5 ms·

I mean... the WORST? For me Mongo takes the cake, but oracle is up there too.

zdragnar 5y ago
Really? Oracle actually makes a lot of sense to me for a database name (in the 'source of truth' sense, not in the prophet sense). Mongo, on the other hand, has definitely always had the racist/ablist slur as the first connotation for me.
- whatshisface 5y ago
  I've learned almost all the slurs I know from comments or media sources complaining about them. It's the only place they're used in polite society.
  - robertfw 5y ago
    Then perhaps count yourself lucky to not have had some of these used against you.
  - zdragnar 5y ago
    It isn't really a surprise in this case since both ethnic Mongolians and those with Downs syndrome are not in many Americans' social circles. "Almost all" does sound like a bit of a surprise, but thinking back on it the only one I know for a fact I heard for the first time outside of a corrective context was my elder uncles friends who enjoyed self-depreciating jokes, usually with slurs for eastern Europeans in them. I first heard those as a child and only realized years later they were offensive. Most others, I think, I honestly have no idea when i was first exposed to them.
    - tgv 5y ago
      Mongo and mongol don't have a close relationship: the final syllable is entirely different.
      - whatshisface 5y ago
        It's implied that someone is going around calling people with Down's syndrome "Mongos." "Mongol" is an actual non-offensive[0] word which means, unsurprisingly, someone who can trace their lineage back to the area around Mongolia. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols (If it's used descriptively on Wikipedia, it's probably not considered offensive.)
        randomswede 5y ago
        Mongol is not (as far as I am aware) an offensive word. Mongoloid[0] (which "mongo" is a shortened form of) in reference to people with Down Syndrome, definitely is. My pet theory is that the database is named after a character in "Blazing Saddles", and I want to be able to store candy in it. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome#Name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome#Name
  - jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
    This says more about you than the baseline.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- jjazwiecki 5y ago
  I always thought it was a reference to valuable stuff picked from trash, which I understood to be slang from sanitation workers, but apparently that's local to the NYC area.
Traubenfuchs 5y ago
I don't know about other languages, but in German "Mongo" is pretty much a forbidden word as it is derogative descriptor for people with down syndrom and other visible defects, especially movement defects.
- goatinaboat 5y ago
  I don't know about other languages, but in German "Mongo" is pretty much a forbidden word as it is derogative descriptor for people with down syndrom and other visible defects, especially movement defects. In the UK that would be "mong", for us Mongo is the planet Ming The Merciless is from.

Really? Oracle actually makes a lot of sense to me for a database name (in the 'source of truth' sense, not in the prophet sense). Mongo, on the other hand, has definitely always had the racist/ablist slur as the first connotation for me.

whatshisface 5y ago
I've learned almost all the slurs I know from comments or media sources complaining about them. It's the only place they're used in polite society.
- robertfw 5y ago
  Then perhaps count yourself lucky to not have had some of these used against you.
- zdragnar 5y ago
  It isn't really a surprise in this case since both ethnic Mongolians and those with Downs syndrome are not in many Americans' social circles. "Almost all" does sound like a bit of a surprise, but thinking back on it the only one I know for a fact I heard for the first time outside of a corrective context was my elder uncles friends who enjoyed self-depreciating jokes, usually with slurs for eastern Europeans in them. I first heard those as a child and only realized years later they were offensive. Most others, I think, I honestly have no idea when i was first exposed to them.
  - tgv 5y ago
    Mongo and mongol don't have a close relationship: the final syllable is entirely different.
    - whatshisface 5y ago
      It's implied that someone is going around calling people with Down's syndrome "Mongos." "Mongol" is an actual non-offensive[0] word which means, unsurprisingly, someone who can trace their lineage back to the area around Mongolia. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols (If it's used descriptively on Wikipedia, it's probably not considered offensive.)
      - randomswede 5y ago
        Mongol is not (as far as I am aware) an offensive word. Mongoloid[0] (which "mongo" is a shortened form of) in reference to people with Down Syndrome, definitely is. My pet theory is that the database is named after a character in "Blazing Saddles", and I want to be able to store candy in it. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome#Name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome#Name
- jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
  This says more about you than the baseline.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
jjazwiecki 5y ago
I always thought it was a reference to valuable stuff picked from trash, which I understood to be slang from sanitation workers, but apparently that's local to the NYC area.

Traubenfuchs 5y ago

I don't know about other languages, but in German "Mongo" is pretty much a forbidden word as it is derogative descriptor for people with down syndrom and other visible defects, especially movement defects.

goatinaboat 5y ago
I don't know about other languages, but in German "Mongo" is pretty much a forbidden word as it is derogative descriptor for people with down syndrom and other visible defects, especially movement defects. In the UK that would be "mong", for us Mongo is the planet Ming The Merciless is from.