Is the word "infidel" insulting?

[Jacob]

Would you be insulted if someone were to call you a Goy?

Not really. And for the record I don't find infidel/kuffar offensive either. For me it's the same as me, as a non-religious person, calling religious persons naive. Some people apparently do find it offensive, though. I am just curious what Languish thinks.

Kaffir/kuffah is offensive because it was racist slang in South Africa and, to a lesser extent, the UK. It's not because it means infidel.

Kaffir and Kuffir are two different words with different etymologies, no? I mean, it's not like Afrikaans speaking South Africans had a reason to adopt the Arab word for "non-believer" to say mean things about Black people, is it?

[Malthus]

Would you be insulted if someone were to call you a Goy?

Not really. And for the record I don't find infidel/kuffar offensive either. For me it's the same as me, as a non-religious person, calling religious persons naive. Some people apparently do find it offensive, though. I am just curious what Languish thinks.

Kaffir/kuffah is offensive because it was racist slang in South Africa and, to a lesser extent, the UK. It's not because it means infidel.

Kaffir and Kuffir are two different words with different etymologies, no? I mean, it's not like Afrikaans speaking South Africans had a reason to adopt the Arab word for "non-believer" to say mean things about Black people, is it?

Nope - same derivation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_(racial_term)#Etymology

[The Brain]

I do however like the thought that racist Afrikaaners only do things for a reason.

[Sheilbh]

Nope - same derivation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_(racial_term)#Etymology

Interesting. Didn't know that.

It's a rather antiquated racist term in the UK now but I get the impression it was used a lot in the 60s and 70s.

[garbon]

Would you be insulted if someone were to call you a Goy?

Not really. And for the record I don't find infidel/kuffar offensive either. For me it's the same as me, as a non-religious person, calling religious persons naive. Some people apparently do find it offensive, though. I am just curious what Languish thinks.

Kaffir/kuffah is offensive because it was racist slang in South Africa and, to a lesser extent, the UK. It's not because it means infidel.

Kaffir and Kuffir are two different words with different etymologies, no? I mean, it's not like Afrikaans speaking South Africans had a reason to adopt the Arab word for "non-believer" to say mean things about Black people, is it?

Nope - same derivation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_(racial_term)#Etymology

Although...that section does clearly state that it lacks sources.

[CountDeMoney]

Suid Afrikaaner embassy chick in Lethal Weapon 2 was hot as shit.  I would've Rorke's Drifted the fuck outta that.

[Malthus]

Although...that section does clearly state that it lacks sources.

I don't think it is particularly contentious: in any event, that is the origin commonly imputed to the word in various dictionaries.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=kaffir

http://www.finedictionary.com/kaffir.html

[Martinus]

FWIW, this thread was inspired by a muslim using the word "Kuffar" to describe white Westerners.

[garbon]

Although...that section does clearly state that it lacks sources.

I don't think it is particularly contentious: in any event, that is the origin commonly imputed to the word in various dictionaries.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=kaffir

http://www.finedictionary.com/kaffir.html

Gotcha. Yeah I had seen that wiki thing but then was like if even wiki is flagging what it has written.

[crazy canuck]

The Muslims I know tend to use the word "tall".

To describe dps?

That's the long and short of it.

[dps]

Nope - same derivation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_(racial_term)#Etymology

Interesting. Didn't know that.

It's a rather antiquated racist term in the UK now but I get the impression it was used a lot in the 60s and 70s.

Yeah, I thought "kaffir" meant "cattle".  At any rate, I knew it was used as a racist term for blacks by white South Africans;  don't know where I got the idea that it meant cattle, but that would fit a racist usage.

[Sheilbh]

FWIW, this thread was inspired by a muslim using the word "Kuffar" to describe white Westerners.

Okay. In that context I'd be inclined to say it's offensive/insulting.

[Jacob]

Nope - same derivation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_(racial_term)#Etymology

Huh 

Interesting, I did not know that.