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scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

We had an issue in my college town in the Midwest. Someone almost got expelled because he called out loudly a ground squirrel, which in his local town they called… Squinnies.

This was in college, which hosts many Asian students and he did it in front of them. I believe his phrasing was pointing in a general area and yelling something like “look at all the squinnies”.

Now, to many it could definitely be misheard as “squinties” a derogatory term. He got into a lot of hot water and if I remember correctly, a professor who studied local dialects actually knew the term and was able to save him.

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Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

a professor who studied local dialects actually knew the term and was able to save him

Lingua to the rescue!

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- ouRKaoS@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I’ve always preferred the Cunning type over the Super type.
  
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- aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  linguo IS dead.
  
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AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
A friend of mine had a similar problem when he, a Brit, was studying in the States. He was in the smoking area of a gay bar, when he asked a friend “shall I chuck this cigarette in the bin, or what?” (I.e. “are you going to come over here to take a drag of this cigarette before it’s over, or should I throw it away?”). Unfortunately, a common British slang word for cigarette is also a slur for gay people (it is a slur in the UK too, but the cigarette slang word is common enough that if someone hears the F word, they are far less likely to assume it’s in a slur context)

On the bright side, apparently my friend hooked up with the guy who punched him, after my friend admonished him for being so rude as to punch a person in a country without free healthcare. Apparently Southern English accent gets you far in the States

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- rooroo@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  
  after my friend admonished him for being so rude as to punch a person in a country without free healthcare.
  
  That is hilarious or sad or both.
  
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- waz@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  So you’re not going to tell us the phrase he actually said then? I’ll assume he was offering to have the ‘last suck on this fag’ At least he wasn’t asking to get the last cigarette for free, and therefore would be looking to ‘bum a fag’ All manner of confusion would ensue I’d assume, also being a Brit and I have never heard ‘fag’ being recognised as a slur here, it only means either cigarette or to do mundane tasks for older boys in public(private boarding) schools “oh Tarquin, have you heard? Simpkins is fagging for Fontleroy don’t you know?”
  
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  - T156@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    
    All manner of confusion would ensue I’d assume, also being a Brit and I have never heard ‘fag’ being recognised as a slur here
    
    Might be an Americanisation thing, where it’s leaking over either from US media, or the internet.
    
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TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Lmao this cant be real. What a wild story. a linguistic superhero saving the day from racism

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