Will Billy Packer Finally be suspended ...

I don't have a real beef with Rhody, spnited - I think he's just too young to have ever heard the phrase used in conversation. Or read it in 'Ulysses.' Nor do I have any affection for Packer. I don't watch basketball. And while I understand that language is dynamic, and ever-changing, I think it's worth fighting over some level of objective truth in its meaning.

 

out of a

 

Well, 200 years ago, the N-bomb was an acceptable term. If someone says it now, they are punised, and rightfully so.
Words changing meaning all the time. Forty years ago, it was acceptable to bash gays. Now, not so much. The word has changed meaning, as many have, and now it is totally unacceptable to say fag out.

The final test, for all of you who think I'm wrong - try to get it printed. I'm willing to bet you're going to get called on it every time.

 

Rhody, there are genuine battles in language and sensitivity to be fought on behalf of oppressed groups everywhere. This isn't one of them.

 

Equating fag out with the n-word is even more ridiculous than suggesting Packer get fired. The n-word was always a pejorative, whether it was commonly used or not it was never used in an acceptable context. It has but one meaning.
The word fag has various meanings, only one of which is derogatory. If you are a writer, you should understand the nuance of the language rather than the stereotype of political correctness.
Packer's usage of "fag out" might be archaic but it is not in any way a reason for discipline.

 

He should be fired because he stinks.





(Actually, I'm on Rhody's side. He's a broadcaster for God's sake. He should know better than to use a word that's "open for interpretation" to say the least. As someone told me in a piece of hate mail once, "Come on! You get paid to speak!")

 

Not trying to sandbag Rhody here, but I really doubt that a college professor would be fired for using a perfectly useful word in an accurate manner. Broadcaster or elementary school teacher or political staffer, more likely. Here's what a search produced:

"Washington, DC's black Mayor, Anthony Williams, gladly accepted the resignation of his white staff member, David Howard, because Mr. Howard uttered the word 'niggardly' in a private staff meeting.

"Webster's Tenth Edition defines the word 'niggardly' to "grudgingly mean about spending or granting". The Barnhard Dictionary of Etymology traces the origins of 'niggardly' to the 1300's, and to the words 'nig' and 'ignon', meaning "miser" in Middle English. No where in any of these references is any mention of racial connotations associated with the word 'niggardly'."

I have no use for Packer and don't intend to defend him. But firing him over using "fag" as in "fagged out" would further a bad precedent, IMAO. And yes, I'm well over 40.

 

Anything that gets Billy Packer off the air ...

 

Yes, and has been pointed out again and again, Billy Packer is noted for his regular use of British colloquialisms. His career should have been stuffed in the boot a long time ago.

 

Second that.

 

spnited, I don't know you and I definitely don't have personal beef with you, so try to take this along with this discussion.
Reading your post, I come to two conclusions - you're over 40; you say you have gay friends, but really don't.
Fag is this generation's n-word. Gay is this generation's black. It's OK to bash homosexuals, because they made that choice.
They didn't. I don't have "gay friends." My sister has a few friends who are gay, one of my best friends in college has a younger brother who is gay; I don't care that my buddy's brother likes to blow dudes. And I know when I accidently tell one of my buddies to not fag out in front of him, I feel like an ass and apologize.
Would Packer have said that to a gay person's face? No. Spnited, would you say a friend of yours "fagged out: if there was a gay guy next to you? No.
Who cares if the word has an old-world meaning. We are not living in the past, when it was ok to say a lot of things. Get with the times.

 

Damn, that's cold......but true.