Use of the word 'Wog'

[Fossie 32]

I have a facebook page for the suburb I used to live in and had a thread reported as someone was using the word wog. The post had been there for two months with plenty of positive replies and without any complaints. It seemed intended as a tribute to the various nationalities and not using the word in a derogatory manner in my view. So I sent the complainant [is that the right word?] a message saying I was sorry they were offended but that I thought the post was reasonable as above and posted in good spirit etc. although I don't use the word myself.
She then became more agitated, asking if I thought words like abo are acceptable [I said no] and that I would not understand as I have not been called a wog like she has and I'm not an immigrant [I actually am] and that I'm a sycophant! [I replied it was ironic she was complaining about people making derogatory comments yet she thinks it's fine to use them towards me].
I removed the post as I don't want people being offended by such issues but would have thought it was not that bad a post...

 

[raskolnikov]

I remember when I was at school we used to call soccer "wogball".

 

[the fly]

I remember when I was at school we used to call soccer "wogball".

Same, although in my grade it was mainly the wogs who called it that.

 

[Mofra]

The use of language changes over time, and when a formerly offensive term becomes adopted by the group it is intended to marginalise it stop being offensive.
'Wogs out of work' changed the use of the word. 'NTTAWWT' has become less offensive over time as the people it targets adopt it sometimes. Growing up in the west wog was a completely inoffensive word by the time I hit high school - half my family is Mediterranean and were known by everyone as 'the wog half'.

Wog is still offensive in other countries though - it means something completely different in the UK.

 

[edgie]

The old fellas I used to talk to at the bocce club were more worked up by Dago than Wog.

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using Tapatalk

 

[rank and file]

It's just a wog,not the flu.

 

[perthblue]

Wog stands for Western Oriental Gentleman.

No it doesn't

 

[footyfan1978]

The use of language changes over time, and when a formerly offensive term becomes adopted by the group it is intended to marginalise it stop being offensive.
'Wogs out of work' changed the use of the word. 'NTTAWWT' has become less offensive over time as the people it targets adopt it sometimes. Growing up in the west wog was a completely inoffensive word by the time I hit high school - half my family is Mediterranean and were known by everyone as 'the wog half'.

Wog is still offensive in other countries though - it means something completely different in the UK.

This true. Remember kids at school called the Italian and Greek kids, Wogs, Winter Wogs etc. They called themselves that too. I remember they called me Skip...lol.. I assume they meant Aussie Skippy but never heard that word before went to secondary school. At primary school it was pretty much mainly anglo saxons so when went to completely different school with virtually no one from primary school was a bit of an eye opener what people from various backgrounds call each other.

There are a few words I hear people use that I find horrid and at times you can tell they not even mean it to be but if your impressions over years are it something horrid it does not sit with you well. If anyone uses word abo or coon always found it really horrid to hear because probably people I originally heard use to, certainly meant it in derogatory terms towards Aboriginals.

Similarly I remember on here someone got offended sometime in last twelve months because I call Pakistan cricket teams Pakis for short, Never heard it to be derogatory in my life or meant it as such but apparently in some parts of world it is seen as such. Whomever was offended by it clearly from another part of world and the person was not a person from Pakistan. Either from USA or UK I think.

 

[Gough]

The use of language changes over time, and when a formerly offensive term becomes adopted by the group it is intended to marginalise it stop being offensive.
'Wogs out of work' changed the use of the word. 'NTTAWWT' has become less offensive over time as the people it targets adopt it sometimes. Growing up in the west wog was a completely inoffensive word by the time I hit high school - half my family is Mediterranean and were known by everyone as 'the wog half'.

Wog is still offensive in other countries though - it means something completely different in the UK.

Context is always the key.

 

[Spongebob]

When I was growing up and a young man, wog was a pretty derogatory term.

having been at uni in America, I missed all the early Nick Giannopoulos development. I was stunned when I was on a visit back in around 87/88 to see a giant billboard for Wogs out of Work. It did not seem right, given my previous frame of reference.

 

[craigos]

Like a lot of words I think context plays a huge part in how it is perceived.

Being someone who has been around soccer my entire life, a large percentage of my friends and teammates have been "wogs". Only times I've ever used the term from memory is when I've been talking about their food, which is always complimentary.

I prefer to think of myself as an "on-trend" racist so making fun of people of European ancestry is hacky imo.

 

[Mofra]

This true. Remember kids at school called the Italian and Greek kids, Wogs, Winter Wogs etc. They called themselves that too. I remember they called me Skip...lol.. I assume they meant Aussie Skippy but never heard that word before went to secondary school. At primary school it was pretty much mainly anglo saxons so when went to completely different school with virtually no one from primary school was a bit of an eye opener what people from various backgrounds call each other.

There are a few words I hear people use that I find horrid and at times you can tell they not even mean it to be but if your impressions over years are it something horrid it does not sit with you well. If anyone uses word abo or coon always found it really horrid to hear because probably people I originally heard use to, certainly meant it in derogatory terms towards Aboriginals.

Similarly I remember on here someone got offended sometime in last twelve months because I call Pakistan cricket teams Pakis for short, Never heard it to be derogatory in my life or meant it as such but apparently in some parts of world it is seen as such. Whomever was offended by it clearly from another part of world and the person was not a person from Pakistan. Either from USA or UK I think.

Yeah I copped Skip a lot at primary school and high school, but again nobody took offence it was just a word.
Paki can be offensive in the UK, but in Oz we're a lot more relaxed. To offend someone here you have to call them a hipster, shitbloke or skips-his-round.

 

[Roobs321]

Know your audience kind of thing I guess. A facebook page for a suburb is a very public thing and implies inclusivity and non-offensive material.

"Wog" might be fine in small groups, whether self-used or among mates, but generally the very sound of the word "wog" just isn't pleasant, some loudmouth weapon. It is about as appealing as 'abo' or 'NTTAWWT', too crass, you'd be ashamed to say it in a public space and therefore it might not be good etiquette. The Wog Boy doesn't change that.

Some will get over-offended, but in essence they have a point. Not the right domain for that term to exist in.

 

[Gough]

Being Gay 101: Taking an insult and owning it

 

[craigos]

Being Gay 101: Taking an insult and owning it

What's the gay version of the "N" word? Like what is ok for gay people to fling at each other but really not cool for others to throw out there?

 

[Gough]

What's the gay version of the "N" word? Like what is ok for gay people to fling at each other but really not cool for others to throw out there?

Probably the f word because like the n word it's rarely used in anything but a derogatory sense. Unless your talking about sticks, rolled balls of offal or ciggys.

 

[Chief]

Probably the f word because like the n word it's rarely used in anything but a derogatory sense. Unless your talking about sticks, rolled balls of offal or ciggys.

It's a human rights crime that offal can't marry offal!

 

[Fossie 32]

Know your audience kind of thing I guess. A facebook page for a suburb is a very public thing and implies inclusivity and non-offensive material.

"Wog" might be fine in small groups, whether self-used or among mates, but generally the very sound of the word "wog" just isn't pleasant, some loudmouth weapon. It is about as appealing as 'abo' or 'NTTAWWT', too crass, you'd be ashamed to say it in a public space and therefore it might not be good etiquette. The Wog Boy doesn't change that.

Some will get over-offended, but in essence they have a point. Not the right domain for that term to exist in.

Yes that's mostly how I feel about it - though I thought there has been enough change in attitude that it doesn't need to be censored - wouldn't have thought it is in the league of abo or NTTAWWT these days but if there are people who still get offended by it best to remove it in this case. Too bad she got rewarded for being a ******* though.

 

[Procrastinator35]

It is generally accepted that the word 'wog' derives from the character & term 'Golliwogg', from a 1895 novel by Florence Kate Upton in the U.S, based upon the Black faced White minstrels....It spread to England via sailors, whereupon it became foreshortened as a term denoting a non-white person; & was employed as both an ethnic & racial slur....In Oz it usually applies to a person of Mediterranean extraction.

 

[Lethality]

Yes, it's offensive, and as a 'wog' I find it offensive.

Think of all the stereotypes that come to mind when you use the word 'wog' and it should be obvious that it is a negative word that reinforces negative stereotypes.

Ethnic people may use the word to refer to themselves, but that's harmless self-deprication.

Susie O'Brien wrote an article defending the use of the word 'wog' and ironically enough it was full of stereotypes about her 'wog' acquaintances and their 'wog' attributes like cooking for large families or having a cousin who's a plumber, etc. The lack of awareness was stunning, and made the opposite point to what she was trying to make.

A few ethnic papers wrote articles in response, explaining why the term is offensive. Without wishing to sound authoritarian, it's not up to a white woman to decide whether certain words are ethnic slurs. Just as men don't decide whether sexist terms like 'sheila' or 'broad' are sexist.

 

[raskolnikov]

What's the gay version of the "N" word? Like what is ok for gay people to fling at each other but really not cool for others to throw out there?

NTTAWWT

There are some people who can away with it. I have a colleague I have worked with for ten years and we're great mates. He'll often use it to rib me. None of my other colleagues could get away with it.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Malaka's .

 

[Plugger35]

A mate of mine at school had the nickname Wog and he wasn't even fully Italian, only his dad was Italian, his mum was English.

When he started school he was actually using his mum's surname to hide the fact he was Italian which is a sad reflection of how racist Australia was back then.

By about Year 9 he changed his surname back to his dad's Italian surname and also copped the Wog nickname, although by that stage Wog wasn't really seen as being racist due to Italians joking about it with Wogs Out of Work.

Speaking of Wogs Out of Work I saw Nick Giannopoulos dining at one of those outdoor restaurants in Mykonos in the early noughties.

I did have a laugh when him at that other well known Aussie wog Vince Colosimo released this film (more of a laugh than I had when I watched that pile of s**t).

Similarly I remember on here someone got offended sometime in last twelve months because I call Pakistan cricket teams Pakis for short, Never heard it to be derogatory in my life or meant it as such but apparently in some parts of world it is seen as such. Whomever was offended by it clearly from another part of world and the person was not a person from Pakistan. Either from USA or UK I think.

I never knew Paki was seen as a racist slur until I lived in the UK where it's considered racist, we always used to call the Pakistan cricket team the Pakis in Australia, it was like calling the England cricket team the Poms, the West Indian cricket team the Windies and the NZ cricket team the Kiwis.

I remember Wasim Akram wore a t-shirt with Pakis on it when he toured here back in the 90s so I don't think the Pakistan cricket team took offence to it, they realised it was just a harmless nickname we gave them here, as is so often the case it's usually other people that get offended on someone else's behalf.

The Pakis were probably giving the Australian cricket team even worse nicknames when they used to travel to Pakistan but we couldn't understand Urdu so they got away with it.

Javed Miandad could give as good as he got, Lillee got made out to be the bad guy in this infamous incident at the WACA but Javed was no shrinking violet.

 

[Fossie 32]

Yes, it's offensive, and as a 'wog' I find it offensive.

Think of all the stereotypes that come to mind when you use the word 'wog' and it should be obvious that it is a negative word that reinforces negative stereotypes.

Ethnic people may use the word to refer to themselves, but that's harmless self-deprication.

Susie O'Brien wrote an article defending the use of the word 'wog' and ironically enough it was full of stereotypes about her 'wog' acquaintances and their 'wog' attributes like cooking for large families or having a cousin who's a plumber, etc. The lack of awareness was stunning, and made the opposite point to what she was trying to make.

A few ethnic papers wrote articles in response, explaining why the term is offensive. Without wishing to sound authoritarian, it's not up to a white woman to decide whether certain words are ethnic slurs. Just as men don't decide whether sexist terms like 'sheila' or 'broad' are sexist.

Ta for that, I never use the word myself but thought there was no problem with it these days! Many of the people who replied to the thread I removed had Euro names and the whole thing was more praising people of various ethnicities with only one complaint out of about 1,400 members.
It's curious how it's ok that its "Ethnic people may use the word to refer to themselves, but that's harmless self-deprication." Yet not ok for non 'Ethnics' to use it even if they don't mean it in a derogatory way. But I can appreciate the issue with that!

 

[rocker_oz33]

The double puns gay and wog.


Not thats anything wrong with that.