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is "half-caste" offensive?
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The term does not stem from the caste system, this is a very, very common misconception.
It's actually derived from "half-cursed", and was always a derogotary term.
It's possibly a good thing that knowledge of the words true origins is fading, as it can't cause offence if the venom of the word is lost in time.
Still, it was always meant to be offensive, and there are other much safer terms out there.
It's actually derived from "half-cursed", and was always a derogotary term.
It's possibly a good thing that knowledge of the words true origins is fading, as it can't cause offence if the venom of the word is lost in time.
Still, it was always meant to be offensive, and there are other much safer terms out there.
'dual heritage' according to the met police lol i hate that poem so much such complete crap, my friend who is half caste hated it even more especailly as we had to sit through a allbutcommunist teacher's commentary on it 
AisAis
Haha, I thought you were talking about the poem from the GCSE anthology.
The exams really DO take over people's brains.
Yes, it is offensive because it is not politically correct. 'Mixed race' is the approriate term.
The exams really DO take over people's brains.
Yes, it is offensive because it is not politically correct. 'Mixed race' is the approriate term.
I think the question here is: why is political correctness necessary not to be offensive? Another question would be: who decides what's politically correct and what's not? I certainly don't.
Psynergy
The term does not stem from the caste system, this is a very, very common misconception.
It's actually derived from "half-cursed", and was always a derogotary term.
It's possibly a good thing that knowledge of the words true origins is fading, as it can't cause offence if the venom of the word is lost in time.
Still, it was always meant to be offensive, and there are other much safer terms out there.
It's actually derived from "half-cursed", and was always a derogotary term.
It's possibly a good thing that knowledge of the words true origins is fading, as it can't cause offence if the venom of the word is lost in time.
Still, it was always meant to be offensive, and there are other much safer terms out there.
Actually, interestingly, most words only become offensive after being in the language a long time.
John Agard - Half-caste
Excuse me
standing on one leg
I’m half-caste.
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when Picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas?
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when light an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather?
well in dat case
england weather
nearly always half-caste
in fact some o dem cloud
half-caste till dem overcast
so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass
ah rass?
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean tchaikovsky
sit down at dah piano
an mix a black key
wid a white key
is a half-caste symphony?
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
Ah listening to yu wid de keen
half of mih ear
Ah looking at yu wid de keen
half of mih eye
an when I’m introduced to yu
I’m sure you’ll understand
why I offer yu half-a-hand
an when I sleep at night
I close half-a-eye
consequently when I dream
I dream half-a-dream
an when moon begin to glow
I half-caste human being
cast half-a-shadow
but yu must come back tomorrow
wid de whole of yu eye
an de whole of yu ear
an de whole of yu mind.
an I will tell yu
de other half
of my story.
Excuse me
standing on one leg
I’m half-caste.
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when Picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas?
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when light an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather?
well in dat case
england weather
nearly always half-caste
in fact some o dem cloud
half-caste till dem overcast
so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass
ah rass?
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean tchaikovsky
sit down at dah piano
an mix a black key
wid a white key
is a half-caste symphony?
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
Ah listening to yu wid de keen
half of mih ear
Ah looking at yu wid de keen
half of mih eye
an when I’m introduced to yu
I’m sure you’ll understand
why I offer yu half-a-hand
an when I sleep at night
I close half-a-eye
consequently when I dream
I dream half-a-dream
an when moon begin to glow
I half-caste human being
cast half-a-shadow
but yu must come back tomorrow
wid de whole of yu eye
an de whole of yu ear
an de whole of yu mind.
an I will tell yu
de other half
of my story.
Noobish
It is a racist term and it doesnt take a monkey to firgure out.
How many of you know that HALF CASTE means.. half caste
so it is a racist term.
How many of you know that HALF CASTE means.. half caste
so it is a racist term.
I read it means half-cursed, and anyone who is half "cursed" has no rights to inherit anything from the non-cursed(white basically) side of the family, it claims to have its routes in the American slave trade.
although i always used to relate it to caste as in social class
didn't really think about it and used it freely until i was told it was offensive, then me being me argued as to why it was aoffensive and what it actually meant, until i was pretty much prooved wrong and the shut up about it,
i sometimes slip and say it, but I slip into a lot of non-pc terms its's not done to offend i never mean any harm by it it is just an accident.
I think lots of people who use it don't ever mean it to be offensive just slip up when they are talking freely without their PC hat on, so people shouldn't be critisized for using it,it doesn't make them a racist, unless they use it intentionally to offend/upset seomone. Just keep poliety correcting us, I am sure we will remember one day!
Psynergy
I'd agree with that, but plenty of words are invented just to stir up hatred, especially those focusing on differences in race/lifestyle etc.
Of course. But most words (e.g. piss, bastard) once used to be perfectly acceptable terms that gained connotations (the latter) or simply became objectionable (the former, sprouting words such as "pee", taken from the first letter). They still have perfectly acceptable meanings, just the words themselves aren't used any more. Bugger is an offensive word, buggery isn't. I think it all depends how the word is used. I bet most racist words were once simply dialectic and gained connotations because of prejudices held by people who used the words.
Words aren't offensive, in my point of view. People are.
even wiki says it comes from the caste system of hindu origin 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-caste
there is also an interesting bit at the bottom of the article about an alternate meaning of the word which is used in a positive way.
Quoted "A “Half-caste” is a person born from the success of two human to exceed the cultural barriers and fear of the other because of its differences. He is the fruit of their love in the majority of the cases.
In conclusion, a “Half-caste” is the best of two people (different in one way or another) in one. And there are nothing to be ashamed of in that."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-caste
there is also an interesting bit at the bottom of the article about an alternate meaning of the word which is used in a positive way.
Quoted "A “Half-caste” is a person born from the success of two human to exceed the cultural barriers and fear of the other because of its differences. He is the fruit of their love in the majority of the cases.
In conclusion, a “Half-caste” is the best of two people (different in one way or another) in one. And there are nothing to be ashamed of in that."
marisad_uk
even wiki says it comes from the caste system of hindu origin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-caste
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-caste
The people who wrote that article might be wrong - misconceptions get passed on easily (and missed easily in proofreading) on Wikipedia because anyone can edit it. One of its major flaws. It's such a good source of information that some trust it to know everything, whereas a lot of the time it will simply be passing down completely wrong misconceptions.
Then again, no matter what you know there'll be some idiot trying to tell you it's a complete misconception nowadays. Not the case here, of course - just a spontaneous rant.
Psynergy
Beleive me, I've researched this topic enough to know that's a misconception.
Wiki is not infallible.
Wiki is not infallible.
wasn't saying wiki was, or that it was right here, was just poinitng out that it says something different.Wasn't making any comment on if it was correct or not.
I know wiki isn't allways 100% -the number of essays that thing cost me last year!Oh well...
PS zeec your on the facebook group -if wiki says it it must be true... the
icon is just because the ": o" in tsr looks liek a smily face and i couldn't be bothered looking through all the random emotes for a "shocked face" onei dont understand how we are ment to know what the latest political correct words are. fair enough if half caste has always been offensive ( not that i knew it was, or if i ever used it i would mean it in an offensive way and it does remind me of mariah carey being on oprah saying she was half caste and using that phrase.) then it should never have been used but i hate the way words which were common use are now being made politically incorrect. like today i just learned u cant say lower class any more.like i can see how lower class can be an offensive term but u cant blame people for using it when its been used for absolutly years in a non insulting way.
but basically i would never use the words half caste or lower class in an insult because 1- im not pathetic enough to insult someone for their race or social class or anything else like that and 2 - i can think of much more offensive words anyways if i was to insult someone for this.
but anyways i always thought half caste was half cast and in my nievity of a child i always thought it just stemmed from cast as in cast a shadow, shadows are dark which would be the dark half and then the light half. so therefore never would have thought it was actually offensive.
but basically i would never use the words half caste or lower class in an insult because 1- im not pathetic enough to insult someone for their race or social class or anything else like that and 2 - i can think of much more offensive words anyways if i was to insult someone for this.
but anyways i always thought half caste was half cast and in my nievity of a child i always thought it just stemmed from cast as in cast a shadow, shadows are dark which would be the dark half and then the light half. so therefore never would have thought it was actually offensive.
shady lane
Just don't use it, it's not socially acceptable. Tehjohnny probably still thinks we should say "negro"...it just means black in Spanish, right 
And I cringe every time I see Anglosaxon being used instead of British. Some of us who actually know a bit about proper history will know why. I trust you call the first settlers of America as natives and never say Eskimo but Inuit.
Spoiler
Ah yeah! The good old Anthology poems... I saw that John Agard dude do his poem live on a school trip in Cambridge
princessx
i dont understand how we are ment to know what the latest political correct words are. fair enough if half caste has always been offensive ( not that i knew it was, or if i ever used it i would mean it in an offensive way and it does remind me of mariah carey being on oprah saying she was half caste and using that phrase.) then it should never have been used but i hate the way words which were common use are now being made politically incorrect. like today i just learned u cant say lower class any more.like i can see how lower class can be an offensive term but u cant blame people for using it when its been used for absolutly years in a non insulting way.
but basically i would never use the words half caste or lower class in an insult because 1- im not pathetic enough to insult someone for their race or social class or anything else like that and 2 - i can think of much more offensive words anyways if i was to insult someone for this.
but anyways i always thought half caste was half cast and in my nievity of a child i always thought it just stemmed from cast as in cast a shadow, shadows are dark which would be the dark half and then the light half. so therefore never would have thought it was actually offensive.
but basically i would never use the words half caste or lower class in an insult because 1- im not pathetic enough to insult someone for their race or social class or anything else like that and 2 - i can think of much more offensive words anyways if i was to insult someone for this.
but anyways i always thought half caste was half cast and in my nievity of a child i always thought it just stemmed from cast as in cast a shadow, shadows are dark which would be the dark half and then the light half. so therefore never would have thought it was actually offensive.
I know what you mean about not knowing what is PC anymore
the other day in college we were doing some boring seminar and she asked does anyone know what a mind map is, someone said is it like a brain storm(spider diagram) and the tutor went nuts and said YOU CANNOT USE THAT TERM IT IS OFFENSIVE AND WRONG and loads of other bad words i can't remember, I was the one stupid enough to ask why, she then looked at me like i was really really thick and said "there is a mental condition known as a brain storm", since when was I a neurologist and supposed to know this? let alone know that people would be offended that an illness shares its name with a type of diagram?! I then made the foolish mistake of trying to make light of the situation and said "can i not call it a spider diagram now incase i upset the spiders" and got glared at and everyone gasped like i had just said the most inconsiderate, disresectful, discriminatory thing in the world...
it is crazy, i try my hardest to encourage everyone around me to treat everyone as equals and I am always sticking up for people of different races/religions when i see them being picked on for it, or hear someone making racist comments, I even go out of my way to help strangers in those situations even when it ends up having negative effects on me ( I once stuck up for an Asian girl in a bus queue who was being told by an elderly white woman to "get back on an elephant and go back to where she came from the busses are for the people who belong here" the old woman then told me i musn't be english either and tried to push me off the bus as i was getting on after her!) you just cant win or say anything without getting it wrong anymore!
marisad_uk
it is crazy, i try my hardest to encourage everyone around me to treat everyone as equals and I am always sticking up for people of different races/religions when i see them being picked on for it, or hear someone making racist comments, I even go out of my way to help strangers in those situations even when it ends up having negative effects on me ( I once stuck up for an Asian girl in a bus queue who was being told by an elderly white woman to "get back on an elephant and go back to where she came from the busses are for the people who belong here" the old woman then told me i musn't be english either and tried to push me off the bus as i was getting on after her!) you just cant win or say anything without getting it wrong anymore!
you should have pushed her back stupid old bat.
Thankfully i have never succumbed to the horrors of PC. I always have and still do call it a brain storm. And a black board and baa baa black sheep.
the other day in college we were doing some boring seminar and she asked does anyone know what a mind map is, someone said is it like a brain storm(spider diagram) and the tutor went nuts and said YOU CANNOT USE THAT TERM IT IS OFFENSIVE AND WRONG and loads of other bad words i can't remember, I was the one stupid enough to ask why, she then looked at me like i was really really thick and said "there is a mental condition known as a brain storm", since when was I a neurologist and supposed to know this? let alone know that people would be offended that an illness shares its name with a type of diagram?! I then made the foolish mistake of trying to make light of the situation and said "can i not call it a spider diagram now incase i upset the spiders" and got glared at and everyone gasped like i had just said the most inconsiderate, disresectful, discriminatory thing in the world...
They told me that on work experience and I wasn't sure if they were joking.
Is it called blue-skying now?
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