State Dept BS

[kmitch200]

Watch your mouth -- everyday phrases like "hold down the fort" and "rule of thumb" are potentially offensive bombshells.

At least according to the State Department.

Chief Diversity Officer John Robinson penned a column in the department's latest edition of "State Magazine" advising readers on some rather obscure Ps and Qs.

Robinson ticked off several common phrases and went on to explain why their roots are racially or culturally insensitive. The result was a list of no-nos that could easily result in some tongue-tied U.S. diplomats, particularly in an administration that swaps "war on terror" for "overseas contingency operation" and once shied away from using the word "terrorism."

For instance, Robinson warned, "hold down the fort" is a potentially insulting reference to American Indian stereotypes.

"How many times have you or a colleague asked if someone could 'hold down the fort?'" he wrote. "You were likely asking someone to watch the office while you go and do something else, but the phrase's historical connotation to some is negative and racially offensive."

He explained: "To 'hold down the fort' originally meant to watch and protect against the vicious Native American intruders. In the territories of the West, Army soldiers or settlers saw the 'fort' as their refuge from their perceived 'enemy,' the stereotypical 'savage' Native American tribes."

He singled out another phrase, "Going Dutch," as a "negative stereotype portraying the Dutch as cheap."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/30/state-department-hold-down-fort-other-common-phrases-could-be-offensive/

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More at link.

Chief Diversity Officer = Overpaid Professional Butthurt Maggot Who Needs a Real Job.

[Bic]

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/59/messages/937.html

they'll make it mean whatever they want it to mean.

[Solus]

From the Wikipedia entry for "Rule of Thumb"   ..  Yeah...how accurate is the entry..and can we trust it?  At least as much as the jokers in the State Dept.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb

In the United States, legal decisions in Mississippi (1824) and North Carolina (1868 and 1874) make reference to—and reject—an unnamed "old doctrine" or "ancient law" by which a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no wider than his thumb.


It does not matter that the offended is reacting to a myth, the perceived wrong shall not be trivialized by the facts and the truth.

[PegLeg45]

Careful what you say, you might make someone madder than a hooker with a sore throat and a broken wrist on Valentine's Day..... 


Welcome to the United States of the Offended.
Now take a number...............Step to the rear of the line.......................And wait your turn.

[tombogan03884]

Careful what you say, you might make someone madder than a hooker with a sore throat and a broken wrist on Valentine's Day..... 


Welcome to the United States of the Offended.
Now take a number...............Step to the rear of the line.......................And wait your turn.

You bigoted SOB, how dare you infer that just because I got a larger number I'm not "good" enough to be in the FRONT of the line !
Why don't you just consign all large number holders to the back of the "little" bus" ?

One question, Is it a rule of thumb that if we say nothing that can possibly offend any one the ragheads will quit trying to kill Westerners Jews and Christians ?

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

Remember those jerks in grade school that never matured as they entered high school that would twist every phrase into something perverted.  We heard from them when they got jobs writing for Bevis and Butthead, and I guess we know where they finally landed for their dream retirement planning.

When it gets this bad there is nothing you can say that won't offend someone or be a joke to someone.

Is this the appropriate time to sign off with a basic "bite me!"?

[tombogan03884]

People like Sledge and I have found the perfect compromise .
If you try not to offend a bunch of groups of people you are bound to miss some who will be offended and get mad at you.
If , however, you just say f*ck it and offend every one then no one feels left out, if you do by chance miss some one like transvestite dwarf martians, you can call them sissies for complaining about it and atone for your oversight.

I call it the "Wowbagger doctrine"    

http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Wowbagger

[PegLeg45]

In all seriousness.... sarcasm aside [if you can imagine that], I try not to go out my way to purposely offend anyone.....but, I do try to speak the truth all the time...... and if that may hurt somebody's widdle feewins, then so be it.

[tombogan03884]

If I don't anger at least one liberal every day I feel like a slacker.

[MikeBjerum]

Tom,

Here is one way to piss them off.  I took this from Yamil's facebook page:

Luis Rovira Mulato a mi no me gustan la armas ni la gente que le gustan las armas.

Rough translation:  I hate guns and I hate those that have them.

Yamil R. Sued It is YOUR Right under the US Constitution under the First Amendment!! My FB door is ALWAYS Open to come in or Go Out!!!!