Calling a Spade a Spade

[Buttmunker]

Wtf? Isn't this saying a tad racist?! Isn't a spade slang for a black person? I can't believe people still use the saying 'calling a spade a spade' when they are inclined to tell the truth.

Thoughts on this?

[jfoobar]

http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/miftocllspdspd.shtml

[Groucho]

Very niggardly thread.

[weargle]

"Colored."
"Redneck."
"Jungle bunny."
"**********."
"Burrhead."
"Cracker."
"Spear-chucker."
"White trash."
"Jungle bunny."
"Honky."
"Spade."
"Honky-honky."
"******."
"Deeeead honky."

[Turd Ferguson]

"I'm talkin' bout the same MAN who calls a black cat bad luck and calls a white cat p---y."

[kenbuzz]

Originally Posted by JustinS

http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/miftocllspdspd.shtml

Thanks for the link. That was mighty white of ya.

[The Infidel]

This took me all of a minute to find on the internet. Can we move on to more intelligent threads now?

"Calling a space a spade" is NOT an ethnic slur.
It derives from an ancient Greek expression: ta syka syka, te:n
skaphe:n de skaphe:n onomasein = "to call a fig a fig, a trough a
trough". This is first recorded in Aristophanes' play The Clouds
(423 B.C.), was used by Menander and Plutarch, and is still current
in modern Greek. There has been a slight shift in meaning: in
ancient times the phrase was often used pejoratively, to denote a
rude person who spoke his mind tactlessly; but it now, like the
English phrase, has an exclusively positive connotation. It is
possible that both the fig and the trough were originally sexual
symbols.
In the Renaissance, Erasmus confused Plutarch's "trough"
(skaphe) with the Greek word for "digging tool" (skapheion;
the two words are etymologically connected, a trough being
something that is hollowed out) and rendered it in Latin as ligo.
Thence it was translated into English in 1542 by Nicholas Udall in
his translation of Erasmus's version as "to call a spade [...] a
spade". (Bartlett's Familiar Quotations perpetuates Erasmus'
error by mistranslating skaphe: as "spade" three times under
Menander.)
"To call a spade a bloody shovel" is not recorded until 1919.
"Spade" in the sense of "Negro" is not recorded until 1928. (It
comes from the colour of the playing card symbol, via the phrase
"black as the ace of spades".)

This, of course, does *not* necessarily render the modern use of
"to call a spade a spade" "politically correct". Rosalie Maggio, in
The Bias-Free Word-Finder, writes: "The expression is associated
with a racial slur and is to be avoided", and recommends using "to
speak plainly" or other alternatives instead. In another entry, she
writes: "Although by definition and derivation 'niggardly' and
'n-i-g-g-e-r' are completely unrelated, 'niggardly' is too close for
comfort to a word with profoundly negative associations. Use
instead one of the many available alternatives: stingy, miserly,
parsimonious..." Beard and Cerf, in The Official Politically
Correct Handbook, p. 123, report that an administrator at the
University of California at Santa Cruz campaigned for the banning
of such phrases as "a chink in his armor" and "a nip in the air",
because "chink" and "nip" are also derogatory terms for "Chinese
person" and "Japanese person" respectively. In the late 1970s in
the U.S., a boycott of the (now defunct) Sambo's restaurant chain
was organized, even though the name "Sambo's" was a combination of
the names of its two founders and did not come from the offensive
word for dark-skinned person.

[The Infidel]

I just realized JustinS' post has the same exact explanation, but a different site. Oopsy!

[das Monkey]

• The_Infidel •

This took me all of a minute to find on the internet. Can we move on to more intelligent threads now?

It took a whole minute to click on JustinS's link?

das

[Turd Ferguson]

Originally Posted by The_Infidel

Can we move on to more intelligent threads now?
[/i]

Can I please use the restroom, Mr. Forum Agenda Setter?

[weargle]

*singing* Mister Forum Agenda Setter */singing*

Thank you for having only intelligent threads ...

*singing* Smart threads oooooooh */singing*

[nevermind]

Originally Posted by Turd Ferguson

Can I please use the restroom, Mr. Forum Agenda Setter?

Shouldn't that be 'Mr. Forum Agenda Setta'?

[Slow Hands]

I prefer just saying ******.

[devilshalo]

Dunno... looks like a white guy to me?

[Charlie Goose]

Listen up, racism hurts everyone, but especially coloreds.

[Phil L.]

So then can we say..."calling a yard and garden digging implement a yard and garden digging implement"?

[Suprmallet]

Hey, Phil, nice sig.

[Phil L.]

Thanks

[Green Jello]

[kvrdave]

Originally Posted by Buttmunker

Thoughts on this?

I think some people are inclined to be overly sensitive about stupid things.

[Mopower]

Originally Posted by kvrdave

I think some people are inclined to be overly sensitive about stupid things.

Racist!

[taa455]

I have never associated this phrase or the term "spade" with a black person, not even in my mind. I didn't even know spade was considered a slang term.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Turd Ferguson

Can I please use the restroom, Mr. Forum Agenda Setter?

Bud Light Presents: Real Men of Genius
real men of genius
Today we salute you, Mr. Forum Agenda Setter.
Mr. Forum Agenda Setter
Though mankind thinks and posts about all things, you know what is really worthy of discussion.
Booze and Porn yeah...
Perhaps it's time for another abortion thread? Political bickering? We don't know. We rely on your insight to tell us that it's time to talk about something bathroom related.
Gotta pee now...
And when the topic veers off onto a different track, you'll be the first one to call us all out on it.
Back on topic, baby!
So crack open an ice-cold Bud Light, titan of the topic, because you put the thread in threadcrapping.
Bathroom humor, yeahhhhhh...

[kvrdave]

[Giantrobo]

[chris rock]Alla ya'llza buncha ******h ass ******hs!!!!![/chris rock]


edit to add: "Cracker" spelled like the slang pronunciation is censored!