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From: keesan@bbncca.ARPA (Morris Keesan)
Newsgroups: net.jokes.d
Subject: Re: Spelling and why ethnic jokes offend
Message-ID: <297@bbncca.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 9-Nov-83 17:41:07 EST
Article-I.D.: bbncca.297
Posted: Wed Nov  9 17:41:07 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 10-Nov-83 13:35:00 EST
References: <401@ihuxn.UUCP>
Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 30

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>>Huh?  I'd expect it to be "polak".  Few languages other than english would
>>represent the "k" sound by the letters "ck".  I'd expect "polack" to be
>>pronounced: "polatsk".
>>                                  -- Mark Rosenthal
>   
>The reason the word ends in "ck" is because *it is* an english word.  Polack
>is a derogatory term for Poles, just as nigger is a derogatory term for blacks.
>Both are english words coined by bigots to denigrate a group of people.
                                    -- Ed Pawlak

    Actually, "Polack" is an English word, but it derives from the Polish word
"Polak" (also the German "Polack" and the French "Polaque").  The Oxford
English Dictionary defines it as "A native or inhabitant of Poland; a Pole",
clearly non-derogatory, and cites usages as far back as the 16th century.
    
    The lesson learned here is that although some words (e.g. "kike", "wop",
etc.) are indeed coined by bigots and intended to belittle, others gain their
offensiveness through usage.  Bigots as a group are presumably as lazy as any
other random subset of humanity, and it's easier to cheapen an already existing
word than to invent a new one.  Perhaps more effective, also, as there is some
small removal of respect for a people when you remove one of their names from
respectable usage.

    Personally, when telling ethnic jokes, I tend to use the "generic ethnic"
approach, e.g. "How many ethnics does it take . . ."

				Morris M. Keesan                         
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