8 Racist Words You Use Every Day
Have you ever worried that, no matter how hard you try, you'll just never be racist enough? Well, you're in luck. As it turns out, you've been unconsciously using racial slurs your entire life! Slurs like...
#8.
Hooligan
How it's Used:
"I was nearly killed on my drive home by a group of hooligans playing paintball on the interstate."
What You're Actually Saying:
"I was nearly killed on my drive home by a group of dirty Irish drunkards playing paintball on the interstate."
Wait, What?
The earliest use of the word "hooligan" dates back to British newspaper and police reports in the summer of 1898. They seem to have adapted the word from the Houlihan family, a group of Irish immigrants living in London. The family became known for their hilarious drinking songs, jigs and their enthusiastic police brutality that tended to ensue (to a word, "Irish-ness").
But despite the beatdowns, the Houlihans continued to fight for their right to party, and did their motherland proud by forever associating their ethnic surname with stupid teenagers who like to play paintball on the interstate.
#7.
Vandal
How it's Used:
"Some vandals tagged the wall behind the local high school."
What You're Actually Saying:
"A horde of dirty godless Germans tagged the wall behind the local high school."
Wait, What?
Those of you who managed to stay awake during Western Civ. class will recall that the Vandals were one of the Germanic tribes that sacked Rome. They weren't any more or less destructive than any of the other tribes that got all up in Rome's shit, but they still have the distinction of lending their name to toilet-paper-hurling dipshits from now to eternity.
But in all fairness, it could have been worse: At least they didn't end up like the Goth tribe, which will forever be associated with shitty LiveJournal poetry.
#6.
Hip Hip Hooray!
How it's Used:
"We won the little league game! Hip hip hooray!"
What You're Actually Saying:
"We won the little league game! Let's go kill some Jews!"
Wait, What?
The first half of "hip hip hooray" is adapted from "hep hep," an old German shepherds' herding cry. That is, actual shepherds from Germany. Not the dogs.
Sounds pretty innocuous, right? Well, it was, up until around 1819, when the citizens of Germany and other neighboring countries began using it as their rallying cry while going Hebrew-hunting in the Jewish ghettos. So keep that in mind next time you're trying to come up with an appropriate cheer at your cousin's Bar Mitzvah.
#5.
Barbarian
How it's Used:
"In World of WarCraft, I play a level 60 barbarian."
What You're Actually Saying:
"In World of WarCraft, I play a stupid jabbering foreigner."
Wait, What?
Let's revisit that Western Civ. class again. Your teacher probably made a big deal out of the great Ancient Greek advances in politics, philosophy, architecture and so on. But she left out one crucial point: For a society that made such a big deal out of hubris, those motherfuckers could be really arrogant pricks.
Case in point: They thought that Greek wasn't just the best language, it was the only language that made any sense at all. All other languages just sounded like people saying "bar bar bar bar." Thus the word "barbarian," or someone who speaks the retarded monkey language that Greeks associated with every other nation on Earth.
#4.
Bugger
How it's Used:
"The dog peed on my leg again, that little bugger!"
What You're Actually Saying:
"The dog peed on my leg again, that little Bulgarian homosexual!"
Wait, What?
Back in the day, the Catholic Church was really intolerant of other religions. "The day," in this case, refers to every day from the founding of the church to, well, yesterday. The word "bugger" stems from "Bulgarian," or someone from Bulgaria, but medieval Catholics used it as a catch-all term for all members of the East Orthodox Church. Members of that church were considered heretics, and heresy is, of course, a slippery slope to sodomy. An awful, gross, terrible, slippery slope.
But that was the belief. Catholics at the time honestly thought that if your beliefs deviated even slightly from theirs, it followed that you were engaging in all sorts of perverse sexual acts. Such as monogamous sex between two consenting adults who happen to be the same gender. EVIL!
#3.
Cannibal
How it's Used:
"I don't care whether or not the other person consented, all cannibals should be sent to prison. It's disgusting."
What You're Actually Saying:
"I don't care whether or not the other person consented, all people from the West Indies should be sent to prison. It's disgusting."
Wait, What?
Picture this: You're a member of one of the indigenous tribes of the West Indies. Every day you wake up under the warm Caribbean sun, do a hard day's work and then chill out on the beach and watch the sun set. The weather is always beautiful, and life is good. Then, one day, some crazy Italian dude hops off a boat with his muskets and shit and accuses you all of cannibalism.
Well, now you know what it's like to be a member of the Carib people. Much like the Vandals, the Caribs got stuck with an unfortunate label that bares little relation to reality.
#2.
Gyp
How it's Used:
"Man, five dollars for a candy bar? What a gyp!"
What You're Actually Saying:
"Man, five dollars for a candy bar? You're a filthy Eastern European immigrant."
Wait, What?
Gyp is thought to be short for "Gypsy." And long before that term meant a group of odd people who roam the countryside running scams, it was an ethnic slur for the Romany people who immigrated from Eastern Europe. The term "Gypsy" evolved from the habit of calling the people Egyptians, because they sort of looked Egyptian and the locals were apparently too shy to ask the people where they were actually from.
The point is the negative meaning of the word started centuries ago, and even now plays off the common stereotype of Gypsies as sneaky, thieving con artists. At least they don't break all your shit like the Vandals, though. Assholes.
#1.
Picnic
How it's Used:
"Wow, look at that! The sun's shining, the bluebirds are singing ... why, I think it's a lovely day for a picnic!"
What You're Actually Saying:
"Wow, look at that! The sun's shining, the bluebirds are singing ... why, I think it's a lovely day to lynch a black person!"
Actually, no, this is what you're really saying:
"Wow, look at that! The sun's shining, the bluebirds are singing ... why, I think it's a lovely day for a picnic!"
Wait, What?
Confused? We're including this one just to save everybody the trouble down in the comments. If you bring up the topic of racist words, it's usually only minutes before some helpful expert will chime in with:
"Did you know 'picnic' dates back to lynching parties? It's true, 'picnic' is short for 'pick a n*gger.' As in, pick one to lynch. So when you eat sandwiches in the park, the blood of African Americans stains your very checkered tablecloth. Enjoy your sandwich, bigot."
This one, however, is bullshit. According to Snopes.com, the word "picnic" actually derives from the totally innocuous French word "piquenique." The other, horrible meaning of the word is found nowhere outside of that one idiotic email forward.
So it was never a euphemism for anything. Or even a real phrase. And if you believed that email, then we have some penis enlarging pills to sell you.
Before you go complaining that we promised eight, keep in mind that we gave you Goth, a term that is probably more insulting to the Goth tribe now than ever before.
Be sure to check out today's episode of S.W.A.I.M.:Looking Forward: 4 Ways To Make Fun of Obama, and the latest batch of our Top Picks from around the web and the Cracked.com Mirth Canal.
And now that you know how racist you are, it's time you learned why you're a pervert in 8 Everyday Words With X-Rated Origins. And while you're at it, go ahead and find out why all those big fancy words you use to look smart really make you look like a dipshit in 9 Words That Don't Mean What You Think.
One of the funniest things I was ever told was when I used the word jew as a verb when joking around with a friend. I said something like "quite trying to jew me down you bastard." Another person heard that and said "you really shouldn't say that, man". So I asked him what I should say. His response was "you could say gypped." I didn't even try to correct him on that, I just laughed. Totally okay to knock the Roma (which hopefully you guessed is my heritage given the silly name I use on here). Even when you take the politically correct high ground you can still bash the gypsies and be totally in the right.
ReplyI think the confusion relating to the word 'picnic' is that several times participants in lynchings during the 1920s would refer to refer to the event as a picnic or a barbeque, and on some occasions even sent out postcards labeling the event as such. Also, the term "hip hip hooray" had a pretty innocent meaning, it was just misused by the German rioters. It is the same as how the Serbian government referred to its genocidal acts against Muslims and Croats as "cleansing", but that doesn't make cleansing a racial slur.
ReplyWhat about the phrase "beyond the pale" as in, an action that is shocking to the conscience in its depravity? The original meaning basically referred to Russian Jews who dared to live amongst the gentiles rather than stay in their ghettoes (the Pale of Settlement), so when the DNC chairwoman last month criticized Ted Nugent's NRA comments as "beyond the pale", she was actually saying that the Nuge should be sent back to the shtetl.
ReplyPenis-enlarging pills? I'm listening.
Reply"The dog peed on my leg again, that little Bulgarian homosexual!"
ReplyThat was one of the most random things I've read in a long while.
Is being anal-retentive racist?
ReplyNot by itself. It would depends on how you express it I guess.
"My my, Mr Jordan, you could probably stay under water for a REALLY long time with all the air you could breath into those big-ass nostrils!"
That 's kind of a stupid question, and now I'm suspicious of you. Care to elaborate on that?
Most of these terms were orignially xenophobic or developed from stereotypes, and are not "racist". Given that the terms have lost their original meanings and are not associated with any particular group they can no longer be considered "racial" slurs--unlike "Indian giver". No Vandal or (real) Goth tribe exists today, no Irish identifies as a Hooligan. Cannibal refers to the act of eating human flesh, not to any particular indigenous people. I do believe that "gypped" is the exception in this list--or it was when I was a kid, but only because it is still strongly identified with "Gypsies" (unlike the rest of the terms). Then again, that group doesn't like the term "Gypsies" which they also consider derogative--they are either Romanis or Travelers. So out of this list it is the only one I would consider legitimately "racist" (to use the term loosely). The reason I would make that an exception is that the definition has not changed in any meaningful way even if the modern common identity of the group has. Language evolves.
ReplyThere are many terms that have changed meaning and/or usage over the centuries. If the meaning no longer refers to the original slur then it doesn't apply. Consider the word geek. It probably originated from the Scottish and Germanic "geck", meaning a “fool” as well as “to mock, or cheat." It then became associated with the carnies that bit off the heads of live chickens. Ew. How the word became what it is today I have no idea.
The lengths you'll go to to convince yourself you're not being racist are astonishing.
Now I feel like an asshole.
Replyexcept for cannibal, I never use any of these words. I have used the word bugger in reference to gay sex but that was years ago. Good to know, though.
Replybugger me ya blimey bastard
Gay sex yes, but do we associate it with Bulgarians? No. Therefore it is not a "racist" term. Unless you consider gays a racial group. I suppose you could argue it is a cultural group although the term has evolved past the gay sex reference in common usage.
My bad that last part was wrong. They weren't cannibals they were just accused of being cannibals. And while the act of assuming they are cannibals is stereotyping and racist, the word cannibal itself is not a racial slur. You're still making all of your readers believe they are subconcious racists through your own ignorance. Also I hope the American Heritage Dictionary sues you for raping their definitions.
ReplyLol I love how your definitions are there just to start random hatred. A barbarian is an uncivilized, uneducated man/woman, not a "filthy, vile foreigner". in fact the crap definitions you've given would be a lot more believable if they weren't the same sentence with one word changed. (ex. "a FILTHY drunken, Irish Bastard", "a FILTHY heathen german swine" "A FILTHY, vile foreigner") I applaud you on making probably thousands of people think they're subconcious racists though. But honestly, truly my favorite piece of ignorance in this article was the Cannibal one. The word wasnt specifically for the people of the west indies. Its a word that means someone who eats flesh of the same species. The people of the West indies ate human flesh. They were cannibals. Thats not racism, simply a statement of fact.
Replybarbarian was an old word the greeks used to describe foreigners. sorry to burst your intellectual boner.
Nice job race-baiting, Cracked! You may want to do a little bit of research before you make ridiculous claims. Picnic has nothing to do with lynching. The word originated in 1692 France ("piquenique" or to "pick" or "peck"). Check out Snopes for the full scoop.
Reply Hide All See All 4 RepliesSo, does this mean "black holes" are racist too, Cracked?
Fail. Read the whole entry.
Ha you must have been really stoked about getting to be a condesending a*****e on the internet, you didn't even finish reading before you decided to tell everyone about how smart you are.
Man.. What is wrong with you? Can't you put your skepticism aside and enjoy a HUMOROUS article on a HUMOR site.. Get it.. Its humor.. Its supposed to make you laugh and not make you go like, "*gasp* that person is insulting me. I must retaliate."
Roflmao. LiterAlly. I actually got more of a kick out of this than the entire article. Thnx for restating the entire point of the entry.
Um, gypsies actually originated in India, not Eastern Europe.
ReplyThat's not what they're saying. They're saying people referred to Eastern Europeans as gypsies, not where they actually come from.
No Gypsies (Romanies) are a distinct group not generic "eastern Europeans".
I go to Cambridge, one of the most ridiculously English, male-dominated institutions (I can say that, being a girl from Scotland...) Our little kitchens on the staircase we live on are called "gyp rooms" and back in ye olden days were used by the butlers (oh yes) who were nick-named gyps, short for gypsy, by the wonderfully intelligent and utterly racist bastards that used to occupy one of my favourite places.
ReplyJust to show how far we've come, they renamed the final term Easter, instead of "Hillary", but on our tenant agreements we still promise not to burn down the gyp rooms. It's in f*****g legal documents.
i can read you accent. jolly good.
Irish, German, Jewish, Bulgarian, gay, forgein, West Indian, and Eastern European are NOT races. Black is. Congratulations, you got 7 out of 8 wrong. You cheapen the terms race and racism when you throw them around willy nilly to apply to every group and clan.
Reply Hide All See All 9 Repliesoh just shut up.
Nah those are all races or at least SUB races.
"Race" is defined by the cultural practices of the day. In the early 20th century, Latinos were considered white, but the Irish weren't, they had their own separate Irish race. You can't try to define race, because it's all a social construct.
Even though gay and foreign aren't races, the words could be considered racist as they are against a group of people with common culture. Irish, German, Jewish, and Bulgarian are races, retard.
Black is a shade. Way to f**k it up while trying to sound all indignant and superior.
f******d
Sounding pretty racist there! I think I understand what you mean though. As in white is a race, black is a race, and asian is a race. But you sound pretty racist just saying black.
f**k all your whining hippies. youll b***h about anything. hes right. black is a race. white is a race. german is a nationality. you stupid hippie fucks rally against anything that sounds racist to you
According to Kent Koppelman,
Race is a social reality dictated by the color of one's skin
Ethnicity refers to the historic origins of an individual's family
Nationality simply refers to the nation in which one has citizenship.
there is only 1 race and that is human. black is not a race and if you think like that you are a racist
I don't use any of these words daily.
Replylol, Fez...
Reply>back in the day.
ReplyLol
Hum. I thought most people would already know plenty of these. Heh, you learn something every day.
ReplyI knew about Vandas and Goths, but I heard a slightly different story about Barbarian. The one I heard was, the Romans would here a foreigner speak and thought it sounded like the noise sheep make "Baa baa"
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesIt is Greek in origin, I promise. It is derived from the greek work "barbaros," which is used to refer to foreigners.
Amla; the greeks borrowed the word. They were considered barbarians by the people they borrowed from.
chris; whoever told you that lied to you. "barbaros" is of Greek origin.