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His rage seems to bubble for the silliest things, though. He won't even call kaffir lime leaves by their name because someone somewhere might take offense — whi

His rage seems to bubble for the silliest things, though. He won't even call kaffir lime leaves by their name because someone somewhere might take offense — which is ridiculous given the fact that the most likely etymology of the term isn't what some ignorant individuals assume. It's like never describing anyone as "niggardly" because stupid people exist. Now, his recipes are generally great, and I appreciate his generosity in giving away some recipes from the restaurant he co-founded.

djur 5y ago
It's kind of odd that your example of his rage bubbling is that he uses one word rather than another. I'd have expected at least something like going around the internet criticizing people for using the word he doesn't prefer for reasons he disagrees with.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
unmole 5y ago
> which is ridiculous given the fact that the most likely etymology of the term isn't what some ignorant individuals assume. What do you think is the most likely etymology that doesn't do back to Arabic for infidel?
- aerostable_slug 5y ago
  I hate to cite the Wiki, but here goes (and it notes the attachment to the Arabic insult is not well supported in the literature): > The most likely etymology is through the Kaffirs, an ethnic group in Sri Lanka partly descended from Bantu slaves. The earliest known reference, under the alternative spelling "caffre" is in 1888 book The Cultivated Oranges, Lemons Etc. of India and Ceylon by Emanuel Bonavia, who notes, "The plantation coolies also smear it over their feet and legs, to keep off land leeches; and therefore in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] it has got also the name of Kudalu dchi, or Leech Lime. Europeans call it Caffre Lime." Similarly, H.F. MacMillan's 1910 book A Handbook of Tropical Gardening and Planting notes, "The 'Kaffir Lime' in Ceylon." [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_lime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_lime
  - unmole 5y ago
    > Kaffirs, an ethnic group in Sri Lanka partly descended from Bantu slaves. Which is again derived from the same Arabic root. Sure, it's not considered offensive in Sri Lanka but it's very offensive pretty much everywhere else.
giraffe_lady 5y ago
I was reading the beginning of this thinking "oh god here we go again this is like that few years when everyone on reddit was slobbering to say the word niggardly and explain why it's good" and then you just did exactly that lmao. If a word is bothering someone why don't you find out why, instead of explain to them why it shouldn't?
- doc_gunthrop 5y ago
  They didn't make any indication that it's good to use the word, but rather that self-censoring to mitigate the knee-jerk reaction of ignorant people is not good. > If a word is bothering someone why don't you find out why, instead of explain to them why it shouldn't? It's perfectly fine to explain why a word is not malicious because the person who initially misunderstood then acquires that knowledge and can then make the distinction. To go with the alternative promotes a pattern of behavior where, eventually, many words end up being forbidden from use all due to ignorance. Just because two words sound kind of similar, or are even homophones[1], doesn't make them synonymous. This should be common knowledge. 1: Even the word "homophone" is a prime example, as it was used by someone on the Ellen show which led to the host getting upset because she mistook it to mean something completely different.

djur 5y ago

It's kind of odd that your example of his rage bubbling is that he uses one word rather than another. I'd have expected at least something like going around the internet criticizing people for using the word he doesn't prefer for reasons he disagrees with.

deleted 5y ago
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unmole 5y ago

> which is ridiculous given the fact that the most likely etymology of the term isn't what some ignorant individuals assume. What do you think is the most likely etymology that doesn't do back to Arabic for infidel?

aerostable_slug 5y ago
I hate to cite the Wiki, but here goes (and it notes the attachment to the Arabic insult is not well supported in the literature): > The most likely etymology is through the Kaffirs, an ethnic group in Sri Lanka partly descended from Bantu slaves. The earliest known reference, under the alternative spelling "caffre" is in 1888 book The Cultivated Oranges, Lemons Etc. of India and Ceylon by Emanuel Bonavia, who notes, "The plantation coolies also smear it over their feet and legs, to keep off land leeches; and therefore in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] it has got also the name of Kudalu dchi, or Leech Lime. Europeans call it Caffre Lime." Similarly, H.F. MacMillan's 1910 book A Handbook of Tropical Gardening and Planting notes, "The 'Kaffir Lime' in Ceylon." [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_lime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_lime
- unmole 5y ago
  > Kaffirs, an ethnic group in Sri Lanka partly descended from Bantu slaves. Which is again derived from the same Arabic root. Sure, it's not considered offensive in Sri Lanka but it's very offensive pretty much everywhere else.

giraffe_lady 5y ago

I was reading the beginning of this thinking "oh god here we go again this is like that few years when everyone on reddit was slobbering to say the word niggardly and explain why it's good" and then you just did exactly that lmao. If a word is bothering someone why don't you find out why, instead of explain to them why it shouldn't?

doc_gunthrop 5y ago
They didn't make any indication that it's good to use the word, but rather that self-censoring to mitigate the knee-jerk reaction of ignorant people is not good. > If a word is bothering someone why don't you find out why, instead of explain to them why it shouldn't? It's perfectly fine to explain why a word is not malicious because the person who initially misunderstood then acquires that knowledge and can then make the distinction. To go with the alternative promotes a pattern of behavior where, eventually, many words end up being forbidden from use all due to ignorance. Just because two words sound kind of similar, or are even homophones[1], doesn't make them synonymous. This should be common knowledge. 1: Even the word "homophone" is a prime example, as it was used by someone on the Ellen show which led to the host getting upset because she mistook it to mean something completely different.