Writes a commenter at the New York Times article, "The Lamp That’s Taking Over New York/A sleek newcomer, the Pina Pro, is appearing on droves of outdoor tables in the city — and sometimes disappearing, as diners fall for its mellow glow" ("At Altro Paradiso, a few lamps have mysteriously disappeared, Ms. Miller said. When the restaurant didn’t yet have one for every table, 'people would fight over them,' she added.")
And in case you're distracted by the question "Is It Racist To 'Call A Spade A Spade'?," someone answered the question on NPR back in 2013:
"Rather than taking the chance of unintentionally offending someone or of being misunderstood, it is best to relinquish the old innocuous proverbial expression all together."
That is, it's not racist. The spade in question — in the original 1542 writing by Erasmus — was the garden tool. That it is a garden tool — and not a playing card or a person of color — is clearly demonstrated by this witticism in Oscar Wilde 1895 play "The Importance of Being Earnest":
CECILY: "Do you suggest, Miss Fairfax, that I entrapped Ernest into an engagement? How dare you? This is no time for wearing the shallow mask of manners. When I see a spade I call it a spade."
GWENDOLEN: [Satirically.] "I am glad to say that I have never seen a spade. It is obvious that our social spheres have been widely different."
Posts
74 comments:
217. "How am I able to obey a rule?" - if this is not a question about causes, then it is about the justification for my following the rule in the way I do.
If I have exhausted the justifications I have reached bedrock, and my spade is turned. Then I am inclined to say: "This is simply what I do."
- Wittgenstein
Yeah, let’s call a spade a spade. The NYT long ago abandoned its constitutional duty of reporting the news,
Doesn’t the NYT commenter know that the NYT printed FALSE Russian collusion stories about Trump? It was all a hoax planned by Hillary.
Just reported on Fox. A podcast by Bari Weiss where one NYT person had to check with Sen. Schumer before running an op-Ed written by Sen Tim Scott.
As you subtly point out, Trump is really, really in their heads.
So what is your point here? That it is horrible that we can't use phrases if someone might mistakenly think the derivation is racist?
But it is quite a while ago, that you yourself said we shouldn't use the word niggardly because it sounds too much like another word (which has an entirely different etymology).
"So what is your point here? That it is horrible that we can't use phrases if someone might mistakenly think the derivation is racist?"
Your first instinct is always to be an asshole. Why is that?
I'm not saying anything like that. In fact, I would avoid the phrase and recommend avoiding the phrase and that's a position I've taken FOR DECADES. You remember what I said about "niggardly," so why wouldn't you begin by assuming I have a consistent position about this kind of thing.
Really, whenever I see your name now I expect assholery. I wish there were more liberal commenters here, but why can't you demonstrate reason and read a person sympathetically before you assume the worst.
"Is It Racist To 'Call A Spade A Spade'?"
Yes, because everything is racist now. Even suggesting that it's not racist is racist. (Also, you're a racist.)
(Freder's) first instinct is always to be an asshole. Why is that?
Them libs was born that way, ma'am.
@ 7:20 is the best argument for a like button.
Silly, it’s obvious, a garden and tools are slaves are black people. So food cultivation, and all references to it, are racist. The Netherlands are anti-racists for trying to wipe out farming. (Pity everyone starves to death)
He was born that way Ann!!
For a while I tried switching to, "Let's call a hoe a hoe", but...that turned out not to be the nifty solution I thought it was.
Your blogging style garners assholes pricks fucktards racists cunts bitches and pussies to comment. Why do you always blame your victims for their natural lizard brain pavlovian responses to the bait you are trolling?
I'm going to poll my grand kids ages 7-12. I wager not a one of them would understand calling a spade a spade, contained any racial connotations. I can't recall anyone referring to POC as spades My ~40 year old children, would see it, but only after a moments consideration, Mainly because they are busy living THEIR life and it does not include putting people in defining boxes.
This is just like the kid going to summer camp in Paris. Real first world problems for people that have way too much. The other 99% are living an actual meaningful life.
Really, whenever I see your name now I expect assholery. I wish there were more liberal commenters here, but why can't you demonstrate reason and read a person sympathetically before you assume the worst.
Because I have learned from experience that assuming the worst about many of your commentors is the correct assumption.
You might want to consider why there are so few liberal commentors here. I am not the only asshole here (Achilles, Drago, Gilbar, and Michael K. come to mind immediately), yet you generally only call out the liberals here and heap scorn on them.
Can you produce one instance when you called any of your conservative commentors an asshole?
Most people call an mattock a pickaxe.
And I was generally confused about what you were trying to say in this post.
I would avoid the phrase and recommend avoiding the phrase
Use the polite form "people of spade."
Ann- I think the better word than assholery is pedantry. I find that there is a genus of liberal that thinks that the world is run like a debate society and they can win on points. Not all liberals are like that but is in an increasing number. Sadly. There is a difference between a discussion and a debate.
I do like assholery though and intend to incorporate into my daily vocabulary. Thanks for that.
These days - all crime is winked at. Unless your name is Trump and the charges are trumped up.
Soros smiles.
Althouse's point was not clear other than being a general essay, perhaps because most people value words with all of their connotations more than a superficial politeness which kills language. Barthelme's performance with "cunt" in Snow White is a favorite. google books See the joy in the word.
As for liberals, a liberal's style is always condescension. It's not a particular attack.
Howard said...
Most people call an mattock a pickaxe.
I call it a Kaiser blade, mmm.
My dad always called a spade a spade - until he tripped over one in the dark.
Freder, I'm not sure that "assuming the worst about many of your commentors is the correct assumption" really works as a defense for assuming the worst about Althouse herself.
Freder Frederson:
I was generally confused about what you were trying to say in this post.
I was too.
Since the linked article is behind a paywall, and since the focus is on a puzzling comment about that article, my eyes just glazed over when I read this blog article.
The most interesting aspect of this thread is Freder Frederson.
Freder Frederson said...
“Can you produce one instance when you called any of your conservative commentors an asshole?”
I can produce hundreds but it would be self-incriminating.
Because I have learned from experience that assuming the worst about many of your commentors is the correct assumption.
Condescending doesn't work, rhetorical tip. Worse, it fools you.
Much ado about a damned old shovel.
I recall back 1970-ish, on the old Dick Cavett Show, one of his guests made a double-entendre joke about a (white) middle aged woman who lived upstairs with a Spayed/Spade Cat.
Very edgy for the time.
Such was TV humor back in the day.
Was this article spawned by a press release from the lamp company?
Freder Frederson said...
So what is your point here?
I can tell you MY point for being here with a topical example:
Interesting article in the WSJ about quiet quitting, which we talked about few a while back.
As per usual, i feel like i'm ahead of the game for reading Althouse.. Thanx Professor!
Believe it or not Freder; i try to contribute to this blog. It seems (to me), that all you do is pull things down
Meade said...
I can produce hundreds but it would be self-incriminating.
But let's get down, to gardening basics
What is The most offensive gardening term?
Spades, Rakes, Hoes?
Any i'm missing? fertilizers?
Field Marshall Freder: "Because I have learned from experience that assuming the worst about many of your commentors is the correct assumption."
Also Field Marshall Freder: "I was generally confused about what you were trying to say in this post."
LOL
How absolutely perfect.
Should be pinned to the top of every thread.
"Was this article spawned by a press release from the lamp company?"
I know. There are comments over there to that effect. And the thing is radically overpriced. At $149, it's about 10 times what it should be. Because it's not plugged in and it's so light and thin, it's especially easy to steal. I'm surprised restaurants put something like that on an outdoor table.
Mike Sylvester: "The most interesting aspect of this thread is Freder Frederson."
With Freder, its fun to recall that he/she/xe once attempted an hilarious Appeal To Authority by claiming to have once been a....(wait for it) ....(wait for it) ....federal contractor!
Sometimes the laughs come in waves!...and I am grateful.
Althouse: "And the thing is radically overpriced."
I'll let the market determine that, thank you very much.
Unless, of course, the only reason the lamp is being purchased is because the US govt is buying it in mass quantity from some ChiCom's that also own a piece of the Bidens.
And that list of ChiCom's that own the Bidens is a very long list.
Ann is definitely right about freder. We used to have an official dick, now we have an official asshole. Bookends?
And this may be the first time I've ever said this but Freder is right here (Checking for lightening bolts) We should not avoid using words like "niggardly", "denigrated", "niggle" "higgle", "renig", "snigger" and other similar because some people are ignorant and might be offended. Think of it as a teachable moment. "You are offended? Why? Do you have any idea what the word means? Do you have any idea of it's etymology?"
Is it OK to go to a nigtclub?
Not my problem, that is on the person offended. I'll go a step further than Freder and say that I think we should make an effort to use these words any time they are linguistically appropriate. Even if there are perfectly good substitutes.
And yes, let's call a spade a spade be it a shovel, a playing card, or a sword. Or when I go out and dig in my garden I should use an "s-word" rather than a spade. Of course that risks confusing someone because they may wonder whether I mean a spade or a shovel.
Is it even used at all as a pejorative for a black these days? I've not heard it since the 60s I don't think. It was not even all that derogatory back then. What about the actor "Superspade"? Do we call him "Super s-word"
John LGBTQBNY Henry
At $149, it's about 10 times what it should be. Because it's not plugged in and it's so light and thin
Sounds like they are just evaporating (hmm, lamps are solids.. So the lamps are subliming?)
One way or the other,
i'm not going to spend $149 (EACH!) for lamps that do phase transitions on their own.
Of course, maybe i'm missing a bet here? what does a lamp vapor state look like? Is it pretty, like iodine vapor?
because maybe they would be a draw to your restaurant? Come See! The disappearing lamps!
Libs (even/especially educated ones) destroy language by shadow banning words.
In a thousand years we'll all be grunting and pointing so as not to offend anyone.
'Most people call an mattock a pickaxe.'
Awl I want for Christmas is an adz.
Ann Althouse said...
"Was this article spawned by a press release from the lamp company?"
I know. There are comments over there to that effect. And the thing is radically overpriced. At $149, it's about 10 times what it should be. Because it's not plugged in and it's so light and thin, it's especially easy to steal. I'm surprised restaurants put something like that on an outdoor table.
==========
the lamp company could anonymously gift some to Trump Compound in MAL, FL and have whistleblower notify NY AG about stolen artifacts
John henry said...
“Is it OK to go to a nigtclub?”
What the H, John Henry!?
The danger is that you use a completely acceptable term today that becomes verbotten in a few years. Then, as your career takes off....
Howard said...
Your blogging style garners assholes pricks fucktards racists cunts bitches and pussies to comment. Why do you always blame your victims for their natural lizard brain pavlovian responses to the bait you are trolling?
Was there ever a more graphic example of a singular lack of self-awareness
John henry said..
Don't get me started on "faggot" Let's begin by starting to call things by their rightful names. A fetus is a human being.
"Most people call an mattock a pickaxe."
Mottocksie, mattocksie, mattocksie.
But it's true. Relates I think to the lack of manual labor jobs/chores in young people's histories.
One Christmas I asked for a pitchfork as a present. Got a garden fork.
Bought a pitchfork for myself in the New Year.
"Spook" could get you in trouble. Some others:
I had a colleague mildly caution me about "grandfathering" clause. Not that she was offended, just giving me a friendly heads up.
Any reference to an animal in the context of a person of color.
And cotton. Remember the school teacher who got in trouble because she brought some cotton into class to show her students what it looked like?
Blogger Rusty said...
John henry said..
Don't get me started on "faggot" Let's begin by starting to call things by their rightful names. A fetus is a human being
Yeah, don't get me started on the word "faggot" but I think you were referring to someone elsese comment.
But now that you have gotten me started, that is different from "niggardly" et al. Those are words that have no racial meaning but sound similar to one that does. Some say they should not be used because they sound bad.
Faggot has a perfectly good meaning as in "faggots of wood" but it also has an offensive meaning. Sort of like spade, perfectly good and useful meaning but also, in the past, a slightly offensive meaning that is largely forgotten today.
How about "queer"? That word is being used to eliminate faggots and dykes. Used to be offensive, now it is the word of choice for many of that persuasion. OTOH, it is a perfectly fine word for different. I am "queer" myself. Not for sexual habits but because I consider myself a unique individual. Not "genderqueer", just queer in general.
LGBTQ (in its other meaning) is still used but it is shifting to just T&Q. Gay, in the sense of only wanting to have sex with men with penises and lesbian, in the sense of only wanting to have sex with women with vaginas, are starting to be pejorative. Gay/lesbian are becoming synonymous with "transphobia"
As I said, don't get me started. You will regret it.
John LGBTQBNY Henry
Sorry Meade, I was trying to make a joke about nightclub containing the dreaded letter combo "nig"
John LGBTQBNY Henry
"I wish there were more liberal commenters here, but why can't you demonstrate reason and read a person sympathetically before you assume the worst."
Liberal voices no longer exist on social media, print media etc. The Left has staked out extreme positions, most of which are indefensible. Perfect example is abortion-safe, legal rare, to sure, up to 9 months is fine.
Patrick Moynihan and others, are long gone from the leadership and increasing from the rank and file of the Democrat Party.
"Rather than taking the chance of unintentionally offending someone or of being misunderstood, it is best to relinquish the old innocuous proverbial expression all together."
Is mating a gerund with an infinitive miscegenation?
On a podcast the other day, the speaker was paraphrasing a quote from someone, and substituted "the second N-word" for the actual word. Whatever that is. Pretty soon we'll need an app to sanitize what we say and interpret what we hear. Oh, that would never work, the app stores would censor it, and updates would be a morass.
Oh boy, and along comes that asshole Drago.
Meade @ 8:44
A favorite three panel cartoon from do not remember where:
Panel 1: Woman at her front door to neighbor outside: "Thank you for the venison, Mable. We are having it for dinner and Charles is having the children guess whaT it is."
Panel 2: Three seated at table set for four; male adult: "It is what Mother calls Daddy sometimes."
Panel 3: Boy to younger sister: "SPIT IT OUT, ALICE! IT'S ASSHOLE!"
Shame on all of you for not capitalizing Spade.
I worked for a Federal agency as an engineer many moons ago. They wanted us to change all references of dyke to hydraulic diverter.
You know, like the little Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dyke....
[...she kicked the crap out of him.]
Russia Collusion Truther and Hillary Hoax Dossier Dead Ender Inga: "Oh boy, and along comes that asshole Drago."
It must be uncomfortable for you that you labeled as "perfectly normal" a family where the father showered with his young daughter and completely sexualized her and where the adult brother like to smoke crack and snort cocaine with underaged human trafficked hookers.
Now would be a good time for to publicly renounce your earlier sick statement.
Being called an a****** by you or your groomer pals is a badge of honor.
And will remain so.
TRISTRAM--while driving yesterday I listened to a podcast of Jordan Peterson interviewing Michael Yon. One of the things that Yon pointed out was that the globalist eco-warriors in the Netherlands have managed to radicalize...Dutch and German farmers. The least radical people in the entire world are blocking roads with their tractors and protesting.
Think about that.
(Another point Yon made is that the Netherlands, a tiny country, is the world's second largest exporter of food. Because those Dutch farmers know what they are doing. Unlike the eco-warriors).
"One has already despaired of real news being anything but understanding of perpetrators, even violent perpetrators. Except maybe the louse Donald Trump, or Ghislaine Maxwell."
One has already despaired of prog comments being anything but very very circumspect when calling for the proper naming of people, certain people, people who shall not be named.
I have a buddy who is the most pleasant and least likely to be a racist person I know We were playing golf in our golf league, and his opponent conceded a three-foot putt to him. He responded "That's mighty white of you!"
We were all a little stunned that he would say such a thing. When we pointed out that he may want to avoid saying that in polite company, he honestly had no idea that it could be construed as a racial slur, and was suitably embarrassed. (Although when you think about it it really couldn't have any other meaning--he just never thought about it).
All over New York the lamps are disappearing. We shall not see them again in our lifetime. But, perhaps New Yorkers are going about with them, lit in broad daylight looking for an honest lefty as did Diogenes. Another test is: what side do you take about the correct use of the word "raid?" Or: do we use a shovel or spade or some other tool to plant?
Really, whenever I see your name now I expect assholery. I wish there were more liberal commenters here, but why can't you demonstrate reason and read a person sympathetically before you assume the worst.
I think Althouse has unintentionally demonstrated the change in "liberals" over the past few decades.
They are no longer truly liberal.
At $149, it's about 10 times what it should be.
I'm so old.......I remember back when they just put a candle in the middle of the table.
Whenever Drago speaks he lies. That is the assholery he engages in daily, which makes him an asshole extraordinaire. Congratulations to Drago, no one can beat his level of assholery.
'The danger is that you use a completely acceptable term today that becomes verbotten in a few years. Then, as your career takes off....'
You can tell an HGTV show is a rerun when the say 'Master' bedroom.
The new shows all substitute 'Primary.'
You can't make this shit up...
I thought we were friends, Inga. I am a much bigger asshole than Drago. He doesn't even rate the title of asshole. He's being groomed to be an errand boy whom will be sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill.
Redistributive change has a bag limit in the modern model.
Sorry Howard, but Drago is a very special asshole who is so prissy, he can’t even type out the word assholery, or shit, or fuck, yet he lies with impunity every single day he interacts with liberals.
Sometimes a spade is a weapon of diversity, but more often a machete is the weapon of choice.
Do I dare to eat a peach?
Ask T.S. Eliot:
I am no prophet — and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.
I grow old ... I grow old ...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.
There are cities you can live in where the diners don't steal the tableware. You won't find any New Yorkers there.
Or spades.
Surely the lamps are put out without the charging pad which means that they will just be a piece of junk after 9 hours or so.
Walked into a business meeting once and the person in charge announced my arrival with, "And here is xxxx, a man who is willing to call a spade a f'ing shovel." I've always liked that introduction.
"That it is a garden tool — and not a playing card or a person of color — is clearly demonstrated by this witticism"
How is this clearly demonstrating that it means a garden tool? I think you're right, it does, but this witticism could carry the meaning of a playing card or a person of color without any alterations other than the kind of social circles implied. We assume it's an issue of manual laboring class vs leisure class, but could also be a religious/moral virtue (playing cards was a huge no-no for Methodists and other Christian conservatives, for instance) or a racist comment about how the speaker only associates with white people.
gilbar,
Gardening has got nothing on electronics, with its "male", "female", and "hermaphroditic" connectors, master/slave interfaces, byte sex, and so much else too horrible to write on a family-friendly comment section like this.
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