^ but that is coz i blanked out everything racists towards me tho :/ so whatever offensive things that people say towards me i make it not offensive so it doesn't get to me :S that's how i turned out since all the racist attacks i had when iwas little :/ maybe it's no excuse but then if i didn't know i didn't know as i was brought up in england and the only few words that i know that is offensive is the C word and anything related plus it is hard to become NOT racists or even offensive to others coz no one is ever that angellic and innocent... my parents are racists to the English well very bad ideology about them and don't none of them =/ so are they wrong?
I just want to say that I'm not being critical of you personally. I've read tons of your posts and find you to be an easy going non confrontational fun person that would be great to be around. Further, I agree that it seems neutral enough to refer to people from their country of origin (eg. Irishman, Frenchman, et cetera) I was just pointing out that even nice people (like you, and many others here) may use words that they don't know or intend to be hurtful. In forums like this, it's probably not a big deal. If someone takes insult then there's little to lose except for maybe a few threads of conversation. However, in your personal life, that's a different story. For example, say if you're in a pleasant conversation with your boyfriend's parents, and you innocently use the term Chinaman. They suddenly stiffen and look as if someone had splashed cold water on their faces. They continue the conversation but you sense already that something is different; the tenor is not as pleasant as before. Several days after the encounter your boyfriend confides that his parents told him he could do better. That's the point I'm getting at. It isn't what you think or intend, but rather how it is perceived. I already knew for a fact that you didn't mean anything by it, because you didn't know that such a word made any difference. However, just like if you had something stuck in your teeth and I saw it, being a friend, I would tell you because I didn't want you walk around with it and embarrass yourself. So, in essence what I'm saying is not to admonish or criticize you, but rather to say, "Did you know that some people may actually take offense or find such a word insulting?" Or simply an FYI. So, after knowing all the above, if you choose to continue to use such a word, then that's certainly your right. But now you know that some people (especially older Chinese) may find it markedly offensive. LOL... IIRC, there was even a TVB episode (I forget which series) that discussed this very thing, ie. the use of the term Chinaman.
lol i see what you mean now... but then now-a-days everyone is finding a lot of word's that shouldn't really be offensive is offensive... i'm pretty much too simple minded and just think things that are easily describable lol
Well smoking more DOES help the economy right? More smokers = more cancer patients which requires money lol. But seriously, not the brightest idea.
