A racial word i have a question about.

I think as long as you don't preface a command by it, it would be ok. I'm not an expert on the topic though. I personally would never use the word.

 

It is widely used with the "a" ending as a term of endearment, as in "you my *****." But be careful not to ever use it with the "er" ending....cuz that'll get your ass beat

 

Which leads us to open the can of worms that is "***** please!"

 

If you want to be informed I suggest you check out the Book "N*****: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word" By Randall Kennedy.

here is a small excerpt from the book.

Edit - If the link doesn't work, it's because the n-word is being blocked out in the last part of the url.

 

It's been my experience so far in life, that as long as you emphasize "AH" at the end, and make no inkling of a hint at an "er" then its not an offensive word. Especially with today's mushpot of cultures, slang terminology grows exponentially every day. I've been called ***** by my black friends, and I call them ***** too. I sometimes even call them cracka. Racial boundaries are a joke to us, so we joke about silly things like that. But then again, that's just me and my clique.

The ultimate rule IMO is this: Use it only when you know everyone is okay with the word, and you are using it non-maliciously.

 

I know I'm not being "pc" here, but I just never used it and will never use it. If I ever heard one of my kids use it... well, they would catch hell.

I'm old enough to have heard it used far too many times in a pejorative way. I'm old enough to have seen "whites only" on doors and Blacks riding in the back of the bus in Houston. I was a kid, but I saw it.

I was lucky enough to be raised by a liberal family in a working class Southeast Houston neighborhood. Trust me, that was an exceptional circumstance. I understand it's wide use and can scarcely watch TV or go to a movie without hearing it. I know that people use it in "accepted ways". It's just not going to be me doing it.

 

I would say, that if you don't have any African American friends you feel comfortable enough to talk to about the subject, and the only place you can discuss the topic is under a user name on a BBS, then the answer is no, it's not appropriate.

This is one of several words that hits a button in many people, and brings up negative emotions. Even if a given person doesn't mind one person using it, that individual may not like another person using it. There's no reason to use it, so don't .

 

In all honesty, why do you care? If there is this much doubt, don't use it.....all it takes is one person that disagrees with you or one person that it offends for you to get your butt beat. The english vocabulary has so many words that to use any word that have the same meaning you are shooting for that I would just use another word: For example, personally, I love saying, "you my boy Blue"......now for my $, thats as good as your phrase.

carry on (and in case I have any sp's or grammatical errors, its the booze talking)..

 

Don't use that word. The only people who can use that are black people to other black people. Anything else, and you might be misunderstood and get into real trouble, even if you don't mean anything by it. As Deckard said, it has been used in a pejorative way too many times already, and you do not want to be lumped in with the bad people who did that.

 

I can't stand white guys with dreadlocks.

 

African American.... I don't know one single "african american" that uses that jargon. On the otherhand I do know many "black americans" use those terms. They are "americans" not "african americans". The term AA would suggest they are from Africa. i.e. Hakeem Olajuwon