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[XXSockXX]

Not a suggestion. Tolkein explicitly described orcs in one of his letters as "squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."

Right, I might have read that somewhere. Pretty much matches contemporary descriptions of the Huns, I guess, which is where that image originated.

[smirk]

On that subject I am quite interested to hear of contemporary Mongolian culture.

I do know that they were quite sophisticated back in the Gangis Kahn day.

So far as I know, there's a lot of cultural strife between the more traditional nomadic peoples and the massive foreign-owned (mostly China) mining companies that tend to run everything. Add in the remnants of Soviet-era politics, rampant poverty and a growing population of disaffected youth, and you get things like that environazi party. Find and watch the movie Khadak if you enjoy weirdly surreal and/or depressing films.

But hey! We get some kickass music out of all that suffering o_o

[Putnam]

It's a rather offensive and racist association that I'm surprised to see persist today, frankly, though mongols were referred to as barbaric (possibly inbred, in regards to the term?) for a rather long time, by authors including Lovecraft, if I'm not mistaken.

Lovecraft was anglocentric supremacist as hell, though, so he's not the best example.

[Owlbread]

Lovecraft was a pretty terrible guy.

[SealyStar]

It's a fun word if you don't consider the connotations, which is perhaps why it still rattles around today, perhaps like the term niggardly, which is to be poor and stingy, which we're still being taught in AP English courses.

That word is of entirely different derivation from any racial epithet. The similarity is purely coincidental.

Indeed. There's plenty of racism out there, but people who object to "niggardly" are trying to create more where was none.

Kind of like Tumblr slacktivists in that regard.

[tahujdt]

Kinda like Poe in that regard. My response after reading an anthology of Poe at the age of 12:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Man, this guy was fucked up."

[Flying Dice]

Kinda like Poe in that regard. My response after reading an anthology of Poe at the age of 12:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Man, this guy was fucked up."

Poe had a whole bushel of problems. It's part of why his stuff makes for such interesting reading.

[Lord Shonus]

It's a fun word if you don't consider the connotations, which is perhaps why it still rattles around today, perhaps like the term niggardly, which is to be poor and stingy, which we're still being taught in AP English courses.

That word is of entirely different derivation from any racial epithet. The similarity is purely coincidental.

Indeed. There's plenty of racism out there, but people who object to "niggardly" are trying to create more where was none.

Kind of like Tumblr slacktivists in that regard.

Not nearly as bad as the false etymology of "picnic" that people keep trying to claim.

[tahujdt]

It's a fun word if you don't consider the connotations, which is perhaps why it still rattles around today, perhaps like the term niggardly, which is to be poor and stingy, which we're still being taught in AP English courses.

That word is of entirely different derivation from any racial epithet. The similarity is purely coincidental.

Indeed. There's plenty of racism out there, but people who object to "niggardly" are trying to create more where was none.

Kind of like Tumblr slacktivists in that regard.

Not nearly as bad as the false etymology of "picnic" that people keep trying to claim.

Which one is this?

[Bauglir]

I think the thing about "niggardly" is that it's a complete etymological coincidence. It shares no linguistic background with any ethnic slurs.

[Lord Shonus]

It's a fun word if you don't consider the connotations, which is perhaps why it still rattles around today, perhaps like the term niggardly, which is to be poor and stingy, which we're still being taught in AP English courses.

That word is of entirely different derivation from any racial epithet. The similarity is purely coincidental.

Indeed. There's plenty of racism out there, but people who object to "niggardly" are trying to create more where was none.

Kind of like Tumblr slacktivists in that regard.

Not nearly as bad as the false etymology of "picnic" that people keep trying to claim.

Which one is this?

Awhile back, some "genius" started spreading (by email) the claim that "picnic" is short for "pick a nigger" and refers to the honorable Southern practice of lynching someone every Sunday. It's a claim that still crops up to this day.

http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/picnic.asp

[Flying Dice]

I think the thing about "niggardly" is that it's a complete etymological coincidence. It shares no linguistic background with any ethnic slurs.

This. People assumed that because they sound similar they share an etymological root, which is a complete falsehood. IIRC the root "nig" is believed to be originally drawn from an Old Norse word for "stingy", and a quick check says that it's related to the Old English word hneaw.

[RedKing]

Yes, you're a terrible person. 

While you're at it, niger seed (common for birdfeeders) was so named because the plant was first cultivated in Ethiopia, and because the local word for it is noog, which went through the loanword grist mill and entered English as "niger" (prounounced like the country, probably through misattribution).

However, because of people who jumped on the "THAT'S RACIST" bandwagon (and no doubt some awkward pronunciation faux pas), you will never find it labeled as such in America these days. Now it's "nyjer seed".

Awhile back, some "genius" started spreading (by email) the claim that "picnic" is short for "pick a nigger" and refers to the honorable Southern practice of lynching someone every Sunday. It's a claim that still crops up to this day.

http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/picnic.asp

As a Southerner, I take great offense to this maladroit libel!

We did that on Tuesdays. >_>
_{(Now I'm a terrible person...)}


Which reminds me of a great one-liner by a black comedian who mentioned moving to Lynchburg, VA.
"Lynchburg?!?? Aw hell man, I just left Tar-and-Featherville!" 

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Lovecraft continues to confuse the hell out of me. On one hand, raging antisemite. On the other hand, married a Ukrainian Jew.

[RedKing]

Lovecraft continues to confuse the hell out of me. On one hand, raging antisemite. On the other hand, married a Ukrainian Jew.

I dunno, seems pretty simple to me. Just reverse the order of those conditions.