This book used both meanings.
1 Like
I wonder how many people under, say, fifty were aware of the racial branch of the word’s association set before being alerted by the excavation. Thanks to a lifetime of watching old movies and reading old books, I have a large store of old usages (some several centuries old), and I’m also familiar with how unfamiliar younger people (those under-fifties) can be with colloquialisms from before their times. I also wonder what a thorough audit of usage examples of “spook” from, say, the last fifty years would show about the distribution of benign/bigoted usages. (BTW, “smoke” has a racial sense as well. When’s the last time anyone heard it used in that sense in the wild?)
Addendum on edit: I can’t recall ever encountering the modifier forms (spooky, spookily) as racial terms–only the noun.
2 Likes
I don’t know that I agree that it would leave us without words. I would argue that one can absolutely stop using some words [the n-word, some others] without any real detriment to one’s vocabulary and communication. There are other words that can be avoided in context. For example, Black people I work with have said that asking people to “fetch” things, even said politely (ie. I’m going to go fetch some papers) makes them uncomfortable. Fine, I can avoid that word in those contexts, and use it appropriately in others. No harm to anyone, and people I work with are a bit less uncomfortable.
4 Likes
I’ve heard it used as a racial epithet since I was a kid in the 1960’s.
7 Likes
Philip Roth’s book, ‘the Human Stain’ starts with a conceit about the fact that ‘spook’ means ghost and also has racist overtones.
I remember enjoying the book very much for how it dealt with complex racial issues at the time; like many things I wonder how it stands up now and whether is has become ‘problematic’.
5 Likes
Language is a huge, messy mix of words with double meanings, different meanings in context, informal slang, and secret codes for people who are in the know. And these meanings can change region to region - state to state - even town to town - and change over time.
I think it is nigh impossible to have a master “good list/bad list” because even if we were able to declare something like that, the next day some people would change their word use.
“He 44ed it up?”
“He what?”
“44ed it up. You know, when you mess up everything. A -looks around and in low whisper- cluster fuck.”
“Oohhh. Oh yeah, he 44ed it up, alright.”
I think it is important to learn the history of things, but I do think at some point some negative connotations and words fall into obscurity. Personally I don’t think any of my black friends would bat an eye at me calling their costume spooky. But I don’t think I’d call anyone a spook. I dunno… maybe a general “hello spooks and ghouls”. But if someone did express displeasure at it, I wouldn’t continue to use it.
I guess instead of thinking about if things are good or bad, think about how your actions might effect other people? And also know, you will never get it right all the time.
1 Like
Zoinks!
What do we do about Scooby Doo?
My toddler will keep watching if he wants. (I prefer the old episodes, but they say “spooky” a lot. Hmm).
Having grown up in a rural redneck state where “spook” was only one of a dozen deplorable terms for a Black person, I think my boy will avoid the stain of “spooky” and treat all others with love and respect. That’s what I’m teaching him.
“Fetch” as a racial slur is quite a reach–in fact, I suspect it has a single point of association, with the stage name of the actor Lincoln Perry: Stepin Fetchit. Which suggests that “step” could be similarly sensitized.
2 Likes
Maybe just don’t use euphemisms for ethnic groups?
1 Like
On top of all that, you’ve got the egoist definition, where the Stirner fans will declare just about any concept or social convention to be a spook.
As have I.
Robert Zemeckis heard of it too:
‘Who you calling “spook,” peckerwood?’
15 Likes
A real spy will never tell you that they are a spy. Idiot! Fool! Idiot!
(Homage to Inspector Clouseau)
2 Likes
This reminds me of an epiphany I had earlier this year. It finally dawned on me that the phrase “change the complexion of…” is racist. Once the thought hit me it was so obvious I couldn’t believe I had been unaware of it all this time.
Then I thought of how ubiquitous it is and was floored again. I even heard a black sportscaster use the phrase, reminding me of how little thought is often put into what we say at times.
2 Likes
9 Likes
I thought that the word Spook came from the Irish Púca
1 Like
this touches on something i was thinking about - a list of forbidden words is problematic, not just because it can change, but because it can quickly grow to an unmanageable size.
how many passwords can you remember? now try the same thing with forbidden words at the same time.
to the question of does it hurt not to use the word - of course it doesn’t, but it can be a strain to remember not to. it can be a bigger strain for some than for others (not everyone’s memory is equal). it may be that effort is best reserved for the ones that are more current and mainstream.
I knew a family that named their black cocker spaniel “Spooky” and I can remember my parents shaking their heads about this (late 60s). The family was incredibly progressive, so I have no idea why they chose the name for the dog.
3 Likes
Slurs are inherently NOT “euphemisms.”
12 Likes
Right. I should have said, “How about don’t use pejoratives?”
1 Like
Are you kidding?
Do you have a hard time remembering not to call your boss an asshole, your friends degenerates, your family traitors? Do you walk into parties thinking “Ok, I must remember not to call everyone here fuckwits…” Like, how about just not use euphemisms of unknown origin for people?
I posit that if you go into a conversation and are afraid you are going to use a label for someone that may not be in good taste, the problem is your decision to label people in the first place.
16 Likes
