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It could be mistaken for a racist expression by somebody who knows 'spade' as a racial slur for black people.
by bigbubba 6y ago
It could be mistaken for a racist expression by somebody who knows 'spade' as a racial slur for black people.
- tzs 6y agoSimilar to "chink in one's armor. A "chink" means "a narrow opening or crack", and a chink in one's armor means a weak point that makes you vulnerable to attack. But "chink" is also an offensive term for a Chinese person, so "chink in one's armor" can be misunderstood, especially if what you are talking about actually involves a Chinese person. ESPN got in trouble a couple of times with it, even though they had used it thousands of times before without incident, because of a couple articles where the weakness they were describing on some team was a player who was Chinese.
- Veen 6y agoNiggardly is another such word. It has no relation to the racial slur, originating in the Old Norse "nigla", but it would be unwise to use it today.