"goons" (not -----) which is a "term of endearment" according to Zimmerman's best friend

[underpants]

This morning on ABC News, Oliver was asked about the moment on the 911 tapes when some believe that, just prior to killing Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman used a racial slur. Oliver suggested that Zimmerman did not use a racial slur but said “goons,” which Oliver described as a “term of endearment.” Watch it:



http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/25/451392/friend-zimmerman-racial-slur-term-of-endearment/

[MADem]

1. I always thought "goons" was an old-school term for "thugs"

...and I haven't heard that word since the late fifties, early sixties!

[valerief]

6. It is. Zimmerman thinks we're as stupid as he is. nt

[MADem]

12. Yep.

Thing is, all that might make some intrepid Jimmy Olsen or Lois Lane want to do is run around and ask people if Georgie was an habitual user of that word, or if he used that OTHER word, you know, the one that is the last syllable of the term that describes those bandit-faced furry creatures that knock over the garbage cans in some environments?

Twisted explanations almost never cut it!



He doesn't look like he's buying it, either!

[pokerfan]

17. I've only heard it in the context of hockey

Enforcer is an unofficial role in ice hockey. The term is sometimes used synonymously with "fighter", "tough guy", or "goon". An enforcer's job is to deter and respond to dirty or violent play by the opposition. When such play occurs, the enforcer is expected to respond aggressively, by fighting or checking the offender. Enforcers are expected to react particularly harshly to violence against star players or goalies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enforcer_%28ice_hockey%29

I'm not buying this latest spin.

[Mariana]

19. Me too. However, I HAVE heard the other term used

by racist assholes. Some people seem to think that term is obsolete and is no longer used when referring to people with dark skin. That is not true.

[MADem]

20. I am not buying it either.

And really, why would anyone call 911 and mutter a "term of endearment" about the person one is pursuing to the 911 operator, right before they shot the person?

"Yeah I'm following this 'just adorable little muffin-faced sweetheart'..." BOOM!

[CakeGrrl]

2. Twisting and spinning to get a racist profiling murderer off the hook

Too bad there are so many 911 calls that illustrate his bias.

[MNBrewer]

3. Oh dear

[Quixote1818]

4. I don't think anyone in their right mind bought that in the slightest.

Talk about absurd! I about threw up on that one.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Someone needs to alert Hallmark

They are apparently missing out on the all important "Fucking goon" sentiment.

Maybe someone can pick a day in, say, August or some other low-card-sending-month to celebrate this term of endearment in a more formal manner.

[K Gardner]

7. +10 DUZY.... ROFL !!! n/t

[Quixote1818]

23. I second that! nt

[K Gardner]

8. I know whenever I want my kids to know how much I love them, I

make sure and say: "You know I love you, you fucking goon."

[Ruby the Liberal]

13. It will be ever so much more special if you hold out

for Fucking Goon Day. That way, they will know you really, really mean it.

[valerief]

11. You haven't seen the new goon birthday card?

Another year has passed.
It's time to sing that tune.
Happy birthday to you,
My friend, my pal, my goon.

[MADem]

15. I agree--DUzy! nt

[onethatcares]

31. can I take that as my floating holiday?

or not?

[gort]

9. Works for me. I also believed Rick Santorum when he said

he meant to say "Blah"-people.

[socialist_n_TN]

10. A term of endearment huh?..........

Even giving him this phrase instead of the more racially charged one, WHY would he use a "term of endearment" for someone he obviously thought was an "asshole who always gets away with it"? Or whatever the following phrase was. Not only is it a CYA move, it doesn't even make sense. At least not as a "term of endearment".

[arcane1]

16. Yes, exactly who was he endearing with this term?

Trayvon? The dispatcher?


This is one of the most pitiful defenses I've seen in quite some time, and actually serves to further convince me that he did in fact say "coons"

[Old and In the Way]

14. I suppose "these assholes" is also a term of endearment, too?

Zimmerman used dehumanizing, racist language in his 911 tapes. It really matters not if it were coons/goons. He's still a racist. I'm betting there are other "terms of endearment" that Zimmerman has documented. I want to know what his online name was and where he posted. I sure hope they can locate his digital life because I'll bet this guy had lots of insight to share about blacks.

[SomethingFishy]

18. "Goons" and "Bleh People"...

Yeah.

[Mariana]

21. Interesting that he didn't go for the "fucking punks" interpretation.

Since lots of people seem to hear that on the tape, and while it's an insult, it's not racial. He MUST have said "coons".

[obxhead]

22. To me this just comes across that it is in fact on the tapes

and that "fucking coons" is exactly what he said.

Hopefully the racist asshole Zimmermann will be arrested soon.

[ljm2002]

24. Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that "goons" can be a term of endearment...

...now please explain how the term "fucking goons" is still a term of endearment??? Especially when it is uttered seconds before fatally shooting the person in question???

Puhleeze. This person is a fucking goon. And by that, I do not mean a term of endearment!

[arcane1]

28. He only followed Trayvon to express his endearment

He just wanted to give him a hug and was unjustly attacked for it.

It all makes sense now

[KamaAina]

25. So it's not another word for "blaaaaah people"?

[niyad]

26. the last definition is one I had not heard before, but nowhere do I see anything as a term of "

endearment"

goon
[goon] ? Example Sentences Origin

goon
? ?[goon] Show IPA
noun
1.
Informal . a hired hoodlum or thug.
2.
Slang .
a.
a stupid, foolish, or awkward person.
b.
a roughneck.
Origin:
1920–25; shortened from dial. gooney, variant of obsolete gony a simpleton (< ?); influenced by the comic-strip character Alice the Goon in the series Thimble Theatre by E. C. Segar (1894–1938), American cartoonist
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To goon
Example Sentences

Here was this guy who was the biggest goon alive, and he was so kind.

Anybody who is not in on the goon conspiracy knows what he's about.

The regime arrested many protest leaders and sent in plain-clothes goon squads to attack the demonstrators.

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Related Words for : goon
clod, gawk, lout, lubber, lummox
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Collins
World English Dictionary
goon 1 (ɡuːn)

— n
1. a stupid or deliberately foolish person
2. informal ( US ) a thug hired to commit acts of violence or intimidation, esp in an industrial dispute

[C20: partly from dialect gooney fool, partly after the character Alice the Goon, created by E. C. Segar (1894--1938), American cartoonist]

goon 2

— n
informal ( Austral ) cheap wine packaged in casks or boxed (I have heard of cheap wine being called "plonk", but this is a new one to me)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009




http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/goon?s=t
Cite This Source

[yardwork]

27. And Santorum said "blah" people.

It would appear that Zimmerman's friend is conceding that he used a racist slur.

[Oilwellian]

29. Someone on DU enhanced the audio of the word in question

It was clearly a hard "C" sound. Can't find the link now.

I'm sure the professional software available to enhance every word captured by the 911 calls will answer a lot of our questions.

[butterfly77]

30. How long did it take..

for them to think that up..first word rhymes with?????