Calling a spade a spade

MrBishop said:
As I understood the meaning to be. Not a try...just an explanation of my understanding.

Hell, I used to think that it was tow the line (as in a tug of war, pull on the line in the same direction just like everyone else) and not toe the line (start at the same spot as everyone else).

The former makes more sense in it's current use than the latter.


If spade a spade is a racist term...consider me informed now.
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"Calling a spade a spade" harkens back to Civil War America, when a person's freedom turned on whether or not the establishment considered one Black or not. Inter-racial liaisons were not uncommon, and so mulatto children were reasonably common. The White establishment was loathe to allow itself to be "diluted" with "impure blood," and so they took to "calling a 'spade' [pejorative for a Black person] a 'spade'"...
 
I've never met Gato so I can't comment on his particular case, but in my experience, I've never met any one "as black as" let alone "blacker than" the ace of spades. ;)

Always wondered how the ace was blacker than any of the other cards and why "blacker than the ace of clubs" doesn't mean anything.
 
chcr said:
I've never met Gato so I can't comment on his particular case, but in my experience, I've never met any one "as black as" let alone "blacker than" the ace of spades. ;)

Always wondered how the ace was blacker than any of the other cards and why "blacker than the ace of clubs" doesn't mean anything.
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Not "blacker than"...black as the ace of spades...:shrug: You just can't make this stuff up. If I was thin-skinned, I could be upset by 90% of the sayings out there, leaving a niggardly 10% for you folks to debate over the level of offendedness you could create with them...;)
 
OK, that allows me to bring up another incident from the weekend.

MLB voted Cal Ripken Jr and Tony Gwynn into its Hall Of Fame, both richly deserving of the honor. In his public speech later that day, Gwynn made a comment about his nervousness regarding the vote, as he was a singles hitter instead of a slugger and was worried that might sway some voters. He said his family was trying to get him to calm down and relax and enjoy the process. I do not remember the exact quote letter for letter, but this is real close.

Gwynn: I was sweating like a slave over it.




Later, Gwynn had to issue a formal apology over the remark to anyone who may have been offended by it. For the record, Gwynn is black.

I find that preposterous. To have him issue the apology implies that only blacks have ever been slaves, and we all know that simply is untrue. Yeah, he could have used a different euphamism...but he didn't.

Is the very word "slave" now taboo? Have we gone that far? How long before we replace the names on Crayolas with numbers?
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
Is the very word "slave" now taboo? Have we gone that far? How long before we replace the names on Crayolas with numbers?
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You have the right to remain silent. If you ignore that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion. You have the right to a public affairs consultant, and to have said consultant with you during any subsequent apologies you speak. If you cannot afford a public affairs consultant, then you are SOL. Do you understand your rights as they have been written for you? If not, too damned bad. You're words and actions will be broadcast for all to see and condemn at their liesure. In other words, you're toast. :rolleyes: :grinyes:
 
Not pink, peach....Marlowe asked me if I had a peach sharpie for her book report poster (on My loose Tooth) the other day...and then when I popped in on her she was using the "peach" to color in the picture of the white girl from the book who had lost a tooth....gives new meaning to the phrase Georgia Peach, eh?
 
tonksy said:
Not pink, peach....Marlowe asked me if I had a peach sharpie for her book report poster (on My loose Tooth) the other day...and then when I popped in on her she was using the "peach" to color in the picture of the white girl from the book who had lost a tooth....gives new meaning to the phrase Georgia Peach, eh?
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Huh? Peach is not a color. Peach is a fruit. Same for Cantoupe, chocolate, strawberry, or any other made-up crap used to sell a bad mix...
 
Gato_Solo said:
Not "blacker than"...black as the ace of spades...:shrug: You just can't make this stuff up. If I was thin-skinned, I could be upset by 90% of the sayings out there, leaving a niggardly 10% for you folks to debate over the level of offendedness you could create with them...;)
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I heard it both ways all my life. :shrug: Like I say, I never quite understood the analogy since no one (I've ever met) is actually that black. Brown as my brown dress shoes just doesn't have the same ring, does it? :lloyd:

BTW, I know people misinterpret it all the time, but does "niggardly" have a racial connotation at all? Even though the spelling is similar n***** comes from a mispronunciation of negro rather than from the perjorative niggardly, doesn't it?

Also BTW, none of them offend me. I'm not black.
 
I always wondered as a child if the N word came from a bastardized version of the country Niger...but then I was told that it came from the Spanish Negro for black...but some folks hold that the definition is not a black person but an ignorant person...I'm so confused.
 
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