[bsliny]

If you call a Polish person a POLLACK is that an insult I'm Polish and have been called a POLLACK all my life now someone i met says thats an insult Anybody know anything about this :dontknow: :dontknow:

[SteveZ]

I've been called "Polack" for as long as I can remember. The bottom line is that it's not an insult unless the person means it to be. "Polak" is Polish for "Polish person."

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polack

On a different note: Saw the Qui Nhon in your post. Last time there was in November 2001 as part of a vet's tour.

Originally Posted by BSLINY

If you call a Polish person a POLLACK is that an insult I'm Polish and have been called a POLLACK all my life now someone i met says thats an insult Anybody know anything about this :dontknow: :dontknow:

Yes. It is derogatory now. More so after All in the Family and the shots Archie took at his son-in-law Mike Stivic. Called him a "Polack pinko meathead". That show really had some impact. Seems the word did not have much of an edge until Archie Bunker got a hold of it.

Google it!

[SteveZ]

I guess I'm just not that "sensitive."

Too many folk get wrapped around the axle on terms, sayings, names, et cetera. My feeling is that it's not the term, but how you mean it. Someone can call me a "nice guy" and get my dander up just by the tone of his/her voice. Others can call me an SOB and we'll both laugh and have a beer later.

All in the family was one of my favorite shows. The most maligned person on the show was the Archie Bunker character. He took all the heat as being "ignorant, insensitive, etc.," but the reality was it was he who went to work every day, supported his spouse, "princess" daughter and her more-intellectual-than-thou husband who looked his nose down at the household elder yet never backed away from the the food someone else's work put on the table.

[Bella]

I'm a "WAP", my husband is a "CANUCK" - what can I say...no insult taken

Originally Posted by SteveZ

I guess I'm just not that "sensitive."

Too many folk get wrapped around the axle on terms, sayings, names, et cetera. My feeling is that it's not the term, but how you mean it. Someone can call me a "nice guy" and get my dander up just by the tone of his/her voice. Others can call me an SOB and we'll both laugh and have a beer later.

All in the family was one of my favorite shows. The most maligned person on the show was the Archie Bunker character. He took all the heat as being "ignorant, insensitive, etc.," but the reality was it was he who went to work every day, supported his spouse, "princess" daughter and her more-intellectual-than-thou husband who looked his nose down at the household elder yet never backed away from the the food someone else's work put on the table.

Well, the tone certainly matters as does the context. I would be a Kraut and/or a mick but neither of these terms has much of an edge now. They did at one time.

[jjdees]

Well said Steve. It's all in the intent of the speaker. I agree with you on Archie. By the way, meathead is the world's biggest meathead now.

[redwitch]

My ex-mother-in-law was of Polish descent. She took great offense to being called a Polack -- felt it was for those who were either from the lower classes or Jewish from Poland. Lady, your husband was a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy. You came from one of a coal town in Pennsylvania. Seems like from her own definition, she was a Polack. OK, I'll give her that she was Catholic. (Get the feeling I did not like my former mother-in-law? 1rnfl)

I was taught that the correct term is Polish, that Polack was a pejorative. I'm German and have been called a kraut many a time.

Like Steve, I care more about your tone than your words. I won't use terms that are deemed negative to describe someone's culture. Not because it is PC per se, just because I was taught not to -- lived in too many countries to not be aware that some words are never said and tis always better to be safe than sorry.

[JUREK]

Hey I'm a Pollock , a Canuk , a Kraut but I'm also American..
Call me anything you want..
I can deal with it. :bigthumbsup:

[steve0528]

thank goodness that all of this CRAP is on the way out!!

[SteveZ]

Just waiting for the day when someone yells my way, "Hey, you - retired guy!!!" That will be great!

[JohnN]

I'm Polish, never took it as an insult, in fact used the term a lot as a kid.

However, in this day and age and all the sensitivities, I guess it's improper.

[nONIE]

the neighborhood I grew up in Chicago was ALL Polish so "It took one to know one", so it was fruitless for anyone to have any derogatory intent!

[bsliny]

Originally Posted by SteveZ

I've been called "Polack" for as long as I can remember. The bottom line is that it's not an insult unless the person means it to be. "Polak" is Polish for "Polish person."

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polack

On a different note: Saw the Qui Nhon in your post. Last time there was in November 2001 as part of a vet's tour.

I saw you were in FT HOOD i was there in 65

[SteveZ]

Hood time was March-December 1969 & November 1970 to March 1972. Great place to see in the rear-view mirror.