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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
As a replacement, I like to use the term “kindred spirit” for people, or “it me” for other stuff.
AVATAR.
Boom.
"This person is my avatar."
I have found my replacement phrase. It popped into my head while reading this.
I mean, the phrase does have its origins in Hindu spirituality, but unlike "spirit animal", it has seen more common usages both in pop culture and in mainstream lingo. Video game avatars, internet avatars, the last Airbender, etc. It's become a fairly generic noun.
Also, I think my people have never committed genocide against the Hindu culture? I'm sure we've fought wars against Hindu nations, but I don't think we've ever massacred Hindu people? Unlike the Native Americans, who we absolutely butchered and still oppress to this day, making the use of their language for punchlines...well, punching down, as noted.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Aug 8th 2018 at 8:37:03 AM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Even if Ohio's 12th goes to the Republicans, the Democrats swung it by over 10 points to a razor thin 0.9% Republican lead. As this CNN article points out, there are nearly 70 GOP held districts that are less favorable to Republicans than this one.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.Fair enough, I'm not married to the term and thus it's not worth being insensitive over. After-all there are quite a few other ways I can express situational admiration
Whether it’s appropriation or not, not using the term costs nothing and may make people more comfortable in conversation, so the obvious choice is not using it.
I just think it’s interesting to discuss, because the boundary between cultural appropriation and cultural exchange is incredibly thin sometimes. Especially in the US a lot of cases can be pretty difficult, since we (at least used to) pride ourselves on being a nation of immigrants and pull concepts from lots of different cultures.
They should have sent a poet.This topic reminds of something I saw a few days ago:
Chicago poke chain draws Hawaiian backlash for trying to restrict use of ‘aloha’
Essentially, a Chicago-based poke chain sent cease-and-desist letters to other businesses who use the words "aloha". The chain claims they were only trying to keep others from using the trademarked name "Aloha Poke"...but those who received cease-and-desist letters claim the letters forbade them from using "aloha".
Note that some who received these letters were native Hawaiians and some of their businesses are based in Hawaii.
If this isn't appropriation, I don't know what is.
Edited by M84 on Aug 8th 2018 at 11:49:50 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised![]()
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To a degree...let's say it is a good idea when there are a lot of people or the speaker for a group of people is offended by it. Because as a general rule, there is always someone who feels offended, and sometimes there simply is no winning at all because whatever you do, someone will be bothered by it (my go to example for that was the discussion if the prince for Disney first black princess should be black or white...there was one group insisting he had to be white, because otherwise it would suggest that it is only okay to marry within your own race, and another group insisting that he had to be black because otherwise it would suggest that white guys are the superior partner...there was really no way to please both groups and in the end Naveen was kind of Mulatto).
That naturally doesn't mean that one should try. But sometimes you have to stick to your guns and say: Nope, this goes to far...ie if someone came to me and (rightly) pointed out to me that the Christian belief is based on the Jewish belief. I wouldn't stop being a Christian just because at one point, there was an act of cultural appropriation and at another point my ancestors were actually forced to accept that religion in place of whatever pagan beliefs they held. It just doesn't do anyone any good to go down that particular rabbit hole. (This was naturally an extreme example...the point is more that the lines are very fluid and often there isn't a clear answer...ie I still don't think that there is anything wrong with someone wearing an Asian-style dress to prom night, but maybe there is something about this story I just don't see).
Edited by Swanpride on Aug 8th 2018 at 8:55:42 AM
Yeah, I heard about that. There’s some hilarious tweets of Native Hawaiians mocking the website because the food either a) looks bad or b) isn’t poke. Also, apparently the e in poke doesn’t have the accent mark that Aloha Poke added. They literally wrote a Hawaiian word, the name of their purported product, wrong, to make it look more fancy/exotic.
On the one hand, I agree that there's no reason to use a phrase if it's potentially harmful or offensive to those around you.
On the other, we've gone for multiple pages discussing the potential offensiveness of a phrase that, unless I missed something, no one was actually offended by...
Does that seem absurd to anyone else, or is it just me?
Edited by sgamer82 on Aug 8th 2018 at 10:27:01 AM
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Except no one is offended, someone just pointed out to me that using it is a tad insensitive due to its cultural significance. Which is not unreasonable.
It's not "worrying over nothing", it's just acknowledging that terms have cultural significance and if there's no strong reason to use them then respecting the culture in question has no cost.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Aug 8th 2018 at 12:30:18 PM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang![]()
I never said I was offended at any point. Nor did anyone else that I noticed.
Just because there’s no one offended (I was mildly annoyed, but not offended because I figured most people don’t know the context) in the thread doesn’t negate these kinds of conversations.
And isn’t it better to discuss this kinda stuff when it comes up in passing, rather than to only discuss when someone is actively upset?
Edited by wisewillow on Aug 8th 2018 at 12:29:27 PM

The economy isn’t that strong, though. The stock market is not “the economy”, merely a portion of it. Wages for workers are stagnant and while unemployment is low, the number of people underemployed or who’ve given up on employment is significant. Then there’s all the medical and student debt and the continuing decline of the middle class.