Your heritage?

[Sisifo]

I've always thought bastard such a conservative, paternalistic, judgemental term, with the stigmatic, moralistic connotation of 'illegitimacy' (by definition, in fact ... really, WTF?) and 'sin', and it seems odd to see enlightened people still using it ... a cultural thing, I guess.

I've always thought bastard such a conservative, paternalistic, judgemental term, with the stigmatic, moralistic connotation of 'illegitimacy' (by definition, in fact ... really, WTF?) and 'sin', and it seems odd to see enlightened people still using it ... a cultural thing, I guess.

Oh, it must be a cultural/linguistic slip. Though it can be used derogatory, in Spanish words like bastard, retarded, etc are mainly regarded as scientific/explanatory so the are mainly neutral and carry no taboo.
I once offended everyone present in a party because a friend of a friend was (and I said) a dwarf... I really had no idea what was the fuss. I had never heard before about " midget". And in any dictionary, I would still find "enano"=dwarf... it's difficult to keep up with the tabooes when the word is easily found in classic books...

[Pappa]

I've always thought bastard such a conservative, paternalistic, judgemental term, with the stigmatic, moralistic connotation of 'illegitimacy' (by definition, in fact ... really, WTF?) and 'sin', and it seems odd to see enlightened people still using it ... a cultural thing, I guess.

I've always thought bastard such a conservative, paternalistic, judgemental term, with the stigmatic, moralistic connotation of 'illegitimacy' (by definition, in fact ... really, WTF?) and 'sin', and it seems odd to see enlightened people still using it ... a cultural thing, I guess.

Oh, it must be a cultural/linguistic slip. Though it can be used derogatory, in Spanish words like bastard, retarded, etc are mainly regarded as scientific/explanatory so the are mainly neutral and carry no taboo.
I once offended everyone present in a party because a friend of a friend was (and I said) a dwarf... I really had no idea what was the fuss. I had never heard before about " midget". And in any dictionary, I would still find "enano"=dwarf... it's difficult to keep up with the tabooes when the word is easily found in classic books...

I often find that it depends on the context. It would be a bit off to describe someone now as a bastard, but if you are referring to a person in the past (such as a dead grandparent or similar) the term seems acceptable - because it was an acceptable way of describing them at the time. That's an entirely subjective view though, based on how I would use the word.

[Trolldor]

Actually, I find it's quite the reverse. Back then it was a label of illegitimacy, of immoral acts outside the marriage bed and so on. Today, it just means you're an ass.

Edit: Fixed

[Pappa]

Actually, I find it's quite the reverse. Back then it was a label of illegitimacy, of immoral acts outside the marriage bed and so on. Today, it just means you're an ass.

Edit: Fixed

Well, I meant, "It would be a bit off to describe someone now as a bastard (if you meant "illegitimate child").

[charlou]

It's not so much a word but the mindset behind its use.


"Illegitimate" - that's the mindset I really take issue with ... I mean, again: WTF? One can't be more legitimate than actually being born and existing

[eversbane]

Mother's father born in the US of Swedish immigrants, late 1800's. Mother's mother Pennsylvania Dutch back to pre-Revolutionary War.

Father's line from Ireland to the US in 1800 - although the family name is English. Father's mother from German line immigrated to the US sometime in the mid- to late-1800's.

My wife is from similar German stock, so the kids are mostly German with a touch of Swedish and a bit of English via Ireland.

[Bella Fortuna]

More Germanish-Swedishy folk!

[Red Katie]

On my mother's side, I can trace my ancestry back to a German that landed here in 1680. One of his descendants ran guns for the Revolution, which qualifies me to join the DAR, if I wanted to do any such silly thing. My father's mother claimed to be half-Indian, which I can believe. Had a great, great grandfather named Weese, who was probably an Ashkenazi Jew. Closer at hand, mostly Irish from after the Potato Famine.

[eversbane]

Nothing to do with my ancestry, but a funny story re: ethnicity.

My brother went to work for Chevron oil and ended up in Egypt. While there he was introduced to a Scottish woman who happened to be visiting friends while on her way from Brisbane to school in Switzerland. Her family was from near Aberdeen but since her father had been a Brittish Naval officer she had lived in many places around the world, her parents settling finally in Brisbane after her father retired. Well, she and my brother were married - in Egypt: their license is all in Arabic - but she soon thereafter developed a urinary infection. Chevron wanted to send her to the US for treatment so my brother recommended sending her to the hospital where our mother worked as a nurse.

That's how we got to meet my brother's wife for the first time: in a hospital bed, suffering with fever, pain, and whatnot. Despite her discomfort we were having a pleasant conversation when her nurse came: "Everybody out. Time to take vitals and such." So we're saying good-by and all when the nurse notices the accent: "Oh, you're Brittish, aren't you?" My sister-in-law - fever, pain, meds, time-lagged - pushed herself up on her elbows and said: "I'm SCOTTISH!!" The nurse missed it completely: "Oh, I just love London and Big Ben have you been to Stonehenge I just think that is so facinating...."

We had to leave her there, I'm afraid, in the hands of a completely clueless mid-western American nurse prattling on and on about the virtues of England. Poor thing.

[lsdetroit]

im 75% irish.....SURPRISE!

my grandmother on my mom's side is from malta making me one quarter maltese falcon, though i dont really show it.

[Dory]

Greaaaaat...so you're all basically some variation of whitey. We get it

Grandparents came from Yemen to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet, so I'm Yemenite Jewish Some of us are extremely dark skinned that we look black some of us are extremely bright skinned that we look white, most of us are somewhere in the middle. I am more on the light-skinned side I guess... and my butt it extremely pale, as well as any area that hardly/never saw sun.

My greatparents could speak Arab and my parents can speak it a little. I don't know a damn word in Arab.

-Dory

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Cor Blimey Guv'nah! <- a clue.

My grandparents is as far back as I know.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I don't know a damn word in Arab.

-Dory

Allah akbar.
Salam.
Insh'allah.

[leo-rcc]

I don't know a damn word in Arab.

-Dory

Allah akbar.
Salam.
Insh'allah.

Shawarma
Kebab

[Hermit]

I don't know a damn word in Arab.

-Dory

Allah akbar.
Salam.
Insh'allah.

Shawarma
Kebab

Qur'an
Jihad
Ayatollah

I don't know a damn word in Arab.

You know more Arab words than you realize. English has borrowed about 900 words from Arabic, from admiral to zero. Here is a shortened list of them.