a very brief guide to derogatory terms down under

[deird1]

This is most recently prompted by Weird Al's Word Crimes (which is an awesome song/video that you should check out, regardless of my upcoming comments).

For those of you who aren't aware, it's a parody of the HIGHLY offensive and rapey song Blurred Lines. But, in getting rid of the horribly offensive lyrics (and keeping the awesome tune), Weird Al has unknowingly added a lyric that non-USians often find quite offensive. That being: "you write like a spastic".

*facepalm*

So, anyway...

There are many American terms that I don't see as all that offensive. I mean, I get that they are, but I don't really encounter them in everyday life, so they're totally divorced from the emotional context that they'd come laden with if I were hearing them in America. So, in an attempt to understand the American context, I have to link them to an equivalent Aussie term, and think about how that term sounds to me.

This is an attempt to do the same back to Americans.



A Short List of Unpleasant Words

When referring to our country's original occupants, go with either "Indigenous Australians", or "Aborigines".
Terms you should definitely not use:
"Abo" - which would be roughly equivalent to "nigger"
"natives" - no equivalent term, but make it sound like they're fauna or flora
"blackfella" - inoffensive coming from an Aborigine, but coming from a white person, it'd be roughly equivalent to calling a black American "boy"


We don't really say "faggot". But we have a word of equivalent value: "poofta". Don't say this out loud ever, unless you're intentionally trying to be horrible.

And... "spastic". Which would be vaguely equivalent to calling someone "retard".



So, there you go. Fresh knowledge. Use it wisely.

Comments

[lizbee]

"Poofta" and its variations are useful, though, for spotting the American Anglophile who hasn't done her research.