4 ms·

Not British so genuinely asking - to what degree? Greater than "thing that bends"? Because there's plenty of slang that doesn't inhibit use of the word by its

by twhb 9y ago

Not British so genuinely asking - to what degree? Greater than "thing that bends"? Because there's plenty of slang that doesn't inhibit use of the word by its earlier definition. Nobody blinks when you ask for a "box". Teenagers might giggle at Dick's stores, but it hasn't hurt business.

lucideer 9y ago
Not British, but Irish, where it's got the same meaning (It would be seen as the inverse of "straight", but always derogatory) > to what degree? Less and less. a) homophobic slurs have become generally less acceptable b) US cultural influence makes people more aware of multiple meanings c) Futurama is also a thing that people here are aware exists / fans of
hashtagMERKY 9y ago
I'm not sure what we'd call a thing that bends (I suppose it would depend on what is being bent and how), but bender is pretty much exclusively used to mean a gay person or a very drunken night. I agree that it doesn't inhibit its use as a product name though. Git seems to be doing just fine.
bshimmin 9y ago
I'm not really "down with the kids", but I would think most people in their twenties and thirties and older would definitely understand "bender" to mean a homosexual, and "on a bender" to mean "out getting drunk" (though this isn't a derogatory term in any particular sense). I don't think I've ever used the word "bender" to mean "thing that bends", but perhaps that's just because of the other meaning of the term here. I don't think "box" is understood at all in the UK to mean what it does in US slang, though we do use the word in the context of cricket to mean something quite specific!
rmc 9y ago
> Not British so genuinely asking - to what degree? Greater than "thing that bends"? I'm Irish, not British, but the slangs are similar. "Bender" (on it's own) would mean a gay man. "on a bender" would mean a drunken thing. I'm not sure if people ever need a word for "thing that bends", since that rarely comes up. People might say "bendy bus" for an articulated bus. As evidence, I give you Ofcom, the British state body which regulates things on TV & Radio. If you say offensive things on TV/Radio, they'll fine you. They did research in 2016 about offensive words[1][2] and have listed them and have advice. For "bender" they say class it as "Strong language, generally unacceptable. Seen as old-fashioned, but derogatory to gay men." [2]p10, and class it alongside: "dyke", "tranny", "homo", "lesbo", "muff diver", "he-she", "tranny", "carpet muncher" or "bum boy". That should give you an idea of whether it's acceptable to use it now. "Box" is not on that list, I don't know what that means. "Dick" is listed as "Strong language, generally unacceptable pre-watershed. Seen as vulgar and distasteful by many. Less problematic when used in a humorous context, and generally considered slightly milder than ‘cock’.", which is a similar classification to "bender", or "raghead", "negro", "kike", "slut", "cocksucker", etc [1] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/91624/OfcomOffensiveLanguage.pdf https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/91624/O... [2] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/91625/OfcomQRG-AOC.pdf https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/91625/O...

by twhb 9y ago

lucideer 9y ago

Not British, but Irish, where it's got the same meaning (It would be seen as the inverse of "straight", but always derogatory) > to what degree? Less and less. a) homophobic slurs have become generally less acceptable b) US cultural influence makes people more aware of multiple meanings c) Futurama is also a thing that people here are aware exists / fans of

hashtagMERKY 9y ago

I'm not sure what we'd call a thing that bends (I suppose it would depend on what is being bent and how), but bender is pretty much exclusively used to mean a gay person or a very drunken night. I agree that it doesn't inhibit its use as a product name though. Git seems to be doing just fine.

bshimmin 9y ago

I'm not really "down with the kids", but I would think most people in their twenties and thirties and older would definitely understand "bender" to mean a homosexual, and "on a bender" to mean "out getting drunk" (though this isn't a derogatory term in any particular sense). I don't think I've ever used the word "bender" to mean "thing that bends", but perhaps that's just because of the other meaning of the term here. I don't think "box" is understood at all in the UK to mean what it does in US slang, though we do use the word in the context of cricket to mean something quite specific!

rmc 9y ago

> Not British so genuinely asking - to what degree? Greater than "thing that bends"? I'm Irish, not British, but the slangs are similar. "Bender" (on it's own) would mean a gay man. "on a bender" would mean a drunken thing. I'm not sure if people ever need a word for "thing that bends", since that rarely comes up. People might say "bendy bus" for an articulated bus. As evidence, I give you Ofcom, the British state body which regulates things on TV & Radio. If you say offensive things on TV/Radio, they'll fine you. They did research in 2016 about offensive words[1][2] and have listed them and have advice. For "bender" they say class it as "Strong language, generally unacceptable. Seen as old-fashioned, but derogatory to gay men." [2]p10, and class it alongside: "dyke", "tranny", "homo", "lesbo", "muff diver", "he-she", "tranny", "carpet muncher" or "bum boy". That should give you an idea of whether it's acceptable to use it now. "Box" is not on that list, I don't know what that means. "Dick" is listed as "Strong language, generally unacceptable pre-watershed. Seen as vulgar and distasteful by many. Less problematic when used in a humorous context, and generally considered slightly milder than ‘cock’.", which is a similar classification to "bender", or "raghead", "negro", "kike", "slut", "cocksucker", etc [1] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/91624/OfcomOffensiveLanguage.pdf https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/91624/O... [2] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/91625/OfcomQRG-AOC.pdf https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/91625/O...