Poll: PC gone too far, or is it offensive?

[Thaluikhain]

I'd say it was offensive, although not massively so.

Though, I'm more annoyed to Gervais' response to the criticism. He clearly meant it to be offensive. There is no point in him using it at all if it isn't offensive.

Saying that it wasn't offensive cause he says it wasn't...c'mon, there are much better ways to deal with criticism than that.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I've only really ever heard people use the word mong as colloquial derision, akin to calling someone a retard. They wouldn't actually use this word on someone they thought to be legitimately mentally disabled, merely to mock someone acting in a particularly gormless or insipid fashion. Immature? Yes, but nothing that people need to lose their shit over. People really need to look at the context, not the words themselves and I can't believe this is something that needs to be stressed in this day and age.

 

[Something Amyss]

DAMN PERSONAL COMPUTERS! I HATE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!

Oh, right, the "Political Correctness" bogeyman people throw out when they use their right to speak out after you use your right to say something stupid. Well, then.

Let's put it this way, you'd never call someone with Down Syndrome a mong.

That's kinda false right there. There's a reason "mong" and "mongoloid" are applied in the first place. Hell, people in my parents' generation still use it in that context.

It's "it's political correctness gone mad" gone mad!

Oh God, I think I love you.

*creepy awkward silence*

I'm honestly yet to meet any black person who is offended at the term "black." I'm told they're everywhere, waiting to pounce on whitey at a moment's notice, but I've managed to escape them all this time.

 

[Elivercury]

Really? You didn't know what Mong stood for? Whenever I call someone a Mong it's because I'm saying they are mentally retarded (which I should add, isn't a regular occurrence, but I use the word fully knowing what it means). It's meaning hasn't changed and I refer you to urbandictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mong

Yes it's offensive. Does he care? Probably not. He's a comedian, being offensive is what he does. The big factor in whether it's acceptable is whether it makes people laugh or not. There is also the saying "No such thing as bad press", you're probably more concerned about it than he is.

Also, seriously? Discussing towns in China that happen to have offensive names? It's a completely different language. You sir are being ridiculous. That's like saying no one in China should be allowed to name their children "Fuk Yu" any longer. It isn't offensive, however it may give foreigners a change to giggle like small children when they go on holiday.

 

[Milli]

In todays society is way too much about how something is being said and not what is being said.
My position might be a bit extreme in that context, but I think PC only conceals problems and should be disestablished at all.

Short medicine / history lesson for all of you who have no clue about the term "Mong".
"Mong" is obviously a short for "Mongoloid" which historically describes one of the major human races. (If you are about to start ranting about the term "human races", please don't waste everyones time and look it up.)
It got it's current negative meaning when John Langdon Down discovered the disease which is political correctly known as "Trisomy 21".
He coined the term "Mongoloid" for people who suffer from that illness since he thought it would be an evolutionary degeneration of Caucasians to Mongoloids (because of the obvious visual resemblances).

tl;dr:
Mong/Mongoloid for actual Mongs/Mongoloids = ok.
Mong/Mongoloid/Down Syndrome/Downie for someone who suffers from Trisomy 21 = Not politically correct.

 

[irani_che]

I always thought it was related to the term minger,

 

[LilithSlave]

Mong/Mongoloid for actual Mongs/Mongoloids = ok.

Ironically I've seen just the opposite. People using Mongoloid to refer to people with Down's Syndrome = ok.

People using Mongoloid to people with facial features typical of East Asians = People flip out and start saying things in all caps/shouting "race doesn't exist!", "what are you trying to say, using such creepy terminology", "there is no such thing as a Mongoloid race and you sound like a Nazi", and so on and so forth.

It's really quite backwards from what should be the case. But that's been my personal experience.

 

[Watchmacallit]

PC has been too far for a long time, white is fine but I can't call a person black?

Of course you can. Please show me one instance of someone in the public eye within the last ten years expressing the opinion that you shouldn't call a person black.

It's "it's political correctness gone mad" gone mad!

EDIT: Oh, you're in Australia, forget I said anything.

Hahahahahaha. Yep, Aus is too afraid to even hint at racism so anything is racist but the whole world still thinks we're the most racist (probably true for all I know, being the youngest multi-cultural country on the planet, you know, having only let in non-english speaking Europeans in the 60s, the USA had a few hundred years to work their crap out).

The last instance I can remember that was made public was an ad we had for KFC. It was based around cricket (which is a sport largely played with countries such as India, Sri Lanka and South Africa. One of the ads had one of our cricket players in the stands with a group of supporters from one of these countries playing drums and singing. So to keep them quiet he gave them all KFC. Considering this was a KFC ad you wouldn't really give them a fruit salad to share, no, you give them a big bucket of chicken.

Considering this ad wasn't based around Americans with African descent (I refuse to use the term 'African American', I do not call Americans with Irish descent European American or myself European Australian, I am Australian, they are American) it is in no way racist but that's what the American news claimed it was. Just to clear this up, I'm claiming that they have to be American with African descent for this to be racist because that is where I assumed the stereotype of loving fried chicken came from.

I'm not sure that falls under PC but it is a case of a harmless ad being blown way out of proportion.

This was a lot longer than I thought and I must now remove my cat from my lap


EDIT: Also, I can't think of the last time in the public eye you couldn't say black, just in my immediate life.

 

[orangeban]

I've only really ever heard people use the word mong as colloquial derision, akin to calling someone a retard. They wouldn't actually use this word on someone they thought to be legitimately mentally disabled, merely to mock someone acting in a particularly gormless or insipid fashion. Immature? Yes, but nothing that people need to lose their shit over. People really need to look at the context, not the words themselves and I can't believe this is something that needs to be stressed in this day and age.

Uh, the context you mention is exactly why it is offensive. When people call someone acting like an idiot a retard, it is offensive. Here's the breakdown.

Person acting like idiot = retard
Genuine mental illness = retard
Therefore...
Person acting like idiot = retard = genuine mental illness
Therefore...
Genuine mental illness = person acting like an idiot.

So actually, the context you use the phrase in is exactly the reason it is offensive.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

Uh, the context you mention is exactly why it is offensive. When people call someone acting like an idiot a retard, it is offensive. Here's the breakdown.

Person acting like idiot = retard
Genuine mental illness = retard
Therefore...
Person acting like idiot = retard = genuine mental illness
Therefore...
Genuine mental illness = person acting like an idiot.

So actually, the context you use the phrase in is exactly the reason it is offensive.

Lol wut? They aren't using the word for its literal meaning it's just something they pick to serve as a convenient synonym for the usual slurry of insults like 'idiot', 'fuckwit', 'moron' and the like. Moreover, calling a close friend a retard off hand for doing a single maladroit or ditzy act is not the same as yelling the insult with genuine derogatory intent towards somenone they don't know who exhibits symptoms of down syndrome, or any other mental disorder. That is what I mean when I'm talking about context, I don't know what the hell you were trying to convey with that post.

 

[oktalist]

Person acting like idiot = retard
Genuine mental illness = retard
Therefore...
Person acting like idiot = retard = genuine mental illness
Therefore...
Genuine mental illness = person acting like an idiot.

Aquatic bird of the family Anatidae = duck
The action of lowering one's head to avoid injury = duck

The last instance I can remember that was made public was an ad we had for KFC. It was based around cricket (which is a sport largely played with countries such as India, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

And the West Indies, don't forget.

I refuse to use the term 'African American'

Yep, "African American" is stupid, and considered offensive by many.

it is in no way racist but that's what the American news claimed it was.

That's an interesting example. I agree it does not sound racist from what you have said. I can see how an American who doesn't know their wickets from their googlies might think the chicken reference was a racial thing, though.

Do you happen to remember which news station it was? It sounds to my cynical mind as if they were simply manufacturing an outrage over something trivial so they could then turn around the next day and say "look how stupid PC has become, getting outraged over something so trivial."

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Well I dislike Ricky Gervais and his comedy, so not having paid attention to it beyond this thread I can't say whether he was out of order or not, but as for PC, ladies and gentlemen...

Spoiler: Mr Steve Hughes

 

[XaVierDK]

Well, people with Down's Syndrome are called Mongoloid in common speech here in Denmark, so I'm surprised it's seen as offensive else-where... We don't mean anything offensive by it, it's just the everyday term for Down's Syndrome :-/

 

[MammothBlade]

This is another example of dangerous newspeak and cultural marxism creeping into the English language. Of course "mong" is commonly seen as an insensitive term, and should not be used seriously. Yet if someone wants to use it in a joke or in private conversation, no law or censorship should stop them, even if they are as horrifically unfunny and low-brow as Ricky Gervais.