Has political correctness actually gone mad?

Moby

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Using derogatory insults for a woman is not nice or civilized, just like calling Rhrodi Giggs wife a slag isn't nice either.

Anyway, I just had to skim quickly through the Margaret thatcher threads to see how many used that insult for her which is not surprising that it's sanctioned in her case since she was after all a hated politician. And I agree, it's a unpleasant thing to call a women. It's not something I have a habit of.
Agreed mate. Much prefer 'bitch' myself.
 

Synco

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Using derogatory insults for a woman is not nice or civilized, just like calling Rhrodi Giggs wife a slag isn't nice either.

Anyway, I just had to skim quickly through the Margaret thatcher threads to see how many used that insult for her which is not surprising that it's sanctioned in her case since she was after all a hated politician.
I'm sure many go by that logic, but I don't.
 

nimic

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And I'm all out of bubblegum.

Gehrman

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I know this sounds weird, but that one is actually about me :lol:

It was from when I used to play an online game called Visual Utopia (and later some Europa Universalis 2 multiplayer with many of the same people).
Holy balls!
 

oneniltothearsenal

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Living in America and California, this conversation on "cnut" is interesting linguistically. The people I know, there is no "its offensive to call women, but okay to call men" differential. It's considered a highly offensive term across the board. At least among people I know, it's probably THE most highly inappropriate words to call anyone irrespective of which gender it's being used against.
 

Moby

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Living in America and California, this conversation on "cnut" is interesting linguistically. The people I know, there is no "its offensive to call women, but okay to call men" differential. It's considered a highly offensive term across the board. At least among people I know, it's probably THE most highly inappropriate words to call anyone irrespective of which gender it's being used against.
It's pretty much the best swear word out there. Nothing else has the same effect.
 

2cents

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Living in America and California, this conversation on "cnut" is interesting linguistically. The people I know, there is no "its offensive to call women, but okay to call men" differential. It's considered a highly offensive term across the board. At least among people I know, it's probably THE most highly inappropriate words to call anyone irrespective of which gender it's being used against.
Yeah it’s not like that here in Dublin. Often used affectionately, e.g. “he’s a gas cnut”. Applied to men much more than women here.
 

oneniltothearsenal

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Yeah it’s not like that here in Dublin. Often used affectionately, e.g. “he’s a gas cnut”. Applied to men much more than women here.
Yea, definitely not like that here :lol:
I remember an Aussie getting hired at a friend's company and saying that at an after-work drinking event and getting some nasty looks.
 

Pogue Mahone

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Living in America and California, this conversation on "cnut" is interesting linguistically. The people I know, there is no "its offensive to call women, but okay to call men" differential. It's considered a highly offensive term across the board. At least among people I know, it's probably THE most highly inappropriate words to call anyone irrespective of which gender it's being used against.
It’s the same in uk/ireland. There is no stronger swear word (racial slurs aside) It’s a tier above all the rest.

The first time I’ve heard of it being “ok for men but not for women” was in this thread (appropriately enough).
 

Pogue Mahone

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Yea, definitely not like that here :lol:
I remember an Aussie getting hired at a friend's company and saying that at an after-work drinking event and getting some nasty looks.
I worked in a hospital in Aus once and caused a stunned silence I asked someone who said they were married a year ago if they had “any sprogs yet?”

In Ireland (and England, I think) sprog means child/baby. Has a completely different meaning in Australia.
 

Synco

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It’s the same in uk/ireland. There is no stronger swear word (racial slurs aside) It’s a tier above all the rest.

The first time I’ve heard of it being “ok for men but not for women” was in this thread (appropriately enough).
You're at the exact other end of the spectrum, though:
I’m struggling to see the misogyny. Cnut is used to describe men as often as it’s used to describe women. It’s gender neutral.
 

Moby

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You deny any specific misogynistic context to calling a woman a c*nt. This is as far to one side as it can get on the misogynistic - not misgogynistic range.
How in the world is it misogynistic to insult a particular woman? The poster in question did not insult her because of her gender, he did so after having known her closely and having formed that opinion based on what he had known about her, in particular.
 

OleBoiii

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You deny any specific misogynistic context to calling a woman a c*nt. This is as far to one side as it can get on the misogynistic - not misgogynistic range.
Wouldn't that depend entirely on the person uttering the words and his/her interpretation of the word? If someone genuinely thinks that 'cnut' is gender neutral, then they aren't really misogynistic if they call a woman that.
 

Pogue Mahone

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You deny any specific misogynistic context to calling a woman a c*nt. This is as far to one side as it can get on the misogynistic - not misgogynistic range.
Oh right. Ok, yeah. Can only talk from personal experience and how I’ve heard the word being used over the years (in Ireland, uk and Australia). It’s always been an equal opportunity curse word; aimed at men and women, willy nilly.

I’m kind of curious about how/where it’s used any differently. Seems a hell of a leap to jump to accusations of misogyny if someone ever uses it about a woman anyway.
 

Synco

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Wouldn't that depend entirely on the person uttering the words and his/her interpretation of the word? If someone genuinely thinks that 'cnut' is gender neutral, then they aren't really misogynistic if they call a woman that.
It's a matter of cultural context. One individual can't define that all by him-/herself. Especially not the person who utters a slur.

The receiver is a different matter, although imo that's still more complicated than just being an entirely individual matter of choice.
 

OleBoiii

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It's a matter of cultural context. One individual can't define that all by him-/herself. Especially not the person who utters a slur.
I don't disagree with that. The word may be misogynistic, but that doesn't mean that the person who utters it necessarily is. 'Intent' and 'lack of knowledge' should matter.
 

Synco

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Oh right. Ok, yeah. Can only talk from personal experience and how I’ve heard the word being used over the years (in Ireland, uk and Australia). It’s always been an equal opportunity curse word.

I’m kind of curious about how/where it’s regularly used any differently. Seems a hell of a leap to jump to accusations of misogyny if someone ever uses it about a woman anyway.
I would leave that to the native speakers/locals.

I have my opinion, based on the sense of the English language I've aquired as a foreign speaker. Which is that the slur usually carries more weight when being hurled from a hostile man at a woman than at another man.
 
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Synco

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I don't disagree with that. The word may be misogynistic, but that doesn't mean that the person who utters it necessarily is. 'Intent' and 'lack of knowledge' should matter.
As I said, if anything, that's up to the receiver. And I'm sure lack of knowledge can be ruled out for anyone with enough grasp of English to call someone a c*nt.
 

Pogue Mahone

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I would leave that to the native speakers.

I have my opinion, based on the sense of the English language I've aquired as a foreign speaker. Which is that the slur usually carries more weight when being hurled from a hostile man at a woman than at another man.
I would say slurs from hostile men aimed at a woman carry more weight in general, because of the physical sense of threat. In real life, that is.

To accuse someone of being a misogynist for using it in a post on the internet to describe a women he evidently has solid reasons for disliking seems absurdly precious.

At the end of the day, calling someone a misogynist is a fairly nasty insult. So it’s ironic to hear it used so carelessly by people who seem intent on deciding what is and isn’t acceptable discourse on here.
 

Tarrou

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if fourth wave feminism has brought us nothing its the freedom to call both men and women cnuts in equal vigour

Australia has been a trail-blazer on this one
 

Moby

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if fourth wave feminism has brought us nothing its the freedom to call both men and women cnuts in equal vigour
As it should be. People are cnuts, regardless of age, gender or anything else.

"Were you born as a human being?"
"I was indeed"
"Chances are you are a massive cnut"
 

Synco

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I would say slurs from hostile men aimed at a woman carry more weight in general, because of the physical sense of threat. In real life, that is.

To accuse someone of being a misogynist for using it in a post on the internet to describe a women he evidently has solid reasons for disliking seems absurdly precious.
I know you think like that. If you find it downright absurd, there's not much left to speak about at this point.
At the end of the day, calling someone a misogynist is a fairly nasty insult. So it’s ironic to hear it used so carelessly by people who seem intent on deciding what is and isn’t acceptable discourse on here.
Maybe the irony is that this actually seems quite precious.

I read & hear variations of this lamento all the time - about racism, antisemitism, homophobia, you name it. It's always like this: complaints about bigoted stuff are precious and laughable, but the accusation of bigotry is the real, unforgivable insult.
 

OleBoiii

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As I said, if anything, that's up to the receiver.
We're crossing a dangerous line when the receiver suddenly holds all the power. What people find offensive is highly subjective after all. Just look at the madness in South Korean media where they somehow managed to turn Solskjær into a racist.

And I'm sure lack of knowledge can be ruled out for anyone with enough grasp of English to call someone a c*nt.
But seemingly intelligent English native speakers in this very thread didn't know that cnut was a misogynistic word. What is obvious to you may not be obvious to everyone.
 

Pogue Mahone

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I know you think like that. If you find it downright absurd, there's not much left to speak about at this point.

Maybe the irony is that this actually seems quite precious.

I read & hear variations of this lamento all the time - about racism, antisemitism, homophobia, you name it. It's always like this: complaints about bigoted stuff are precious and laughable, but the accusation of bigotry is the real, unforgivable insult.
The false accusation of misogyny, to be clear.

And I for one; would never find legitimate complaints about bigotry laughable or precious.
 
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Conor

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I read & hear variations of this lamento all the time - about racism, antisemitism, homophobia, you name it. It's always like this: complaints about bigoted stuff are precious and laughable, but the accusation of bigotry is the real, unforgivable insult.
You can't say it was a complaint about bigoted stuff, because it wasn't 'bigoted stuff'. It was a seemingly accurate description of a nasty person, that had the poster essentially labelled a bigot, by someone who had very little details on the matter. Vastly different to what you're talking about.
 

Synco

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The false accusation of bigotry, to be clear.

And I for one; would never find legitimate complaints about bigotry laughable or precious.
But that's the issue isn't it? Someone else will tell you your complaint about, say, racism - which you're sure is perfectly legitimate - is laughable, a nasty insult, PC gone mad, etc.
 
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Synco

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You can't say it was a complaint about bigoted stuff, because it wasn't 'bigoted stuff'. It was a seemingly accurate description of a nasty person, that had the poster essentially labelled a bigot, by someone who had very little details on the matter. Vastly different to what you're talking about.
Of course I can do that. You just did the same when you said "it wasn't 'bigoted stuff'", but it seems you didn't notice.
 

Conor

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Of course I can do that. You just did the same when you said "it wasn't 'bigoted stuff'", but it seems you didn't notice.
Well you can decide whatever you want, I'm telling you that in the country that I'm from, and the country I assume the original poster is from, men and women use the word cnut to describe other men and women, all of the time, in equal measure. I can happily accept that some people don't exactly like the word, but it is certainly not bigotry to call someone a cnut.