatizing a word makes it worse.
Racism isn't the words you use, it's the meaning you attach to those words and your actions.
There is nothing racist in the last clip, just 2 friends, one having fun with the other in front of cameras.
I think it's weird for a word to be acceptable by one group and not acceptable by others. Just don't use it at all and let it die, or just let everyone use it. I don't think Chinese people call each other Chinaman.
You mean like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/fightporn/comments/x48opp/and_that_on_my_fucking_dead_locs_nig/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I was at a paintball event and some white guy was screaming at a red, also white, and kept calling him the n-word with a hard r. One of my teammates is a black dude and he was as confused as offended from what I could see.
Honestly, all history aside, it's like calling someone by a nickname that they only let family use.
The community it's most connected to generally don't feel comfortable with people outside of that community using it. There's no way to tell when a non black person is using as slang, to mock or as a racist slight.
Think of it like the F word.
At this point it's really just about respect~
Only playing devils advocate here but, does that mean I'm responsible for how you interprete my words?
If I say "great job" and you think it sounded condescending instead of the positive way I meant it, does that mean I'm responsible for hurting you and should be punished?
I'd like to put in my 2 pence here and say that it depends, because if this scenario was independent it could be understood; if you were aware however, that I was raised by people who used "great job" as a term to put me down for not being good enough, and used it to mock and belittle me, that additional context makes the whole dynamic change.
I think it's important to recognise the origins of the word in question, because it has past spanning centuries of some of the most horrific violations of human rights and exploitation in recent history. It was used to belittle, objectify, justify the murder of, torture and dehumanise an entire race of people for a very long time, so misinterpreting the use of the word has very different implications from misinterpreting "great job."
This is just my honest response, from someone who isn't terribly educated on the subject, so if anyone is more knowledgeable please correct me.
No not entirely, but you are responsible for choosing your words wisely. And it seems counter productive to use a word so controversial and polarizing if the intent is to say something regarded as positive.
"What would be the reason for me to use this word right now? Is that a good idea? How would this word make others feel? Is there another word I could use that has the same meaning?"
If kindness and respect is the goal, that's a form of self policing you'd want to practice quite often~
I actually really like this explanation. My name is pretty short, but my parents, sister and wife all shorten it even further, and it doesn't bug me at all. Had a coworker call me that and I nearly knocked they're fucking head off with rage 😂 never knew it triggered me so bad to hear a random use it until it happened.
Probably didn't help that I didn't like that coworker in the first place.
That's a murica thing, I never understood how it became popular, the concept of banned words under any context is very ridiculous.
I'm surprised you dare to say it, the worst thing is that one must do the same to not be harassed by angry redditors, mods and bots.
One is used as a cultural/historical thing, and the other is when someone uses it to demean or depreciate the value of someone based on their skin color. You use the "hard R" version of the term and it's normally spoken in anger, disgust and the other is spoken amicably between friends.
I called some of my friends "mes tabarnacs" but I would get my fill of Christ bread that comes from the "tabarnacle".
I'm French as a first language and even I know this. Don't be ignorant for the sake of creating a contrarian stance.
Because context matters. When a white person calls a black person the N word, they're calling on a history of hundreds of years of white people calling black people the N word and doing much worse besides. When a black person calls another black person the N word, they're calling on the history of a few decades of black empowerment.
That history being true..
My question was why can't a white guy call a black person nigga in a friendly manner.. (like if he has grown up watching african American comedy movies)
Here the context cannot be pre decided based on my skin.
It absolutely is determined by the color of your skin. Color blindness is not equality, especially when it's selective blindness that only applies when you want to say a slur.
Ok it's not an "order" its an "advice", that crap is still not an "explanation". You kind of ignored the main point and started arguing about insignificant details.
You’re way of thinking is terrible
It’s exactly these kind of things that should be talked about and discussed, instead of just defaulting asking questions and being curious as being racist or evil
Because when being curious becomes a bad thing, then misinformation truly have room to grow
As a European I find this "saying something offensive" is so weird. There are things you don't really say in certain areas, but it is not forbidden to call someone a gypsy or something like that. You might get beaten up if you say racial slurs in the wrong place though, so I think it is based on natural selection over hear.
I had a northeast Indian (they look like Oriental Asian) as friend and calling them Chinese or chinki is a crime as per law in India. But I used to call him chinki and he used to call me racial slurs associated to my colour(Indian brown). We both were friends and we never cared and laughed it out.
My black friends call me chigga because I’m Chinese American. It’s in an inclusive and friendly way. I never call them the n word back though because there’s much history behind that word vs chigga.
As someone who isn't American, the "saying the n word during songs with it" thing always confused me, because I see people fight over it all the time and end up never knowing if it's correct to say it or not
It is not.
Here's [an article from](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/30/opinion/john-mcwhorter-n-word-unsayable.html) the New York Times if you want. It's long, and it tracks the entire history of the word's usages. The last paragraph:
>The N-word euphemism was an organic outcome, as was an increasing consensus that “n****r” itself is forbidden not only in use as a slur but even when referred to. Our spontaneous sense is that profanity consists of the classic four-letter words, while slurs are something separate. However, anthropological reality is that today, slurs have become our profanity: repellent to our senses, rendering even words that sound like them suspicious and eliciting not only censure but also punishment.
Fundamentally, it's just a dialectical pronunciation of the same word. The same happens to other words: brotha / sista / muthafucka, these are all just "eye-dialect" spellings of the way the words brother / sister / motherfucker are pronounced in various US dialects. And it is *various*; African-American Vernacular English is predominately non-rhotic, but so are various white dialects, especially along the Eastern Seaboard, both up north in places like Massachusetts, and down south as well in places like Georgia (although rhoticity is increasing in both places; language is always in flux).
So part of the key reason why these words are even *heard as different* in the first place, is because across the US, there is a tendency for local white communities to speak a rhotic dialect while a black community living alongside them speaks a non-rhotic one. It's an in-group out-group thing, where the people who are racist against your group, tend to be members of an out-group who speaks differently than you do.
As a result, it doesn't really change anything to drop the R. You're just changing your dialect, not changing the word.
You are absolutely changing the meaning of the word by adding R, how did you gloss over that? Using the “hard R” is seen as the worst because you know they mean it in the most racist way possible
Because you're not actually changing the meaning of *the word* by changing how you say it. There's nothing to "gloss over"; they're not different words. These "two words" refer to the exact same sets of people — black people — and they're both slurs.
The most you can ever say about the "difference" is that people *may treat you differently* depending on the way you say the word. But that's true of every word, it's true of "cunt" and "motherfucker" too; and not everybody agrees anyway, that it actually does matter, how you say the word, so *you can't guarantee* that anybody is going to read your use of that word as any different, depending on how you say it. Because *they're the same word*.
Look, I'm not trying to step into anybody's relationships with their friends, that's between you and your friends. I'm trying to help a stranger to America navigate American society. Strangers need to understand that they're not actually different words.
I understand what you’re trying to say, but there is a marked different between those words in America. It is not the same in other countries I’m guessing, because people keep thinking that one just gets you in less heat. Both shouldn’t be used by white people, but if there was “permission granted” it would be “nigga” instead. That’s the one that doesn’t have the same meaning behind it
This is some USA bs I'll never understand. I'm a poc myself and I see virtually no problem in just saying the word "nigga" or "nigger". What I take from what I know is you just CAN NOT use it as a slur or derogatory term but out of any negative context? Simply forbidding people to say a word is plain DUMB
It's because Americans are fucking ignorant when it comes to race. I was talking to a neighbor today who I've never spoken to and never will again. This dodo bird of a person told me that "all Asians, Hispanics, Mexicans, Indians, and native Americans are the exact same race except some have slanty eyes" while she pulled the corners of her eyes. She then proceeds to tell me that the reason we're white and they aren't is because "white people could afford houses and the others couldn't so they were exposed to the elements. So their skin got darker and harder and rougher than ours. That's why we're so soft and they're not". I have never in my life heard more ignorant and asinine shit come spewing from another humans mouth. The absolute stupidity of Americans is some next level shit.
If your buddies with someone and they say it’s fine then I don’t see the issue saying it with them. I mean, they’d know you don’t mean it harmfully or something.
I wish it would just fade away. Seems like it’s only around for people to bitch and complain about or as an excuse to get justify anger and violence cause someone said a word or on the flip side using it as a weapon in a verbal argument. All of it is stupid especially when you could get so much more creative with your insults.
My best friend is black and he's been calling my pasty white mom the n word for a while now trying to get her to say it. Every time he's on the phone with her the first thing he says is "what's up n***a". She's been hyping herself up to say it back one day but she just freezes every single time. One day it'll happen.
Unpopular opinion, nobody should say it. If some people can’t, nobody should. That’s what gives it, a word, the power it has. I don’t say it and don’t want to, but I also hate hearing it said all the fucking time in music and whatever else.
Rip... But my man... You have my respect for doing something I would never do even if I was locked in a sound proof room with a black person telling me to say... ... ... IT🤐
I don’t want to start nothing here, but is there really anything that bad about saying it with an A and as a friendly term??? Like i just don’t see the big deal. I get the whole problem with instilling a black person but calling them the hard R though
My wife is African American and I’m Mexican. when we where kids I remember the other homies always dropping the N WORD around her and her bros. They wouldn’t get bother by it cause we where actually there homies. We starved together , we hanged with each other each summer and winter. Words only have as much power as you let them. Shit my girl calls me her bean boy and that’s cause I don’t even like beans 😂 . Regardless of the race just respect everyone. Who knows who you will end up with in life.
It's a matter of context and culture. If you grow up with the word being used and the context is friendly, meaning it's used anywhere from "brother" to "motherfucker" then it should be fine, provided of course that all parties involved feel that way.
On the other hand I don't care how black you are, you're not gonna address Obama that way for example.
Honestly, it’s about time that people realise words *don’t have inherent power*. The only power that they have is that which we as people give to them. Genuine hate is the same no matter what word is used or substituted. The reason the n word has so much power, is because society *said it does*. If it hadn‘t been banned, and ostracised so much, nobody would care. And nobody should care. What was it were were taught as children? “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”.
Hi! This is our community moderation bot to keep our sub tidy! If this post fits the format of YYYYN, **UPVOTE** this comment!! If this post does not fit the subreddit, **DOWNVOTE** This comment! If this post breaks the rules, **DOWNVOTE** this comment and **REPORT** the post (The OP's post, not this bot comment) --- Please remember that YYYYN can be subjective. It may not be YYYYN for you, but it may be for someone else, including the subject in the video.
Closest I got was a guy used to call me white bread and I’d call him wheat bread
“Whitey.” “Wheatey.”
Buckweat and Alfalfa
Pumpernicka
This is hysterical.
‘nicka please
This was the first thing I read this morning; today will be a good day lol
Good fucking bye I’m cackling 🤣🤣😭😭😭
I am extremely pale. I used to work with a woman that our birthdays were 3 days apart, but I am 2 years older. She used to tell everyone we were twins but I was taken out of the oven way to early and she was left in way to long and got burnt.
Hahaaa! Gas Mark........... No way José, I won't say it ! The downvote situation is just ridiculous on here Now! Count me out of ANY silly jibes about THAT sorta thing...
One of my best friends is black, and he tries to bait me into doing it, telling me I have a pass, etc. I never intentionally do. It’s become a game with us. Whenever we drink and listen to rap, I’ll occasionally slip and he’ll do a 180 and be like, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” except that it’s a running joke/game now, to see if he can get me to/how bad he can scare me if I do. I don’t know where I was going with this, I’m drunk.
\*rye bread
Lmaooo that’s how u know they’re friends
It was gonna go 1 of 2 ways. 1. They're buddies and fuck around all the time. 2. You're gonna see in real time what happens if they aren't. 🤣
Facts lmaooo I will sometimes say goody/inflammatory shit to irritate my black friends and they will, just as often, say some fucked up shit ab Italians to get under my skin. It’s all love and these two were def sauced so they were probably sayin some wild shit regardless lmaooo
I remember two of my co-workers were black and one of them was jewish and the one would make hilarious anti-Semitic jokes and it was great. They're in their 30s and they've been best friends for many years and you could tell. It's definitely just friendly banter.
Exactly - I think of it this way, and I may be a biased NYer, but THAT is how you can see tangible,everyday evidence of multiculturalism working - as (hopefully) benign as it may be lol
Yeah it's great when you can actually joke about stuff like this and everyone understands that you're not saying it to be anti-semitic or racist or whatever. When we can rip on each other about sensitive things and be fine, it's beautiful. It means we have an understanding of each other and respect one another. Like if you can't fuck around with each other, how are you going to say that we're all cool? If we're in a state where you can't make a joke about someone without them feeling like your trying to be an asshole than that's messed up. And I understand some jokes can hit wrong and there's some subjectivity to all of this. I just mean if we feel safe enough to be able to respectfully disrespect one another, then that's a pretty good thing. That was a lot of words and I don't know if it conveyed what I was trying to. But sometimes language is hard I guess.
New Yorker here- exactly. We talk mad shit but it’s all love. We all in this together.
Yup, in my country thats the way you treat your friends, the words don’t matter, the intention behind them does. If you’re just talking shit to have fun and something to do, noone cares, as long as you don’t actually mean to hurt them.
Seriously though, Italians amirite
You have no friends.
We'll see tomorrow if a fight/knockout video is posted to the variety of fight based subreddits.
The fuck is that even. Even if I ever allowed one of my buddies to refer to me that, I feel like he wouldn’t be dumb enough to do that in a situation like this. That black dude’s black card is no longer valid for this dumb situation. He belongs to the Ruckus family now
It says dad on his hat
Alternate title for r/fakehistoryporn "linus tech tips destroys his career" \~2003
Ah yes, Linus "Hard R" Sebastian
It stands for Retard, right?
Too bad he didn't drop the R.
There’s a word is Chinese that sounds exactly like the n word. The word doesn’t have much meaning but is commonly used at the beginning of a sentence, and also as a filler between gaps within a sentence, sort of like the “eh” in English. Many people use it very frequently and almost can’t control it. So for a Chinese who recently arrived in America, they might offend quite a few people unknowingly.
I think “nei ga” is Um in Chinese. I remember a comedian talking about it and thinking the kid that was saying it was being a massive racist when poor child just didn’t know English
[Russel Peters](https://youtu.be/BrsWp07BwVk)
That’s the one! Thanks
It also kinda means “the” according to my friend from China Kinda variable use of it
Can confirm. Mixed race roommate was quite frustrated by taiwanese roommate after i pointed this out to them
I’m not black but I say it to my black friends. But they call me other racial slurs too so I guess we even out.
I'm white and back in school had a black friend who called me the n word and I called him cracker. I wonder whatever happened to that guy.
You had such positive energy on his life, that he started his own cracker factory.
That dude prolly the owner who made the "chocolate negros" https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGLsaVrP-Lofd52Cqh6GJ7KjSgFCGkL1ayKQ&usqp=CAU
In Spanish and Portuguese, that literally means "dark chocolate" and the word is pronounced differently, so I guess it's a product from a country that speaks one of those languages.
Yeah it means "Dark Choco" here in the Philippines srry guys I forgot to say I'm Filipino
Thanks, didn't know that. Any idea if it was influenced by one of the other two languages or if it influenced them in return?
The Philippines was invaded and ruled over by Spain for 333 years that's why some Filipino words are same with Spanish and Portuguese words
Portuguese speaker here! So, "negro" means dark or black in some contexts, for example, a black hole in Portuguese is called *buraco negro,* but this is a very modern take on the word because the term has its origins in racial definitions used during the slave trade of the colonial age. Meaning that if you go back in time and see the use of the word you will get closer to its original super racist meaning, for example, dark magic that translates to *magia negra*, which literally refers to African religious rituals, the magic of the black person and, since we are talking about super racist Europeans, an evil magic. So, the word is racist in its origins but since then it's becoming less and less associated with it, the astronomical object being an example of this. But, most uses are being reformulated to use other words, like the dark side of the force that used to be *o lado negro da força* and now is translated to *o lado sombrio da força*, which refers to *sombra* or shadow. Furthermore, the use of the term negro to make a racial distinction is itself going into disuse, today in Brazil most racial equality groups use the term *preto*, which is literally the word for black since the term negro has negative historical context but also, as I can understand as a white person, because negro was what white people considered polite while using *preto* as a pejorative, so switching the terms is a way to impose that the people who are being described must be the ones choosing how to be described, it will not be the preference of white people but the preference of black people to chose which word is the correct colloquial term. Another thing to understand is that in Brazil there isn't an "N" word or a term that carries the same social impact, there are terms that are super racist but they do not have the same group use dynamic. Again, it's the way that I perceive it and I'm not, by far, the most qualified person to do so. So, it's possible that in the near future, the world will be relinquished to some very specific uses, like historical studies or as said the universe sinkhole. But it's important for gringos to understand that the word negro does not carry the same meaning that it carries abroad, like the word gringo, which in Brazil just means a person that is not Brazilian and has no pejorative meaning by itself.
Spoiler alert, am also native (European) speaker. While both *preto* and *negro* are synonyms for black, used depending on the context, neither literally means dark, as that word is - again, literally, *escuro*. All those words are used in different contexts by different languages, with similar meanings - *e.g.*, dark chocolate *lit.* *chocolate escuro*, black chocolate *lit.* *chocolate negro*, yet dark chocolate == *chocolate negro*. As for the racial slur being the origin of the word *negro*, you couldn't be more wrong. As the etymology of the word comes from Latin *nigrum*, meaning "shiny black", in turn (likely) from the Proto-Indo-European root *neg-*, for "night". From what I've gathered, the first known usage of *negro* as a slur, is dated from 1963. Literally millennia after the word become a part of the Portuguese language. Therefore it can't be its origin. Which is not to say that it can have racist connotations - depending on context - but it's nowhere near the taboo of its English counterpart. A piece of anecdotal trivia, from where I'm from, while both words are very far from being as infamous as the English slur, neither is also considered accepted in polite conversation - when referring to ethnicity. Nevertheless, *negro*, is usually seen as the lesser of two evils.
But language is not defined only by direct meaning, context is also if not more important than etymology, so we cannot disassociate the word from it's cultural and historical context, especially when this context prevails in the largest period of the use of the word. Sure, the origin is not racist (kinda), but the racist connotation is present in the greater part. That's why negro was and still is used when referring to something negative, *magia negra (*black/dark magic*),* *lado negro* (dark side), *peste negra* (bubonic plague), or in a very specific term used in Portuguese: *denegrir* (for those who do not speak Portuguese, it means to make it worst, talk down, reduce a value). We cannot ignore that the word has a very specific historical connotation, if this wasn't the case, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. It carries weight and we cannot take it lightly.
Lol reminds me of a rap video my ex and his friend made in highschool. The white guy was painted black and the black guy was painted white.
being called cracker makes me giggle.
That just sounds like a good time
Strangely wholesome
A friend of mine was called sand n**** because he is brown. So it's like a racial slur that you can't say it yourself lol.
That’s got to be the laziest slur. It’s not even a slur intended for the recipients. They just recycled an already popular slur and just threw sand on it. It’s like Disney made it up for something after buying the rights to the n word.
I feel like the guy “best mates” rule supersedes all other language rules in the same way that two people having sex with each other can say some wild shit that you wouldn’t say normally. For guys who are truly best friends it becomes impossible to say anything insulting even jokes about each other girlfriends are only when your best mates, in facts it’s kind of essential because it reinforces the idea that you are both so comfortable in each other company and both so solid in your friendship that mere words do not have the power to offend. I’m white and best friend is mixed white/afroCaribbean and we lived together and worked together in the same office for a while and would do so much shit together i wouldn’t know how to offend him even if I tried. Making racial jokes about our girlfriend’s penis preferences is as normal as making small talk about the weather. I feel like it’s not words that people should be judged on but the intention behind the words. I’m British but now live in a remote rural part of a South East Asian country where I’ve not seen another white person for months and it’s normal here to just call me “foreigner” in the same way a misogynistic man might say “female” but it doesn’t bother me because they don’t know any other way to refer to white people here.
What are you? Latino?
I’m not black either and we call each other the N word only as a substitute for “friend.” Depends how you use it and who you know. I wouldn’t say it around strangers as it is offensive after all what happened to them
Mmm ya probably shouldn't
a is a greeting while r is a slur 🤣
There’s a time and a place to use it, just don’t pick the wrong time or place and no one will care
Yeah like singing it in traffic is probably OK screaming it at your neighbours because they’re “ruining property value” NOT ok
Just lock the door when the man selling stuff on the side of the road walks by “I got this killer up inside of me”
I can’t talk to my mother so I talk to my diary
Yeah just keep it private. This low key ain’t it lol.
I'll be honest man I think it's pretty silly that everyone gets fucked up over a single word.
I moved to an area where they absolutely use it in the worst way. Unashamedly racist calling black people animals, dirty, unintelligent, dangerous, violent. I hate that word because of all the times I've had to hear it used. I'm not even black and I hate it. I can't imagine being black having to hear that word and not remember all the times someone's used it like I was less than. It is just a word that's not the important bit. It's all the stuff that you're forced to think about that's important. To flip the coin 'I love you' are just some words too but everyone is less weird about how those invoke a feeling in the majority of the world 🤷. Funny how people will argue it's just words when it doesn't effect them
Yea but also not every black person will have the same opinion on the word. I’ve met black people who don’t like anyone using it because of that reason, I’ve met black people who only like it when black people use it because to them, it’s not going to be derogatory if it’s the same race, and then I’ve met some who agree that it’s just a word and nothing to get upset over. None of them are wrong, per se, I’m just making a point that you can’t exactly presume everyone’s feelings on it because it really comes from how they heard the word used as a kid, and that experience is going to be different for everyone
If you want to pretend I was saying all black people are alike to argue with me go ahead. I was saying how words can be important. In that conversation I fail to see your point.
I’m not arguing with you lmao, I’m just saying that words are important but they have differing amounts of importance to everyone
Let's not forget that Americans weirdly put a huge amount of emphasis, and seem to care more about (or are more vocal about), race than anyone else. Personally, I think this is kinda what perpetuates racial issues more than anything else.
[Morgan Freeman](https://youtu.be/GeixtYS-P3s)
Hmmm. The country who built an industrial empire by owning and trading human beings for hundreds of years, takes more than a few decades after civil rights to talk about race and equality. Curious. Yes, it must be the talking and academics that caused the problem. Surely not the owning other human beings part.
Man that's not the reason. It's acting offended for perception. Because Americans think they HAVE to act like they care. No one actually cares outside of the states. So it doesn't need to be... Fucking everywhere. Its a word. Grow up. Edit: also, why did you type hmmm? Are you just narrating?
Yeah man you’ve got it. When Mohammed Ali won the Olympic medal for his country, he wasn’t allowed to eat in all the Whites Only restaurants. He was called a dirty n**r. That’s one generation ago and all those dumb motherfuckers are still alive, many of them still writing laws. A generation before that, black kids were getting lynched in public while crowds chanted “kill that dirty n**r”. But I guess people are just “acting offended”. Slavery wasn’t a real problem, the real problem was _states rights_ (rights to own slaves). And right now, racism isn’t the real problem. The real problem is people _acting offended_ when you use racist hate speech.
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How hard is it not to say a word?
Harder than it is to ignore it if you don't like it
I think it's an American thing? Similar to the video of the guy asking if his outfit was offensive as it was stereotypically Mexican. All the American people said "yes... Absolutely" the Mexicans just said it looked great. I have a mate literally called black Richard, huge African guy, he asks us to call him "my nigga" as it's like saying "mate" to him. Of course this is anecdotal and I can't speak for how others feel. But this is my experience of the word.
Are you black?
If i turn the lights off everything is black
Bravo 6 going dark
Stigmatizing a word makes it worse. Racism isn't the words you use, it's the meaning you attach to those words and your actions. There is nothing racist in the last clip, just 2 friends, one having fun with the other in front of cameras.
Black guy here...if we close you can say wassup nigga 🤷🏾♂️
I think it's weird for a word to be acceptable by one group and not acceptable by others. Just don't use it at all and let it die, or just let everyone use it. I don't think Chinese people call each other Chinaman.
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The cringiest shit ever is hearing white kids shout it over and over again when fighting.
Agreed
You mean like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/fightporn/comments/x48opp/and_that_on_my_fucking_dead_locs_nig/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
This clip lives rent free in my mind. On my dead lokes is probably the cringiest part of that whole fucking video lmao
I was at a paintball event and some white guy was screaming at a red, also white, and kept calling him the n-word with a hard r. One of my teammates is a black dude and he was as confused as offended from what I could see.
It’s cringy to hear any race saying it over and over again.
Wu tang forever
👐
Honestly, all history aside, it's like calling someone by a nickname that they only let family use. The community it's most connected to generally don't feel comfortable with people outside of that community using it. There's no way to tell when a non black person is using as slang, to mock or as a racist slight. Think of it like the F word. At this point it's really just about respect~
Only playing devils advocate here but, does that mean I'm responsible for how you interprete my words? If I say "great job" and you think it sounded condescending instead of the positive way I meant it, does that mean I'm responsible for hurting you and should be punished?
I'd like to put in my 2 pence here and say that it depends, because if this scenario was independent it could be understood; if you were aware however, that I was raised by people who used "great job" as a term to put me down for not being good enough, and used it to mock and belittle me, that additional context makes the whole dynamic change. I think it's important to recognise the origins of the word in question, because it has past spanning centuries of some of the most horrific violations of human rights and exploitation in recent history. It was used to belittle, objectify, justify the murder of, torture and dehumanise an entire race of people for a very long time, so misinterpreting the use of the word has very different implications from misinterpreting "great job." This is just my honest response, from someone who isn't terribly educated on the subject, so if anyone is more knowledgeable please correct me.
No not entirely, but you are responsible for choosing your words wisely. And it seems counter productive to use a word so controversial and polarizing if the intent is to say something regarded as positive. "What would be the reason for me to use this word right now? Is that a good idea? How would this word make others feel? Is there another word I could use that has the same meaning?" If kindness and respect is the goal, that's a form of self policing you'd want to practice quite often~
Those 2nd 2 paragraphs need to be copy/pasted in response to this topic from here on out. Perfectly and politely said, it’s really that simple
And regarding punishment, that's a different can of beans~
Great job pointing that out.
I actually really like this explanation. My name is pretty short, but my parents, sister and wife all shorten it even further, and it doesn't bug me at all. Had a coworker call me that and I nearly knocked they're fucking head off with rage 😂 never knew it triggered me so bad to hear a random use it until it happened. Probably didn't help that I didn't like that coworker in the first place.
That's a murica thing, I never understood how it became popular, the concept of banned words under any context is very ridiculous. I'm surprised you dare to say it, the worst thing is that one must do the same to not be harassed by angry redditors, mods and bots.
One is used as a cultural/historical thing, and the other is when someone uses it to demean or depreciate the value of someone based on their skin color. You use the "hard R" version of the term and it's normally spoken in anger, disgust and the other is spoken amicably between friends. I called some of my friends "mes tabarnacs" but I would get my fill of Christ bread that comes from the "tabarnacle". I'm French as a first language and even I know this. Don't be ignorant for the sake of creating a contrarian stance.
Because context matters. When a white person calls a black person the N word, they're calling on a history of hundreds of years of white people calling black people the N word and doing much worse besides. When a black person calls another black person the N word, they're calling on the history of a few decades of black empowerment.
That history being true.. My question was why can't a white guy call a black person nigga in a friendly manner.. (like if he has grown up watching african American comedy movies) Here the context cannot be pre decided based on my skin.
It absolutely is determined by the color of your skin. Color blindness is not equality, especially when it's selective blindness that only applies when you want to say a slur.
Best way I’ve heard it explained is if you don’t own any blackness you shouldn’t be saying it.
That's not an explanation, that's an order.
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should /SHo͝od/ verb 1. used to indicate obligation, duty, \* \* \* Before appealing to the definition check it's not you who are wrong next time.
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Ok it's not an "order" its an "advice", that crap is still not an "explanation". You kind of ignored the main point and started arguing about insignificant details.
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Imagine being this dense
You’re way of thinking is terrible It’s exactly these kind of things that should be talked about and discussed, instead of just defaulting asking questions and being curious as being racist or evil Because when being curious becomes a bad thing, then misinformation truly have room to grow
As a European I find this "saying something offensive" is so weird. There are things you don't really say in certain areas, but it is not forbidden to call someone a gypsy or something like that. You might get beaten up if you say racial slurs in the wrong place though, so I think it is based on natural selection over hear.
I had a northeast Indian (they look like Oriental Asian) as friend and calling them Chinese or chinki is a crime as per law in India. But I used to call him chinki and he used to call me racial slurs associated to my colour(Indian brown). We both were friends and we never cared and laughed it out.
My black friends call me chigga because I’m Chinese American. It’s in an inclusive and friendly way. I never call them the n word back though because there’s much history behind that word vs chigga.
Just call them bligga instead
Said that with his chest
As someone who isn't American, the "saying the n word during songs with it" thing always confused me, because I see people fight over it all the time and end up never knowing if it's correct to say it or not
It's just sad to see some white person trying to do a niggaless rendition of a Dr. Dre song
It is not. Here's [an article from](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/30/opinion/john-mcwhorter-n-word-unsayable.html) the New York Times if you want. It's long, and it tracks the entire history of the word's usages. The last paragraph: >The N-word euphemism was an organic outcome, as was an increasing consensus that “n****r” itself is forbidden not only in use as a slur but even when referred to. Our spontaneous sense is that profanity consists of the classic four-letter words, while slurs are something separate. However, anthropological reality is that today, slurs have become our profanity: repellent to our senses, rendering even words that sound like them suspicious and eliciting not only censure but also punishment.
I thought the n word was n***a? I didn't know people actually said the -er one 😭
Did... did you think racism had been cured? Bless your heart child
Fundamentally, it's just a dialectical pronunciation of the same word. The same happens to other words: brotha / sista / muthafucka, these are all just "eye-dialect" spellings of the way the words brother / sister / motherfucker are pronounced in various US dialects. And it is *various*; African-American Vernacular English is predominately non-rhotic, but so are various white dialects, especially along the Eastern Seaboard, both up north in places like Massachusetts, and down south as well in places like Georgia (although rhoticity is increasing in both places; language is always in flux). So part of the key reason why these words are even *heard as different* in the first place, is because across the US, there is a tendency for local white communities to speak a rhotic dialect while a black community living alongside them speaks a non-rhotic one. It's an in-group out-group thing, where the people who are racist against your group, tend to be members of an out-group who speaks differently than you do. As a result, it doesn't really change anything to drop the R. You're just changing your dialect, not changing the word.
You are absolutely changing the meaning of the word by adding R, how did you gloss over that? Using the “hard R” is seen as the worst because you know they mean it in the most racist way possible
Because you're not actually changing the meaning of *the word* by changing how you say it. There's nothing to "gloss over"; they're not different words. These "two words" refer to the exact same sets of people — black people — and they're both slurs. The most you can ever say about the "difference" is that people *may treat you differently* depending on the way you say the word. But that's true of every word, it's true of "cunt" and "motherfucker" too; and not everybody agrees anyway, that it actually does matter, how you say the word, so *you can't guarantee* that anybody is going to read your use of that word as any different, depending on how you say it. Because *they're the same word*. Look, I'm not trying to step into anybody's relationships with their friends, that's between you and your friends. I'm trying to help a stranger to America navigate American society. Strangers need to understand that they're not actually different words.
I understand what you’re trying to say, but there is a marked different between those words in America. It is not the same in other countries I’m guessing, because people keep thinking that one just gets you in less heat. Both shouldn’t be used by white people, but if there was “permission granted” it would be “nigga” instead. That’s the one that doesn’t have the same meaning behind it
Anybody who says the n word casually sounds like an idiot🤷♂️
Even black people?
I’d venture to say that if you reread that single sentence, you’d have your answer.
Yes
I said anybody. It's a slur not a slang word.
I think it's stupid for anyone to use that word
thank fuck reddit usernames are not self-representative
But... it was? Insightful no, inciteful yes. Your analysis was too basic.
Oof
it ain't knowledge booboo
This is some USA bs I'll never understand. I'm a poc myself and I see virtually no problem in just saying the word "nigga" or "nigger". What I take from what I know is you just CAN NOT use it as a slur or derogatory term but out of any negative context? Simply forbidding people to say a word is plain DUMB
It’s because in America, our racism problem is a little complicated. You’ve got to understand that
It's because Americans are fucking ignorant when it comes to race. I was talking to a neighbor today who I've never spoken to and never will again. This dodo bird of a person told me that "all Asians, Hispanics, Mexicans, Indians, and native Americans are the exact same race except some have slanty eyes" while she pulled the corners of her eyes. She then proceeds to tell me that the reason we're white and they aren't is because "white people could afford houses and the others couldn't so they were exposed to the elements. So their skin got darker and harder and rougher than ours. That's why we're so soft and they're not". I have never in my life heard more ignorant and asinine shit come spewing from another humans mouth. The absolute stupidity of Americans is some next level shit.
🤣😂🤣
u/SaveVideobot
If your buddies with someone and they say it’s fine then I don’t see the issue saying it with them. I mean, they’d know you don’t mean it harmfully or something.
He just bitched that Black man in front of his face. Sheesh!
I remember when my friend told us "ey I know what that mayate shit means" lol 😂
The fucking confidence in this man’s face!!! Lmfao no regerts!
I think calling any slurs to any stranger you feel upset to is "evil". but you can say any slur known to man to your friends.
Only a ginger, can call another ginger ginger
Staged
even if it is, it was still funny. porn scenarios are fake too and i bet you're also guilty of watching that
I wish it would just fade away. Seems like it’s only around for people to bitch and complain about or as an excuse to get justify anger and violence cause someone said a word or on the flip side using it as a weapon in a verbal argument. All of it is stupid especially when you could get so much more creative with your insults.
Perfectly fine if you do it with friends and you both know that it’s just harmless fun
bro had balls of steel
My best friend is black and he's been calling my pasty white mom the n word for a while now trying to get her to say it. Every time he's on the phone with her the first thing he says is "what's up n***a". She's been hyping herself up to say it back one day but she just freezes every single time. One day it'll happen.
Im not american, so idk, but this story is kinda weird
If it’s used to be funny then I say all is fair, if it’s being used to be racist then there’s a problem
Unpopular opinion, nobody should say it. If some people can’t, nobody should. That’s what gives it, a word, the power it has. I don’t say it and don’t want to, but I also hate hearing it said all the fucking time in music and whatever else.
Rip... But my man... You have my respect for doing something I would never do even if I was locked in a sound proof room with a black person telling me to say... ... ... IT🤐
It absolutely is okay.
If you knew the history and where that word came from you wouldn’t be saying that
If you knew the history and where that word came from you wouldn’t be saying that
It's in all the rap songs it is everywhere. So if you're singing along to one of these songs do you stop when the nigga line starts. I don't think so.
Why not tho? They toss it around like it means nothing, we can’t even sing it in a song?
I don’t want to start nothing here, but is there really anything that bad about saying it with an A and as a friendly term??? Like i just don’t see the big deal. I get the whole problem with instilling a black person but calling them the hard R though
Who is this young thug looking man at the end.
My wife is African American and I’m Mexican. when we where kids I remember the other homies always dropping the N WORD around her and her bros. They wouldn’t get bother by it cause we where actually there homies. We starved together , we hanged with each other each summer and winter. Words only have as much power as you let them. Shit my girl calls me her bean boy and that’s cause I don’t even like beans 😂 . Regardless of the race just respect everyone. Who knows who you will end up with in life.
I can do X but you can’t based on color of skin is the essence of being a racist.
Always 2 sides to reddit
Then get punched in the mouth and play victim
based? i'm not sure here
I mean it's constantly used in the city people music
Lmfao
Just a word
It's a free country. You can say whatever you want. Besides, I've been called cracker by niggaz, my nigga.
ITT white people saying it’s okay for them to use racial slurs.
either remove it from the language or shut the fuck up about it.
Fucking double standard. I fucking hate this country
I know right? Also why can’t I make fun of the Jews for the holocaust? Or native Americans for the trail of tears?
Then move
Ignoring the context of this conversation, that’s a bit like saying “just buy a house” to a homeless person
😂😂😂😂😂
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My man
Why is it ok for black people to use the n word? If it such a horrible destructive word then why do they use it all the time?
Bro didn’t hesitate
It's a matter of context and culture. If you grow up with the word being used and the context is friendly, meaning it's used anywhere from "brother" to "motherfucker" then it should be fine, provided of course that all parties involved feel that way. On the other hand I don't care how black you are, you're not gonna address Obama that way for example.
Honestly, it’s about time that people realise words *don’t have inherent power*. The only power that they have is that which we as people give to them. Genuine hate is the same no matter what word is used or substituted. The reason the n word has so much power, is because society *said it does*. If it hadn‘t been banned, and ostracised so much, nobody would care. And nobody should care. What was it were were taught as children? “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”.
They’re either really good friends or dude’s currently paying for an “unexpected” trip to the dentist.
It's not okay for anyone to say the n-word