3 ms·

>> And racism is rising rapidly >> To be frank, in many areas it's a real shithole country Thanks to Trump, the term "shithole country" has now been termed as

by mp05 3y ago

>> And racism is rising rapidly >> To be frank, in many areas it's a real shithole country Thanks to Trump, the term "shithole country" has now been termed as a dogwhistle for racists, so I'm genuinely curious as to what you mean when you're calling certain parts of England a shithole?

drawfloat 3y ago
Shocking I know, but what Trump says and American cultural interpretations of it don’t really hold sway over here. Pretty harsh descriptor, but I’m from the North and often have referred to my area as a shithole. It’s not the area’s fault, it’s 40 years of mismanagement and underfunding, but still not a good place.
- mp05 3y ago
  > Shocking I know Is it? I just asked a question completely in earnest and it seemed to ruffle a few feathers. I thought Trump was the world's problem the last time I checked, oh, every media outlet.
bufio 3y ago
Probably means they're shitholes, because that's what they are.
DyslexicAtheist 3y ago
I've heard this term being used (and I have used it myself) as a dog-whistle to signal how racist others are that are using it. so if one says Britain (the US, or some other place that used to do very well) is turning into a s-hole country the message and accuse goes right back at them. In this case the (racist[1]) Brits who pushed for Brexit, and by doing so have transformed themselves into a s-hole country. in that case it is still a dog-whistle for racists but the tune that is produced is 100% an insult against the people who deserve to hear it. [1] ... "to be absolutely clear it wasn't just racists who voted for Brexit. C'nts did as well! -- Stewart Lee
coldtea 3y ago
"Shithole country" is also a summary judgement of a country's overall condition (GDP, safety, government, corruption, etc). That some pundits called it a "racist dog whistle" doesn't necessarily make it so. What's actually racist (well, technically: "culturally imperialist") is to consider the provincial concerns of US internal politics as some kind of universally applicable yardsticks. People all over the world have used words to the same effect way before Trump and will do it way after Trump. If anything, one could easily call parts of the US a "shithole country" regardless of their racial breakdown. In many parts of the word, locals will gladly admit it for the status of their own (whether racially homogeneous or not) country too.
simonbarker87 3y ago
That expression has been very common in the UK for decades with no dog whistle aspect and, as some one who lives here, there still isn't a dog whistle connotation ... the expression just means run down, dilapidated and a bit ... well, shit. Remember Trump wasn't world president so not everything exports across the Atlantic.
- mp05 3y ago
  > Remember Trump wasn't world president so not everything exports across the Atlantic. Why would you feel the need to say something like this
Symbiote 3y ago
People who don't live in the US won't be up-to-date with American slang, especially if they don't live in an English-speaking country. It means the country is a shithole: "A very dirty, poor, and unpleasant place" [1]. Britain's infrastructure is noticeably decaying — potholed roads, buildings in a poor state of repair (let alone well-insulated etc), litter, old buses and trains, homeless people sleeping on the street. There's more of this the further one travels from London. [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shithole https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shithole
gadders 3y ago
That's a bold assertion. You can't just claim that random things a person allegedly says is racist just because he said it (much like the moral panic about the "OK" signal regularly used by divers).
- mp05 3y ago
  I'm not asserting anything, I'm just using my eyes: https://www.google.com/search?q=shithole+countries https://www.google.com/search?q=shithole+countries
  - gadders 3y ago
    What a broad spectrum of political views in those news sources listed.
jampekka 3y ago
I'm very well aware of this, but I'm reappropriating it to refer to true shitholes like USA and UK that even with their massive wealth manage to have a lot of suffering.
happymellon 3y ago
But a lot of the UK is a shithole, and it's enabled by the right. What is the current PC way of describing Swansea or Blackpool in American English? If you asked someone who lived here, it would be shithole.
southernplaces7 3y ago
You'll move along much faster in understanding people from diverse cultures if you don't start by imposing your own country's uniquely absurd cultural biases on widely used phrases that probably have nothing to do with them.
- mp05 3y ago
  > You'll move along much faster in understanding people from diverse cultures if you Okay thanks for the advice!!

by mp05 3y ago

drawfloat 3y ago

Shocking I know, but what Trump says and American cultural interpretations of it don’t really hold sway over here. Pretty harsh descriptor, but I’m from the North and often have referred to my area as a shithole. It’s not the area’s fault, it’s 40 years of mismanagement and underfunding, but still not a good place.

mp05 3y ago
> Shocking I know Is it? I just asked a question completely in earnest and it seemed to ruffle a few feathers. I thought Trump was the world's problem the last time I checked, oh, every media outlet.

bufio 3y ago

Probably means they're shitholes, because that's what they are.

DyslexicAtheist 3y ago

I've heard this term being used (and I have used it myself) as a dog-whistle to signal how racist others are that are using it. so if one says Britain (the US, or some other place that used to do very well) is turning into a s-hole country the message and accuse goes right back at them. In this case the (racist[1]) Brits who pushed for Brexit, and by doing so have transformed themselves into a s-hole country. in that case it is still a dog-whistle for racists but the tune that is produced is 100% an insult against the people who deserve to hear it. [1] ... "to be absolutely clear it wasn't just racists who voted for Brexit. C'nts did as well! -- Stewart Lee

coldtea 3y ago

"Shithole country" is also a summary judgement of a country's overall condition (GDP, safety, government, corruption, etc). That some pundits called it a "racist dog whistle" doesn't necessarily make it so. What's actually racist (well, technically: "culturally imperialist") is to consider the provincial concerns of US internal politics as some kind of universally applicable yardsticks. People all over the world have used words to the same effect way before Trump and will do it way after Trump. If anything, one could easily call parts of the US a "shithole country" regardless of their racial breakdown. In many parts of the word, locals will gladly admit it for the status of their own (whether racially homogeneous or not) country too.

simonbarker87 3y ago

That expression has been very common in the UK for decades with no dog whistle aspect and, as some one who lives here, there still isn't a dog whistle connotation ... the expression just means run down, dilapidated and a bit ... well, shit. Remember Trump wasn't world president so not everything exports across the Atlantic.

mp05 3y ago
> Remember Trump wasn't world president so not everything exports across the Atlantic. Why would you feel the need to say something like this

Symbiote 3y ago

People who don't live in the US won't be up-to-date with American slang, especially if they don't live in an English-speaking country. It means the country is a shithole: "A very dirty, poor, and unpleasant place" [1]. Britain's infrastructure is noticeably decaying — potholed roads, buildings in a poor state of repair (let alone well-insulated etc), litter, old buses and trains, homeless people sleeping on the street. There's more of this the further one travels from London. [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shithole https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shithole

gadders 3y ago

That's a bold assertion. You can't just claim that random things a person allegedly says is racist just because he said it (much like the moral panic about the "OK" signal regularly used by divers).

mp05 3y ago
I'm not asserting anything, I'm just using my eyes: https://www.google.com/search?q=shithole+countries https://www.google.com/search?q=shithole+countries
- gadders 3y ago
  What a broad spectrum of political views in those news sources listed.

jampekka 3y ago

I'm very well aware of this, but I'm reappropriating it to refer to true shitholes like USA and UK that even with their massive wealth manage to have a lot of suffering.

happymellon 3y ago

But a lot of the UK is a shithole, and it's enabled by the right. What is the current PC way of describing Swansea or Blackpool in American English? If you asked someone who lived here, it would be shithole.

southernplaces7 3y ago

You'll move along much faster in understanding people from diverse cultures if you don't start by imposing your own country's uniquely absurd cultural biases on widely used phrases that probably have nothing to do with them.

mp05 3y ago
> You'll move along much faster in understanding people from diverse cultures if you Okay thanks for the advice!!