Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!texbell!sugar!ficc!jeffd From: jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Slurs and Epithers Message-ID: Date: 1 Jan 90 22:19:45 GMT References: <172@comcon.UUCP> <7326@ficc.uu.net> <9320@hoptoad.uucp> Organization: Ferranti International Controls Corporation Lines: 31 In article , peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes: > In article jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) writes: > > No, no, no, it's NOT! Peter, I know you only used this to illustrate > > a point, but, it is not "OK" for *anyone* to use racial/national/ > > ethnic slurs and epithets (yes, one has the right to -- but that > > doesn't make it "OK"). > > So, Jeff, is it OK for you to call me a computer nerd? No, I value my job too much! {|8^)] But that's besides the point. A chosen mode of behavior is not the same as ethnicity -- calling a person with a yen for the limelight a "ham", or calling someone who spends a lot of time and money on a given cause a "zealout", is qualitatively different from using racial/national/ethnic slurs. >Is it OK for Karl > to call me one? How about referring to myself that way? How about our buddy > over on hoptoad? See above. > > Or should I refer to myself as a socially disabled individual? Hmm. Is occasional grumpiness a social disability? Jeff Daiell -- "In the carriages of the past, you can't go anywhere." -- Maxim Gorky