Britain burns - Chavs ruin civilization

[Josquius]

Incidentally, isn't "Chav" racist against white lower class Brits?

No. Its just a name for a specific fashion/youth culture group.

[HVC]

Still don't get the whole "Paki" thing.  It's just shortened.  Like "Brit".  Or "Jap".

It doesn't make sense yeah, but then Jap is offensive too.
And doesn't negro just mean dark skinned or somesuch?
I guess its just the history.

negro come from the portuguese negro which roughly means dirty black thing. Soot on your feet, brackish water, etc.

[Richard Hakluyt]

More likely from the Latin niger, meaning black.

[Valmy]

More likely from the Latin niger, meaning black.

Poor Pescennius Niger.

[mongers]

If anyone remembers a certain Not The Nine O'Cloak News sketch this discussion on the riots will remind them of it:

http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/display/playlistref/100811/clipid/100811_RIOTSDEBATE_10

Ten interweb punts for the first person to guess which one I'm referencing. 

[Barrister]

No-one would look at you and call you anything on your appearance alone.

Look at that chin.  He's super slavic, and being a Slav is a bad thing.

[Martim Silva]

negro come from the portuguese negro which roughly means dirty black thing. Soot on your feet, brackish water, etc.

Negro in our language means 'black', HVC. Just that. The derigatory term for blacks is 'Escarumba'.

Sometimes 'preto' is used, which also means 'black', but in a more casual way. And it wasn't (at least not recently) used as a bad word when used towards blacks.

Meanwhile, the BBC is posting e-mailed comments from readers:

Radek in London

emails: On behalf of all the Polish builders working in London I would like to thank the rioters for creating so much work for restoration of the damages. Thanks to you, the children in Poland will have amazing Christmas!

[HVC]

negro come from the portuguese negro which roughly means dirty black thing. Soot on your feet, brackish water, etc.

Negro in our language means 'black', HVC. Just that. The derigatory term for blacks is 'Escarumba'.

only time i ever hear negro is in description of black things which are dirty/unappealing  (both continental and azorean) with preto used for colour and peoples.

and around here you also hear "pao camado" as derogatory, but that's an azorean thing.

[Martim Silva]

only time i ever hear negro is in description of black things which are dirty/unappealing

Pitch black stuff. But even then, the colour is 'preto' or 'cor negra'.

and around here you also hear "pao camado" as derogatory, but that's an azorean thing.

I haven't even heard of the expression 'Pão camado' in my entire life! Or would it be 'Pão Queimado?' (which I haven't ever heard, either)

Are you azorean?

[HVC]

I haven't even heard of the expression 'Pão camado' in my entire life! Or would it be 'Pão Queimado?' (which I haven't ever heard, either)

Are you azorean?

burnt stick. I can't spell in portuguese lol. Can read it though. I was born in canada but my mom is from nazare and my dad is from Lisboa. Most of the portuguese people where i grew up were azorean so i picked up a lot from them. Front what i've been told my speaking is a weird mix of pronounciation and terms from sao miguel, lisboa, and nazare.

[Viking]

More likely from the Latin niger, meaning black.

Poor Pescennius Niger.

ahh... the Blackfish... - NOT

[derspiess]

I don't usually hear "negro" used in any negative context in Spanish.  Of course its base meaning is simply "black", but beyond that it seems to have more of a positive connotation than anything else.  In Argentina just about everyone has a family member they affectionately refer to as "la negra" or "el negro".

[Neil]

They're talking about shutting down social networking to defeat the looters.  This is a good idea, and should be extended indefinitely.

[Brazen]

They're talking about shutting down social networking to defeat the looters.  This is a good idea, and should be extended indefinitely.

I'm going to use this thread to organise my next looting session. They'll never expect that!

[derspiess]

"Polaco" is, for some reason I just don't understand, used as a slur by people from the rest of Spain in general and Madrid in particular to refer to Catalonians in general and people from Barcelona in particular. If they support FC Barcelona then it's triple bonus points or something.
It has nothing to do with Poland itself, and "polaco" just means Polish.

I still get a kick out of Argies telling Gallego jokes, many of which are identical to our Polack jokes.

In some parts of South America, AFAIK, "polaco" can be used as a catch-all term for any person of slavic origin.

We have a get-together coming up with people from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, possibly Paraguay, and of course Argentina.  I'll do an informal survey.  I always like getting them started debating crap like this, anyway.  At one party last year, someone got a drink thrown at them over an argument that started over the proper term for peanuts and whether lemon/lime are the same thing