The "M" word??? Help settle a bet.

[tpir90036]

OK. So last night I was at dinner with some college friends and a few other people. I don't remember exactly what we were talking about... but I ended up using the word "mulatto" to describe someone. One of my friends got all nervous and offended and told me that word is just as bad as the "n" word and that I should be ashamed of myself.

No one else at the table knew one way or the other. Neither the dictionary.com entry nor the wikipedia entry makes any mention of prejudice or malice. Did I miss a memo?

-tpir

Edit: There is a small mention of the term being possibly offensive in the wikipedia article.

[FouTight]

wow.

just wow.

I always though it was "Milano"... named such for the nature of these cookies...

[-Skeme-]

[B Dids]

I am aware that some people don't like the term, it isn't universally offensive. Nowhere near "the n word" at all.

[swede123]

Once in a conversation with a friend, I mentioned the word mulatto (which my white ass doesn't consider offensive) and my friend did not know what it was. After explaining what it meant she said "Oh, you mean a swirl." So, compared to my friend's expression mulatto is very P.C.

P.S. No offense intended, apologies if I upset anyone with this silly story.

Swede

[StevieG]

People are overly sensitive in the U.S. I'm not surprised this term offended someone, despite the fact it is inoffensive.

There is nothing racist in the etymology of the word
"niggardly" either, but that did not help this guy.

[HopeydaFish]

From Dictionary.com:

"The terms mulatto, quadroon, and octoroon originated with the racial policies of European colonizers in the Americas, especially the Spanish. Because civil rights and responsibilities were based directly on the degree of European blood that a person had, such classifications were highly elaborated, and minor distinctions in ancestry were carefully recorded. While these terms have highly precise definitions, in actual practice they were often used based on impressions of skin color rather than definite knowledge of ancestry."

So yes, the word is up there with the 'n' word in terms of its potential to offend people. Anytime you use words that were used primarily by slave-traders, you can get yourself into hot water.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
wow.

just wow.

I always though it was "Milano"... named such for the nature of these cookies...



[/ QUOTE ]
You mean:

[DMBFan23]

[ QUOTE ]
People are overly sensitive in the U.S. I'm not surprised this term offended someone, despite the fact it is inoffensive.

There is nothing racist in the etymology of the word
"niggardly" either, but that did not help this guy.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah that,s really retarded, but he might have wanted to think about that one first.

[billyjex]

this one white dude in my frat used to have curly hair like a black guy and we called him mulatto.