Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’re not going back!

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

No one could have predicted…

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

People are weird.

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Second rate reporter says what?

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Tuesday Night Open Thread

Tuesday Night Open Thread

by | 165 Comments

This post is in: 

I don’t want to blog tonight.

I have too much fruit from the farmer’s market.

It is fun watching all the youngs excited about Harris on twitter and tiktok.

I think that is it. You be good to each other. Say something nice to yourself in the mirror when you brush your teeth before bed.

*** Update ***

I am already sick to fuck of these guys intentionally mispronouncing her name.

Reader Interactions

165Comments

  1. 1.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Apparently Netanyahu is staying at the Watergate. Protestors have brought vuvuzelas.

  2. 2.

    KatKapCC

    The mispronunciation is so childish, too, because they’ve heard her dang name enough to know how to say it, and it’s not like it’s so hard to say. It reminds me of when Sotomayor was nominated to SCOTUS and you had all these white folks acting like putting the emphasis on a different syllable than you might in English was some Herculean task.

  4. 4.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Protestors have brought vuvuzelas.

    Having been in rooms there, it won’t do any good, he won’t hear them. Staff downstairs will be driven insane, however. Maybe they’ll direct their ire at him somehow.

    Nonetheless, it’s a brilliant tactic.

  6. 6.

    thruppence

    We have some okay farmers markets around here but damn I miss the California farmers markets. They grow everything there and the markets are like parking lot cornucopias.

  11. 11.

    BretH

    ♩♩♩. I don’t want to blog

    I just want to work on the fruit all day … ♩♩♩

  14. 14.

    EarthWindFire

    Big surprise that the people of Democrat party fame intentionally mispronounce her name. They are so tiresome. It was old ten years ago.

  15. 15.

    bbleh

    @KatKapCC: @zhena gogolia: think third grade.  It’s deliberate disrespect.  “Nyuk nyuk nyuk, kuh-MAY-la, nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.”

    There are SO many ways to skewer that.  I’ll be interested to see how she does it, especially when the Felon himself tries it (because of COURSE he will).  And I have every confidence she’ll be able to do it without giving support to the inevitable “oh well look at the uptight b**** can’t take a joke!”

    I think perhaps they do not quite understand whom they’re up against …

  16. 16.

    JPL

    After watching the Harris event today, I kept thinking about the Nike Women’s soccer team ad.  ad

  17. 17.

    KatKapCC

    @bbleh: She can add it to a speech: “They can pronounce my name however they wish, just as long as they preface it with Madam President!”

  19. 19.

    RaflW

    I’m not young, and after going to the Kamala Harris rally in Milwaukee County (West Allis to be precise), I’m very stoked! A few of my many pics for the Bsky ppl

    (eta: I could email a few pics to WG if she wanted ’em for a later post? Don’t want to spam her inbox, so I should ask her.)

  21. 21.

    Spanky

    Well fuck. John Mayall has died. At least he made it to 90.

    All the stars that went through The Bluesbreakers…

  24. 24.

    mali muso

    @RaflW: ​
     Yes, please! I’d love to see some first-person photos taken by a jackal. How was the rally? Sounded fired up and energized listening to the feed here.

  26. 26.

    ssdd

    Hey, you know who else doesn’t want to blog tonight, or ever again? (Via TPM)

    The white supremacist website VDARE is shutting down and its founder says the site was “murdered by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.” Hannah Gais, a researcher and journalist at the Southern Poverty Law Center, has the details on James’ court case that “finished” the extremist site.

  27. 27.

    MagdaInBlack

    @zhena gogolia: They mangle it on purpose. It’s just another way to “other” people for being different…..even if its just a name.

    I grew up in a small lily white town and my name is slightly unusual. If its not traditional white christian names, they just cannot bring themselves to say it correctly.  Note its only the right that won’t pronounce properly.

    ( my name is the polish or russian version of maria: y instead of i. You can probably tell me whose version it is)

  28. 28.

    kindness

    The mispronunciation of Kamela, of Democrat party.  It’s their way of insulting their opponents.  Problem is the insults are only insults if one looks down on education and/or one is a racist.  Odd things to be proud of in this day and age.

  30. 30.

    Matt McIrvin

    @KatKapCC: I have to think a little about it because in the movies/TV, the Marvel superhero Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) pronounces her name that way.

  32. 32.

    MisterForkbeard

    @ssdd: “This white supremacist site says it was destroyed by Letitia James” is a great ad for Letitia James

  33. 33.

    schrodingers_cat

    I am already sick to fuck of these guys intentionally mispronouncing her name.

    Cosign. And I am sick as fuck of coconut emojis and coconut memes. And of people who are not South Asian/Indian telling me how its totally non-racist because people are using it with joy. I am not feeling the joy.

  36. 36.

    KatKapCC

    @Sister Golden Bear: The only one of those kinds of things I like is a pic I saw once of what looked like some frat bros holding a sign saying “Respect my trans homies or I’m gonna identify as a fucking problem”. My partner is trans and they were like, “I’ll allow that one!”

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I am already sick to fuck of these guys intentionally mispronouncing her name.

    A couple of weeks ago, I had to gently explain to a friend (born/raised British, now Canadian) that using “Democrat” as an adjective is offensive. Yesterday, I had to lead him through a similar tutorial on not saying “ka-MAL-la.”

    It shouldn’t be so hard.

  44. 44.

    Steve Holmes

    My son who was in high school at the time ~2004 learned to pronounce the names of Al-Qaeda members and Middle Eastern politicians correctly, when Republican politicians were purposely mispronouncing the names.  He said that if you have an adversary you should treat them with respect, so you don’t doubt their talents.

    I was very impressed, and have made a point since to learn the correct pronunciation of ally and foes names

  48. 48.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Steve Holmes: Pronouncing someone’s name correctly is a matter of simple respect.  To many, hearing it pronounced wrong constantly can create it’s own sense of dysphoria.

    To pronounce someone’s name wrong willfully suggests you should be kept far away from other people whenever possible.

  49. 49.

    Ken

    @SiubhanDuinne:  Regarding where to where to put the stress in “Kamala”, I don’t remember if I saw it here or on Bluesky, but it’s worth repeating: Clapping on 1&3 vs. 2&4.

    Best part is the link to a video of Harry Connick Jr. correcting an audience that was clapping on the wrong beats by slipping in a 5/4 measure.

  50. 50.

    sixthdoctor

    @twbrandt: Between this and the “JD Vance, couch-f***er” news, I’ve felt more earthly justice than I’ve felt in a while.

  53. 53.

    schrodingers_cat

    @raven:  I don’t undersand the question. What are black people telling you?

    Rikyrah, lamh and Thin Black Duke agree with me about the coconut emoji. Are you talking about that or something else.

  54. 54.

    JMG

    Hi, John! We had linguine with pesto, chopped cherry tomatoes and grilled chicken breast (one, cut up and mixed in) for dinner. About to have a few black rasperries for dessert. Harris seems to be doing well, Republicans remain confused. All is far from well, but I’ll sleep better tonight than i did last week.

  58. 58.

    Ken

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: To pronounce someone’s name wrong willfully suggests you should be kept far away from other people whenever possible.

    Right, which is why I don’t do it in retaliation. Beside, how do you mispronounce “the felon”?

  62. 62.

    raven

    @schrodingers_cat: That’s what I’m talking about.

     

    And I am sick as fuck of coconut emojis and coconut memes. And of people who are not South Asian/Indian telling me how its totally non-racist because people are using it with joy.

     

    So it is ok for non South Asian/Indian folks to tell white people it is racist? I just want to make sure I understand.

  63. 63.

    Ken

    @twbrandt: Probably due to $TSLA stock crashing.

    You mean his announcement that the robotaxis and humanoid robots will be available next year didn’t work, like it has for the last decade?

  64. 64.

    different-church-lady

    Catching up after most of the day away, and very glad to see the BJ garbage removal process is still vigorously maintained.

  65. 65.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Ken: When encountering a name for the first time with no other information I’ll often hazard a guess. I use two structures; one where I stress the second to last or last syllable based on spelling, like Spanish; or where I pronounce all syllables evenly unless I see paired vowels, like Japanese. Kamala’s name fits the latter mold.

    Then if I get corrected, and this is the important part, I remember.

  66. 66.

    Wave Function Collapse

    I’m sure that I’m about the billionth person to think of this, but maybe the appropriate response to someone mispronouncing Kamala’s name is to immediately refer to her opponent as “donOLD.”

  67. 67.

    Trivia Man

    @KatKapCC: When she was running as VP she chided several GOP senators – “I served in the senate with him for years, he knows perfectly well how to pronounce my name.”

  69. 69.

    different-church-lady

    So, kind of an embarrassing confession: because I don’t watch TV and gave up on NPR, I don’t know how to pronounce her name right.

  72. 72.

    japa21

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: If I meet someone with a name tag, and I’m not sure, I’ll go “Is your name pronounced XXX?”  If I am correct, they usually give me a big smile.  If I’m wrong, they usually still smile, give me the correct pronunciation and thank me for wanting to know how to pronounce it.

  74. 74.

    Trivia Man

    @bbleh: They pretend that it is so unusual and exotic that no REAL American can possibly learn how to pronounce it. I suggest mispronouncing THEIR names. (Not MVP, but us if we meet them IRL.) Like the RWNJ radio host said flat out – I know how to pronounce it but I’ll pronounce it however I feel like at the time. If I call in, I’ll call him Dana or Dane instead of Dan O”Donnell. Or du-NUH or DAN-yah. Pricks.

    Call him dough-NAL-ud Throompuh

  76. 76.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @different-church-lady: Ka-ma-la.  Even stress throughout.  I learned a trick if that kind of pronunciation doesn’t come naturally to you, try stressing the first syllable.  It comes out sounding very similar.

  81. 81.

    HumboldtBlue

    Meinda Gates:

    There is so much riding on the election in November. We need a leader who will stand up for reproductive freedom. A leader who understands that supporting caregivers leads to healthier families and a stronger economy. A leader who knows that when women have their full power in society, we all thrive.

    I am supporting Vice President Kamala Harris because she is that leader. She has an inspiring vision for America—and she has the experience to make it a reality. The issues she prioritizes are the ones that matter to voters. She has been crisscrossing the country to make the case for reproductive rights while courts and state legislatures are trying to take them away. She spearheaded legislation to eliminate racial disparities in maternal health care. She is leading on policies to make paid leave, child care, and elder care more affordable for families.

    I am proud to support Vice President Harris. During her years in the White House, she has proven that she knows how to lead through crises while pushing for the change we need. I want her fighting for our country for the next four years.

  83. 83.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @japa21: That’s definitely a good strategy. Trouble with me is that I’m often on the other side of the equation, an employee trying to get the attention of a patient/client with no name tag. The guess is sometimes necessary.

    Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you might hear someone refer to them by name and get it that way.

    A teacher of mine who always insisted on getting the right pronunciation of names also taught us what to do when guesses became necessary. Make a decision and say it confidently.

    To get it wrong is less than ideal and you damn sure want to make sure you learn it first opportunity. But to bumble uncomfortably over an unfamiliar name is othering in a much more acute way.

  84. 84.

    schrodingers_cat

    @raven: I don’t know the answer to your question. Its not upto me to control anyone’s behavior. I can give people information and they can do with it what they choose. I was just expressing my exasperation

    You know something funny. People in India think most Indian Americans are Sanghi RWNjs like Vivek Ramaswamy. When only 1/3 of Indian Americans are registered Rs. But they are wealthy and loud so they get a lot of media attention.

  89. 89.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Ken: Right, which is why I don’t do it in retaliation. Beside, how do you mispronounce “the felon”?

    That isn’t his name, it is the most prominent title he earned.

  90. 90.

    ssdd

    JFC A QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS!!! (Via WaPo)

    The coordinated Harris campaign reported Tuesday morning that they had raised more than $100 million from 1.1 million donors in the first 41 hours after President Biden announced he was stepping aside. FF PAC, also known as Future Forward, the largest outside group supporting Biden, announced $150 million in commitments in the first 24 hours after Biden’s Sunday afternoon announcement.

  91. 91.

    Kay

    Whether the fascination with Harris on TikTok will translate into first-time voters showing up to the polls is unclear. But so far, the support from Young Hollywood is promising with some of the most influential stars on the planet, including Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato, posting photos of Harris alongside a link to encourage their hundreds of millions of followers to register to vote. (Lovato, who sang at Biden’s 2021 inauguration, hadn’t said anything about Biden this cycle – but on Sunday, the singer quickly took to Instagram to share her endorsement of Harris.)

    Where’s Suzanne? The coveted Ariana Grande vote is coming in.

  92. 92.

    eclare

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    I saw Michelle Obama interviewed on some talk show, and she said that was her biggest worry, pronouncing someone’s name wrong.  She said at least for kids she had a trick:  she could call them sweetie or honey, etc.

  93. 93.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I am already sick to fuck of these guys intentionally mispronouncing her name.

    They’re Rethuglican scum. It’s what they do.

  96. 96.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @different-church-lady: Have people the NYTs talk to started caring about that yet?

    If someone cares about Trump’s bigotry or perfidy or age, the NYT doesn’t want to talk to them.

  98. 98.

    Trivia Man

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: One of my biggest gripes about podcasts is when they start with several apologies, disclaimers, and explanations… then they STILL try it several different ways, haltingly, stopping and starting, and with audible confusion. And ask the listeners “Is that right?” WE CAN’T ANSWER YOU

  101. 101.

    frog

    @Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): 

    I really didn’t want Biden to drop out.

    When I opened Firefox to load up my news tabs on Sunday, I nearly shit a brick when it spit out the news that Biden was withdrawing. I had a fear that the Democratic Party might even descend into chaos and dissolve in the near future.

    Biden might have in fact won the debate, or at least gotten a draw, but the TV presentation was world shaking. Then the MSM started getting their licks in. The polls started drifting down, especially in the swing states. There was plenty of time to recover from all this, but finally spitting into the wind got to be too much. The news of Sunday noon was time for despair.

    My first ray of hope came later in the evening from Rachel Maddow … I don’t remember what show exactly. Then YouTube videos on channels that I follow turned positive about Harris, supporting her candidacy. And links provided here were upbeat. The smooth passing of the torch was exquisite. Maybe the USA will not split apart like Yugoslavia after all.

    All this from despair to hope in the span of little more than 24 hours. How can all these events be packed into such a short time? There must have been an extra day in there that was squeezed out and disappeared, eaten by Langoliers.

    If Harris wins, history will not remember her as the first woman President of the USA. She will be remembered as the woman that saved the country. (I’m a pessimist, so make that save the whole world) It is unfortunate I will not be here to read the history books of these times.

  102. 102.

    Suzanne

    @Kay: LOL! Is the actual Ariana Grande vote coveted?

    So we have Ariana Grande, and they have Kid Rock. #thankunext

  103. 103.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Suzanne: When the most artistically valid musical act a Trump inauguration can draw is Three Doors Down, it might be time to reconnect to American culture.

  104. 104.

    raven

    @schrodingers_cat: My inclination is to listen to you on matters that are within your orbit. When the issue first popped WG asked what it was and I said what you said. Then people said, no, it was something that came from her mom so I thought THAT was the answer. Then, today, the folks you referenced chimed in from their perspective. It’s a bit confusing.

  105. 105.

    M31

    I figured out a while back that I was pronouncing “Donald Trump” wrong — it’s pronounced “scum-sucking dirtbag loser shitheel”

    get it right

  106. 106.

    Suzanne

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: LMMFAO. Three Doors Down! I forgot about them! They had that one big hit when I was in college. Then remember when they had that terrible song “Citizen Soldier” that they wrote for the National Guard or something?

    I’m sure they’re scheduling their colonoscopies soon.

  107. 107.

    PST

    @Spanky:

    Well fuck. John Mayall has died. At least he made it to 90.

    I saw that too and was sorry. I was absolutely amazed a couple of years ago when an old colleague who now lives in the burbs told me she and her husband came to the city to see Mayall in a small venue just blocks from where I live. I was thrilled to learn that he was still performing and bummed that my friend hadn’t told me. I remember being introduced to his albums when I was a high school student in the late sixties.

  117. 117.

    citizen dave

    @bbleh: To take a page from Jasmine Crockett and play the hypothetical game, how about: “I think you know how to pronouce my name correctly, but just for the sake of discussion, I wonder how you would react if I pronouced your name Felonius J Trump?”

  118. 118.

    Lyrebird

    @different-church-lady: I completely relate!  I was very excited that this state got its first woman governor, and at the time, NOTHING I googled  (hi @AnnaN: !) had any info.  I just said “the Governor” to others for like two years.  Now I know it is unfortunately like yokel, and I am not a big fan of our Gov., but she remains an improvement over our previous guy.

    re: names, I wish I could find an old tweet by Preet Bharara, he made the point that he had plenty of experience with name mispronunciation – his full first name is Preetinder, for instance – and he said something like, sometimes it is an entirely honest mistake, sometimes it is an insult, and it’s pretty obvious.

    As @Trivia Man: already pointed out, MVP has already handled the malicious ones in the past.  On the East Coast you can have some very different varieties of English in the same city, borough, even the same block.  I would bet there are dedicated Dem precinct captains in Boston who say MVP’s first name “Cameller” because that is how they talk.  “Pahk yer cah” etc.

  119. 119.

    schrodingers_cat

    @raven: Understood. Sorry for the tangent. Good night.

    Coming back to the topic at hand. This is my short take:

    Coconut has a loaded history as a slur. That’s why I don’t like it and won’t use it.

  121. 121.

    3Sice

    Donald Trump’s campaign on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission…..
    “This is little more than a thinly veiled $91.5m excessive contribution from one presidential candidate to another, that is, from Joe Biden’s old campaign to Kamala Harris’s new campaign. This effort makes a mockery of our campaign finance laws,” the eight-page complaint said.

    We’ve blown through post-ironic and into I don’t even know what. I guess some folks fuckers just have to learn the hard way.

  124. 124.

    BR

    @schrodingers_cat: ​
    As a fellow brown person I disagree with you, so there isn’t unanimity on this. You’re free to feel how you want about it, but I think language doesn’t mean the same thing in all contexts. It can be appropriated and turned into a positive in the right context.

  125. 125.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Suzanne: ​ 

    OK, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé AND Taylor Swift do a set at DNC convention in celebration of Harris!

    I like it!

  126. 126.

    BR

    @AnnaN: ​
    I mean the best I can transliterate the real pronunciation of her name is khum-ull-a, but there are slight sounds in there that can’t easily be conveyed or spelled out.

  127. 127.

    RaflW

    @mali muso: I really, really enjoyed it. And I’m TBH kind of jaded generally. I’ve been to a lot of MN capitol rotunda rallies, and this was not like that!

    People were energized and happy, even though the gym, with a/c and I saw two giant auxillary a/cs outside pumping in extra air, it was suuuper humid inside. Not that hot, but literally damp.

    Yet people (including me) were sorta dancing during the musical interludes, everyone seemed happy to be there, the room felt good. I did see just a couple of older folks need care for the heat.

    The semi-important people line* took 35 minutes just for check in, was a couple standard city blocks long. Again, the energy there was positive. Save Palestine protesters wanting us to bring a message to Kamala were across the street from the line. They were okay, but (to use a loaded word, and I know the Israel situation is awful and I’m personally furious Netanyahu is coming. Schumer should cancel saying “He’s going to Mar-a-Lago, f*ck him.”) the protesters were irritating. Their job, I guess, but did it help? Dunno.

    Annnyway, onwards. All the speakers were good. Evers is a dork (I say that lovingly, and as a fellow dork). Tammy Baldwin is not a fabulous stumper – thought she was much better at a 250 person County Dems event last year – but she delivered the message she was there for: Save ACA!

    Madam Vice President, well, I didn’t expect the charisma she has. It may not always come across on TV, but I now have a better understanding of clips I’ve seen of her getting gyms full of screaming teenagers in recent years. She’s good!

    Crisp delivery. She interacted and even worked in a shouted moment of encouragement from a woman in the risers.

    I came away much more optimistic than I’ve been in months and months. So worth the trip into town & line standing.
     

    *I was granted a Preferred slot & check in. Nice of them! Didn’t request anything special. I do volunteer at the county Dems a bit.

  129. 129.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @3Sice: … “This effort makes a mockery of our campaign finance laws,”

    I have always loved the quip about “giving hypocrisy a bad name.” It does seem a bit tame these days.

  133. 133.

    RaflW

    @eclare: WG said ‘sure’ so I sent off a batch. We’ll see what she decides of my mad skilz with a phone cam (I’m alright at it, IMO).

  134. 134.

    Matt McIrvin

    @schrodingers_cat: I do think there was a research failure there–that kind of thing happens in comics writing a lot. The character is Muslim and Pakistani, “Kamala” seems like an unlikely name.

  135. 135.

    eclare

    @Lyrebird:

    Everyone mispronounces both my first and last name.  If it’s a one off situation, I just let it go, I figure I’ve been called worse.

    The tiring thing is having to spell them both.  I use words, for example, “d as in dog, n as in nancy.”  I have been doing that for decades, that gets old.

  136. 136.

    Jackie

    Since this is a JD Vance thread…

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) is making history as the least liked vice presidential nominee since 1980 following his party’s nominating convention, CNN reports.

    He’s also the first to have a net negative favorable rating.

    TCFG is NOT going to like this!

  138. 138.

    eclare

    @lamh47:

    Perfect!  Didn’t that woman who won the Supreme Court seat in WI put out something similar about her name?  Janet something?

  139. 139.

    Matt McIrvin

    @3Sice: Entirely expected–honestly, it’d be political malpractice if they didn’t give that complaint a shot. Probably won’t work, but I think Legal Eagle pointed out that if worse comes to worst they could always put the money in a Super PAC and use it that way, though it would restrict what they could do with it.

  144. 144.

    Matt McIrvin

    @am: I noticed in 2020 that while Republicans disliked Biden, they seemed mortally scared of Kamala Harris. It was really odd.

  146. 146.

    eclare

    @Jackie:

    This is delicious!  JD Vance, don’t you know that ETTD?  But of course he’s so high on his own supply, he thinks the TCFG stench won’t get on him.

  147. 147.

    RaflW

    @eclare: Got in line at 11:30 a.m. Took a picture of the motorcade (she waived! … to everyone on the street corner, of course) at 2:03pm.

    That was freak luck. Everyone had to park on residential streets around the school, and I picked the NE quadrant, and then my timing was just randomly within the 30 seconds that it was exiting and turning.

    (Didn’t submit one of those pics. They’re legible, but poorly, since it was so sudden, and the glass is so dang thick, and I had to use digital zoom.)

    BF wryly observed by text “I think she should ride in tanks.”
    May the Secret Service be at 101% at all times. 🤞

  148. 148.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @BR: OK, I’m late to this discussion but here’s my two cents: some brothers and sisters use the n-word freely and comfortably amongst themselves and that’s fine.

    I don’t like it, so I don’t use it and I let people know I don’t like it and I don’t have to give any an explanation about why.

    And non-POC don’t get to lecture me about what words are appropriate. I admired George Carlin, but his schtick on why he refused to use the phrase “Indigenous People” was condescending.

    That’s my line in the sand. I try to respect whatever lines people need in their personal space as well. People who ignore that this are exercising cultural appropriation and shoving their privilege in my face. I’m not going to fight you about it but don’t call me a “friend” anymore.

  154. 154.

    Lyrebird

    @eclare: I am sure it gets old.

    From your nym I thought you might be Irish, so now I am thinking how much fun Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh does not have when touring in the US… She is probably successful enough that she can pay someone else to get the airplane tickets spelled right.

    My high school had lots of SE Asian students, and we (all groups) would all laugh at new substitute teachers.  We didn’t expect them to get all the Thai or Indonesian surnames right, but we figured anyone working in our region without any guesses for how to say Nguyen had earned some ridicule. Vietnamese is actually really hard to pronounce imho, but at least to my classmates with that surname, “Win” or “When” were fine approximations.

  156. 156.

    Gvg

    @The Thin Black Duke: I am so trained by my mother that I almost can’t say the “n” word, even when trying to explain to my 6 year old nephew what word he should never use. I found out my throat would choke up and my breath leave me. I could not get the word out even to explain something that happened in a story. Eventually managed, but it was weird. Social training was really strong. Other rules I ignored sometimes when I grew up, but I think that one I agreed with strongly.

    i won’t argue with those who chose to reclaim it, but I would prefer it just die and be forgotten.

  157. 157.

    wjca

    @Matt McIrvin: I noticed in 2020 that while Republicans disliked Biden, they seemed mortally scared of Kamala Harris. It was really odd.

    Not that surprising.  The MAGAts are terrified of The Other — i.e. people not like them.  It manifests as racist.  And xenophobia. And homophobia.  But at root it’s all the same thing.

  158. 158.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Gvg: Yes. I’ll know this country is in a different place the day when you have to Google the “n-word” to figure out what it is.

  159. 159.

    Citizen Alan

    @EarthWindFire:  Honestly, it would be hypocritical of me to complain. They can call Kamala “ka-MAH-la” and I can keep calling Trump “Shitgibbon.”

  160. 160.

    Citizen Alan

    @Matt McIrvin: Ironically, in 2000, I thought Kamala Harris was pronounced like Kamala Khan (I don’t watch TV news and had only seen the name in print) until I was corrected by a Republican co-worker.

  161. 161.

    NaijaGal

    @Matt McIrvin: One of the Ms. Marvel writers had a mom from Jammu (India) and a father from Pakistan, so it might be more wishing for harmony than research mistake. My full name is the Nigerian equivalent of “Jurgen Mohammed Wagner.” Many eyebrows raised and “that can’t be right” exclamations. People intermarry.

  163. 163.

    strange visitor (from another planet)

    @Matt McIrvin: oh FFS.

    again. talk trash AFTER google.

    sana amanat created the kk ms marvel. she’s the daughter of muslim pakistani immigrants.

    eta- or what naijagirl said.

  164. 164.

    sab

    @sab: Also: JD used to be J Donald before he changed it to J David while also changing his last name for about the fifth time. As a married woman who took my married name I can’t really complain.

  165. 165.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    Funny story on the pronunciation and mispronunciation of Madam Vice President’s first name: I was reading an article on the topic in Kathimerini, the Greek edition, on Monday. One of the things about written Greek is that they always show where the accent on the word goes, unless it’s a one-syllable word.

    Only in this article, they didn’t simply put the accent on the wrong syllable («Καμάλα»), they did it two paragraphs after they’d put the accent on the right syllable («Κάμαλα»).

    They seem to have gotten it straight in the Wednesday edition, though.

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