General Discussion

pnwmom

(110,204 posts)

37. Six years ago, one of my son's friend's from college shocked me with something

Sun Oct 28, 2018, 08:52 PM

Oct 2018

she said. She called Brazil nuts "N**r Toes."

She's from the red part of my state and was raised by a rightwing family, so she'd grown up all her life hearing that word and thinking nothing of it.

I took her aside and explained that she had to call them Brazil nuts from now on, and why, and she was mortified.

I really don't think she'd ever thought about what she was saying before. It made me sick to think that an otherwise nice person could use a word like that and be so clueless. Of course, it would have been worse if she'd said it on purpose.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

69 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Heard at work: We got a pretty good price because my husband "jewed the guy down". [View all] milestogo Oct 2018 OP

I'm Jewish and generally unflappable. Beakybird Oct 2018 #1

Of course it is and I'm not. Cha Oct 2018 #17

the days of people bdamomma Oct 2018 #68

You are not incorrect. That tem has been around for decades and it is a slur. How you react is up to dameatball Oct 2018 #2

It's a slur. I'm Jewish and heard a co-worker say it. I immediately called him out on it. SCRUBDASHRUB Oct 2018 #13

IMHO you did the right thing. One of the weird things I have always found in the work environment is dameatball Oct 2018 #20

Not the equivalent at all. stopbush Oct 2018 #39

Mighty white of you radical noodle Oct 2018 #53

Wil have to disagree. It is a slur towards black people. Not sure why you think otherwise. dameatball Oct 2018 #63

Thank you,.. but I would appreciate if you did not attempt to normalize that sort.... magicarpet Oct 2018 #3

its fucked up JI7 Oct 2018 #4

I grew up hearing that, but haven't heard it in a long time. Croney Oct 2018 #5

It's antisemitic. If she says that again irisblue Oct 2018 #6

Do we ask about intentions when a white person uses the n-word? unblock Oct 2018 #12

Occasionally, people use a phrase without recognizing its meaning Ms. Toad Oct 2018 #47

This is true Dorian Gray Oct 2018 #57

Lots of people in Paris refer to small, late night, convenience stores as 'les petits arabes' GoneOffShore Oct 2018 #69

People used to commonly say that, but starting in the 1960s it started PoindexterOglethorpe Oct 2018 #7

I wanted to bring it up here as kind of a reminder for all of us to speak up. milestogo Oct 2018 #8

It's racist, and like many of those kinds of sayings... Wounded Bear Oct 2018 #9

The year was 1986 lapfog_1 Oct 2018 #10

It's worth pointing it out because she may be ignorant of its true meaning True Dough Oct 2018 #11

I always thought it was "chewed." connecticut yankee Oct 2018 #14

I think you're right True Dough Oct 2018 #19

Ha! I worked with a guy who thought it was "chewed" - So maybe someone changed it years ago. Hassin Bin Sober Oct 2018 #62

If the question needs to be begged, its a racist anti-Semitic slur without actually ... marble falls Oct 2018 #15

Don't see how that group has the lock on being the best bargainers. LiberalFighter Oct 2018 #16

The meaning is worse than that. It means that "the Jews are always out there trying to still_one Oct 2018 #33

My family was sensitive to that phrase, as were all of my teachers. MaryMagdaline Oct 2018 #18

Wow, I never even thought about "gypped" as having to do with gypsies. milestogo Oct 2018 #25

I heard that one, too MaryMagdaline Oct 2018 #27

Gyped is one d_r Oct 2018 #40

I didn't see your post before I posted about the same thing EffieBlack Oct 2018 #41

Yes, I don't think we were told about that word; we had to learn the hard way MaryMagdaline Oct 2018 #66

My sainted mother used that phrase regularly. comradebillyboy Oct 2018 #21

That phrase means that "Jews are out always trying to screw you". It is a bigoted slur still_one Oct 2018 #34

I know what it means. My mother didn't like Jews. comradebillyboy Oct 2018 #48

oh, I was thinking she might have been unaware still_one Oct 2018 #50

Racism must be called out whenever you see it. WhiskeyGrinder Oct 2018 #22

I never heard that term growing up. It was only as an adult, and probably pnwmom Oct 2018 #23

It was hurled at me all the time, and they knew I was Jewish, and knew exactly what they were saying still_one Oct 2018 #35

I am sorry, still_one. Everything that has been and is going on makes me sorry! n/t pnwmom Oct 2018 #36

I grew up in Iowa in the 50's and 60's. That was the heyday of that crap. It was more than still_one Oct 2018 #43

Honestly, I don't even like word "Jew." Where I grew up, white wing Hoyt Oct 2018 #24

Yeah, that was popular back in the 60s/70s brokephibroke Oct 2018 #26

Political correctness is necessary and has been around a long, long time. Kurt V. Oct 2018 #28

My boss's wife said this to a Jewish co-worker once. LisaM Oct 2018 #29

She may not be racist. Blue_true Oct 2018 #30

I'm Polish and Italian and got it from both sides. rickford66 Oct 2018 #31

It is a bigoted statement that says "Jews swindle/screw people" still_one Oct 2018 #32

Six years ago, one of my son's friend's from college shocked me with something pnwmom Oct 2018 #37

That's another word I remember hearing during my childhood, maybe from an older relative? The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2018 #44

I know! It was shocking to hear this, just six years ago. pnwmom Oct 2018 #45

I grew up in the 50's. leftyladyfrommo Oct 2018 #64

I don't remember the licorice candies, The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2018 #67

My husband's grandmother used that term for a flower Maeve Oct 2018 #60

That's an old and very common antisemitic slur EffieBlack Oct 2018 #38

I didn't know that about gyped. nt leftyladyfrommo Oct 2018 #65

I haven't heard that expression since maybe the '60s when I was a kid The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2018 #42

I'd go straight to management. Initech Oct 2018 #46

Did you really even have to ask? It's offensive. It's bigoted. It's anti-semitic. Solly Mack Oct 2018 #49

It's inappropriate. It's offensive. Don't say it. YOHABLO Oct 2018 #51

Racial and ethnic slurs - no longer acceptable StarryNite Oct 2018 #52

how about the pot and the kettle? Hermit-The-Prog Oct 2018 #54

You aren't nuts, but you are mistaken. Behind the Aegis Oct 2018 #55

They used a SLUR Dorian Gray Oct 2018 #56

The Scrabble app PJMcK Oct 2018 #58

A friend of mine from long ago used to respond to that phrase with peekaloo Oct 2018 #59

First time I heard that slur was on a rerun of "Beverly Hills, 90210." betsuni Oct 2018 #61