Should we object to the word Brit?

[jonsastar 11]

In pakististan the word **** is not a rascist acranym(SP?) over here the word **** has been used to slander and hurt usually followed by swear words... hence it is now thought a bit rascist...

 

Brit on the other hand is a word used by brits so its hardly rascist...

[foxforcefive 10]

brit was also a favourite word of he IRA,

I personally don't mind being called a brit but do know of someone who has been prosecuted for calling someone a ****, is that fair ?.

 

I wonder if anyone has actually been in trouble for calling someone a Brit.

[shh! 10]

The other day I read a post by an American who said their ancestors were 'Welsh and Brits'. They meant Welsh and English. Now thats infuriating!

[jonsastar 11]

brit was also a favourite word of he IRA,

I personally don't mind being called a brit but do know of someone who has been prosecuted for calling someone a ****, is that fair ?.

 

talkin of ira, I was on the tram the other day, and some guy, a scot I think was ranting on about how much he hated the irish... And that they would be blowing things up again in the next 2 years... I dont know where he got his info from though...

[foxforcefive 10]

i'm not aware of the history of the word ****, but if it's a word that was in use before racists started using it, then it's been hijacked and no longer has the same meaning. if it however was a word coined by racists, then it never had an innocent meaning in the first place

 

Regardless of when **** was first used, it is a shortened version of Pakistani, which refers to someone of Pakistan Origin.

 

Same as Brit or Aussie to name but a few.

 

If I referred to someone of Pakistan Origin as ****, would I be classed as racist?

[alex3659 11]

talkin of ira, I was on the tram the other day, and some guy, a scot I think was ranting on about how much he hated the irish... And that they would be blowing things up again in the next 2 years... I dont know where he got his info from though...

 

his neighbour Paddy has just bought a bouncy castle .

[jonsastar 11]

his neighbour Paddy has just bought a bouncy castle .

 

I hope so... it would be a bad thing if the catholics go down that route again...

[shh! 10]

Regardless of when **** was first used, it is a shortened version of Pakistani, which refers to someone of Pakistan Origin.

 

Same as Brit or Aussie to name but a few.

 

If I referred to someone of Pakistan Origin as ****, would I be classed as racist?

 

I wouldn't say you were a racist, but you might be in need of a little empathy...

 

Its not the original meaning of the word but the baggage it carries- take the word 'bint', I believe it just means 'girl or 'daughter.' But its been used as an insult so many times you wouldn't just use it for any woman you met would you? And ****, being associated with racist attacks and the like, is much worse IMO as it brings all these past events to mind.

[Jabberwocky 46]

Brit and "Ex pat" are words I just cant stand.

I met a bloke in Australia once who told me that he was a "Brit ex pat".

 

They might find his body one of these days...

[Glamrock 10]

Not really, it is a shortened version of the word Briton which is correct.

Argued against yourself there the OP stated that Brit is short for British and **** is short for Pakistani.What about other shortened tags..Finns.Swedes,Scots,Aussies,Japs etc all shortened but all seem to be accepted as harmless.I have worked and associated with Pakistanis and its not uncommon for them to refer to themselves as Pakis

[hss99 10]

Regardless of when **** was first used, it is a shortened version of Pakistani, which refers to someone of Pakistan Origin.

 

Same as Brit or Aussie to name but a few.

 

If I referred to someone of Pakistan Origin as ****, would I be classed as racist?

 

but my point is it's not about the word, it's about how the word is used. like someone else said above, where did the word ****** come from? if we had never heard that word before it would just sound like gobbledegook. but it was used maliciously and with intent to offend. similarly to the way some people use the word ****. so again, it;s not about the word. the word could be anything. if pakistani people in general find it offensive to be called ****, then surely that should be reason enough not to use it? and anyone who knows that and still does use it would be deliberately offending pakistanis, whether the motivation was racial or not. it's not the word it's the connotations.

if a majority of british people strongly objected and were offended by the word brit, then i'm sure less people would use it so casually, and more people with a genuine dislike of british people, would use it more often

[leviathan13 348]

I do find it quite funny that a lot of people on here who say "I'm not British, I'm English", and take offence. How many of them have probably called someone from Sweden, Norway etc. Scandinavian? It's only the same as them being called British.