That Clarkson "n" word

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Comments

  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    When my school friends used this rhyme in the 1960s the word.... Etc etc etc


    Hello mate welcome to the forum, do you ride a bike or are you just popping in to join in the clarkson debate...?
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    When my school friends used this rhyme in the 1960s the word.... Etc etc etc


    Hello mate welcome to the forum, do you ride a bike or are you just popping in to join in the clarkson debate...?

    Does it matter?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,740
    Rolf F wrote:
    I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

    If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

    I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

    Rule five.

    Has 'whitey' been used in the context of enslavement of millions and as a pretext for genocide?

    No, it hasn't.

    It's not about being offended. Only idiots think it's about that.

    It's about making sure racism is stamped out everywhere. This is part and parcel of that process. The owner needs to MTFU and accept the consequences of his actions, not anyone else.

    This is true. But in the 70s nigger was a commonly used word and it's one thing for someone of your age, for whom the term has always been clearly offensive, to get cross about but quite something else for someone of Clarksons age to never forget to blurt it out in the context of a nursery rhyme that certainly wasn't regarded as offensive during his early years.

    Now where's my copy of Agatha Christies "Ten Little Niggers"?*

    *Agatha Christies best selling book - now known as "And then there were none" but still published in the UK under its original title into the 1980s........ You need to be careful when invoking the Thought Police......

    The '70s were 40 years ago. If you haven't worked it out by now, then you're and idiot.

    It's no excuse.

    And it's not about being cross - it's about making sure that language like that in that context is stamped out. And in case the context isn't clear - top gear's been sailing close to the wind on this issue for a while - mexicans, slopes, and now this. I'm not angry. I just think it's a good idea that he has to apologise for it. He gets it anyway, judging from the apology.

    Now, if you're discussing the word on TV in terms of reappropriation for example, then naturally, you can use it. But i'm pretty sure top gear weren't using it in that context!
  • morstar wrote:
    When my school friends used this rhyme in the 1960s the word.... Etc etc etc


    Hello mate welcome to the forum, do you ride a bike or are you just popping in to join in the clarkson debate...?

    Does it matter?

    It does seem slightly odd behaviour. You cannot even view BB unless you are a forum member…..
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    morstar wrote:
    Does it matter?


    Maybe, maybe not. It's early days and i'm holding out for post no. 2.

    8)
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    And in case the context isn't clear - top gear's been sailing close to the wind on this issue for a while - mexicans, slopes, and now this.

    I think you miss some of the context - it isnt just these groups they make fun of, its Brummies, people from the west country, the welsh, germans, americans, french, belgians, politicians, blokes with moustaches, blokes called wayne or trevor, blokes into sad blokey past times (aka James May), blokes who live in the country and wear wellies (aka Hammond) and loud mouthed blokes (aka Jezza). They make fun of or put down almost literally everyone and every stereotype and themselves. By just picking out those occasions where they have made references to stereotypes that are not de-rigeur these days, it is actually you taking it out of context.

    Nor saying they are right but I dont think they are racist, just childish with no element of restraint, common sense or understanding of when it goes beyond what is acceptable today. If fact alot of the time when they upset people it just generates publicity which is often good for their careers or bank balances, so they do it more until they overstep the mark and get pulled up.
  • slowmart
    slowmart Posts: 4,481
    It just reinforces that Clarkson isn't the most intelligent presenter being unable to replace an offensive word in a nursery rhyme.

    Since Clarkson tried to mumble rather than replace the word it took forensic examination to enhance the recording, which itself is not an exact science. The man has explained his position and apologised.


    It seems Clarkson is turning into a parody of himself stating he has received a final warning from the BBC. Really? Was there an investigation by HR or an independent QC to establish the facts which in turn would lead to a report and the next stage. On the sanction side he "protests too much".
    “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring”

    Desmond Tutu
  • Frank the tank
    Frank the tank Posts: 6,553
    I was out with my daughter and she was unable to choose between two items, and without giving it a seconds thought I came out with eeny meeny miney mo.

    She was absolutely disgusted, I appologised to her as it offended her. I just blurted it out (a rhyme from my childhood) it was just a quicker way of coming to a decision than one potato, two potato. :roll:
    Tail end Charlie

    The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,558
    potato hater

    the next thing you'll be skinning them alive and boiling them in oil
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • rc856
    rc856 Posts: 1,144
    I've always thought it was Tiger :shock:
    My 6yr old uses that rhyme for picking things.
    Seems to fit better than Tigger or Nigger!

    I don't mind Clarkson and I'm a Top Gear fan.
    Don't know why he tried to mumble that part. Either say Tiger/Tigger or not at all.
    I think trying to mumble doesn't look great.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    morstar wrote:
    Does it matter?


    Maybe, maybe not. It's early days and i'm holding out for post no. 2.

    8)

    Personally, as long as somebodies first post isn't trolling or spam I just don't see how it matters in any way.
    Any view to the contrary seems to imply that the more noise you make, the more valid the opinion. I find this to be incorrect.
    May be a lurker or somebody new, doesn't have any bearing at all. There are no qualifying cycling criteria for forum membership.
    I've been a member longer than you but you post more frequently. Which, scores higher?

    Sorry if I'm over reacting. It's just such a cliquey response to challenge somebodies right to post.
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,921
    Just read that Clarkson's wife has left him.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... riage.html


    The lucky bastard! :wink:
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,921
    Eeny meeny minee mo...


    spanish620_1672441a.jpg
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Rolf F wrote:
    I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

    If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

    I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

    Rule five.

    Has 'whitey' been used in the context of enslavement of millions and as a pretext for genocide?

    No, it hasn't.

    It's not about being offended. Only idiots think it's about that.

    It's about making sure racism is stamped out everywhere. This is part and parcel of that process. The owner needs to MTFU and accept the consequences of his actions, not anyone else.

    This is true. But in the 70s nigger was a commonly used word and it's one thing for someone of your age, for whom the term has always been clearly offensive, to get cross about but quite something else for someone of Clarksons age to never forget to blurt it out in the context of a nursery rhyme that certainly wasn't regarded as offensive during his early years.

    Now where's my copy of Agatha Christies "Ten Little Niggers"?*

    *Agatha Christies best selling book - now known as "And then there were none" but still published in the UK under its original title into the 1980s........ You need to be careful when invoking the Thought Police......

    The '70s were 40 years ago. If you haven't worked it out by now, then you're and idiot.

    It's no excuse.

    And it's not about being cross - it's about making sure that language like that in that context is stamped out. And in case the context isn't clear - top gear's been sailing close to the wind on this issue for a while - mexicans, slopes, and now this. I'm not angry. I just think it's a good idea that he has to apologise for it. He gets it anyway, judging from the apology.

    Now, if you're discussing the word on TV in terms of reappropriation for example, then naturally, you can use it. But i'm pretty sure top gear weren't using it in that context!

    Rick - words and phrases stick in the back of peoples heads for their whole lives. That's how it is.And the 80s were only 25 years ago. And that once you get to a certain age, 40 years ago can seem like five minutes ago. One day, when you are a little older, you'll understand this. In the meantime, it must be nice to have such a simplistic outlook to right and wrong. Enjoy it while it lasts! :wink:
    When my school friends used this rhyme in the 1960s the word we used was 'Tigger'. I therefore do not accept that people used the word Nigger as acceptable everyday language, as suggested previously.

    You can not accept it as much as you like but it was acceptable for a publisher to use the term in the title of a popular book well into the 80s - so you are mistaken. Possibly wrong for me to have referred to it as 'commonly used'; I don't know either way - but certainly far from being widely considered innapprorpriate to use. From my recollection it was just a word and if it wasn't used much it was probably because there was little opportunity.

    FWIW< I had never heard the 'tigger' version until I read this thread.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • rabk
    rabk Posts: 182
    Rolf F wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

    If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

    I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

    Rule five.

    Has 'whitey' been used in the context of enslavement of millions and as a pretext for genocide?

    No, it hasn't.

    It's not about being offended. Only idiots think it's about that.

    It's about making sure racism is stamped out everywhere. This is part and parcel of that process. The owner needs to MTFU and accept the consequences of his actions, not anyone else.

    This is true. But in the 70s nigger was a commonly used word and it's one thing for someone of your age, for whom the term has always been clearly offensive, to get cross about but quite something else for someone of Clarksons age to never forget to blurt it out in the context of a nursery rhyme that certainly wasn't regarded as offensive during his early years.

    Now where's my copy of Agatha Christies "Ten Little Niggers"?*

    *Agatha Christies best selling book - now known as "And then there were none" but still published in the UK under its original title into the 1980s........ You need to be careful when invoking the Thought Police......

    The '70s were 40 years ago. If you haven't worked it out by now, then you're and idiot.

    It's no excuse.

    And it's not about being cross - it's about making sure that language like that in that context is stamped out. And in case the context isn't clear - top gear's been sailing close to the wind on this issue for a while - mexicans, slopes, and now this. I'm not angry. I just think it's a good idea that he has to apologise for it. He gets it anyway, judging from the apology.

    Now, if you're discussing the word on TV in terms of reappropriation for example, then naturally, you can use it. But i'm pretty sure top gear weren't using it in that context!

    Rick - words and phrases stick in the back of peoples heads for their whole lives. That's how it is.And the 80s were only 25 years ago. And that once you get to a certain age, 40 years ago can seem like five minutes ago. One day, when you are a little older, you'll understand this. In the meantime, it must be nice to have such a simplistic outlook to right and wrong. Enjoy it while it lasts! :wink:
    When my school friends used this rhyme in the 1960s the word we used was 'Tigger'. I therefore do not accept that people used the word Nigger as acceptable everyday language, as suggested previously.

    You can not accept it as much as you like but it was acceptable for a publisher to use the term in the title of a popular book well into the 80s - so you are mistaken. Possibly wrong for me to have referred to it as 'commonly used'; I don't know either way - but certainly far from being widely considered innapprorpriate to use. From my recollection it was just a word and if it wasn't used much it was probably because there was little opportunity.

    FWIW< I had never heard the 'tigger' version until I read this thread.

    I can honestly say that prior to this Clarkson incident, I had never heard of the use of the "N" word in Eeeny Meeeny miny mo.

    I also always used the word "tigger" and thought that was the correct word for the rhyme.

    Every day is a school day
  • navrig2
    navrig2 Posts: 1,844
    Rabk wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

    If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

    I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

    Rule five.

    Has 'whitey' been used in the context of enslavement of millions and as a pretext for genocide?

    No, it hasn't.

    It's not about being offended. Only idiots think it's about that.

    It's about making sure racism is stamped out everywhere. This is part and parcel of that process. The owner needs to MTFU and accept the consequences of his actions, not anyone else.

    This is true. But in the 70s nigger was a commonly used word and it's one thing for someone of your age, for whom the term has always been clearly offensive, to get cross about but quite something else for someone of Clarksons age to never forget to blurt it out in the context of a nursery rhyme that certainly wasn't regarded as offensive during his early years.

    Now where's my copy of Agatha Christies "Ten Little Niggers"?*

    *Agatha Christies best selling book - now known as "And then there were none" but still published in the UK under its original title into the 1980s........ You need to be careful when invoking the Thought Police......

    The '70s were 40 years ago. If you haven't worked it out by now, then you're and idiot.

    It's no excuse.

    And it's not about being cross - it's about making sure that language like that in that context is stamped out. And in case the context isn't clear - top gear's been sailing close to the wind on this issue for a while - mexicans, slopes, and now this. I'm not angry. I just think it's a good idea that he has to apologise for it. He gets it anyway, judging from the apology.

    Now, if you're discussing the word on TV in terms of reappropriation for example, then naturally, you can use it. But i'm pretty sure top gear weren't using it in that context!

    Rick - words and phrases stick in the back of peoples heads for their whole lives. That's how it is.And the 80s were only 25 years ago. And that once you get to a certain age, 40 years ago can seem like five minutes ago. One day, when you are a little older, you'll understand this. In the meantime, it must be nice to have such a simplistic outlook to right and wrong. Enjoy it while it lasts! :wink:
    When my school friends used this rhyme in the 1960s the word we used was 'Tigger'. I therefore do not accept that people used the word Nigger as acceptable everyday language, as suggested previously.

    You can not accept it as much as you like but it was acceptable for a publisher to use the term in the title of a popular book well into the 80s - so you are mistaken. Possibly wrong for me to have referred to it as 'commonly used'; I don't know either way - but certainly far from being widely considered innapprorpriate to use. From my recollection it was just a word and if it wasn't used much it was probably because there was little opportunity.

    FWIW< I had never heard the 'tigger' version until I read this thread.

    I can honestly say that prior to this Clarkson incident, I had never heard of the use of the "N" word in Eeeny Meeeny miny mo.

    I also always used the word "tigger" and thought that was the correct word for the rhyme.

    Every day is a school day

    I suspect it depneds on your vintage. Born in the sixties and playing in the seventies it was always the N word. Don't forget we were brought up on thye likes of the Black and White MInstrel Show and Love Thy Neighbour and the "Carry On" series of films. All of which had a degree of PC insenistivity.
  • rabk
    rabk Posts: 182
    Yeah, you're probably right. Born early 1970s

    Or perhaps a regional thing ...... In Scotland there is little apparent racism .... Religious bigotry is the problem here
  • navrig2
    navrig2 Posts: 1,844
    Rabk wrote:
    Yeah, you're probably right. Born early 1970s

    Or perhaps a regional thing ...... In Scotland there is little apparent racism .... Religious bigotry is the problem here

    That, I suspect, boils down to numbers. Walk around Glasgow and and Edinburgh and you will see many fewer non-anglo saxons compared to many of the equivalent cities in central or southern England.
  • VTech
    VTech Posts: 4,736
    When we were kids it was the N word, it wasn't an issue back then. Even del boy used the N word in reference to his school friend's brothers.

    Times change, and just like it isn't the done thing to have sex with an 11 year old, it isn't the done thing to use those words and we all know it. Im not sure we need excuses, its just not right in modern society.
    Living MY dream.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    VTech wrote:
    When we were kids it was the N word, it wasn't an issue back then. Even del boy used the N word in reference to his school friend's brothers.

    Times change, and just like it isn't the done thing to have sex with an 11 year old, it isn't the done thing to use those words and we all know it. Im not sure we need excuses, its just not right in modern society.

    If you're not careful you're going to have everyone agreeing with you again. :wink:
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    Navrig2 wrote:
    Rabk wrote:
    Walk around Glasgow and and Edinburgh and you will see many fewer non-anglo saxons compared to many of the equivalent cities in central or southern England.
    Errr...
  • I think if I'm right Jonathan Ross used the word a couple of years ago on his chat show
    with Chris Rock who up to that point had been using the word quite frequently.
    I think people get to hung up on words and really should concentrate on racism which is the intent behind these words.
  • I think if I'm right Jonathan Ross used the word a couple of years ago on his chat show
    with Chris Rock who up to that point had been using the word quite frequently.

    Link?
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,941
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015

    It's not just ancient stuff from the 30s. Looks like the BBC Radio 1 play lists are going to have to be radically pruned as well....... Jay-Z is going to be missed! :lol:

    http://themusictip.com/average-number-of-times-famous-rappers-say-nigga-per-song/
    Faster than a tent.......
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,921
    Rolf F wrote:

    It's not just ancient stuff from the 30s. Looks like the BBC Radio 1 play lists are going to have to be radically pruned as well....... Jay-Z is going to be missed! :lol:

    http://themusictip.com/average-number-of-times-famous-rappers-say-nigga-per-song/


    Not universally missed. :wink:
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,573
    Ballysmate wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:

    It's not just ancient stuff from the 30s. Looks like the BBC Radio 1 play lists are going to have to be radically pruned as well....... Jay-Z is going to be missed! :lol:

    http://themusictip.com/average-number-of-times-famous-rappers-say-nigga-per-song/


    Not universally missed. :wink:
    True, although it looks like the next repeat of 'Blazing Saddles' will be on channel 4.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Frank the tank
    Frank the tank Posts: 6,553
    All I can say is "The sun has got its hat on." :wink:
    Tail end Charlie

    The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.