Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"?

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Black Swan

Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"?

Probably not the soft tw@t...:(

Any turn of phrase that is suspected as being racist is subject to close scrutiny, especially in the USA; hence the euphemistic 'N-word'. Reports that a harmless word like picnic originated as the name of a lynching party only have to be voiced to be taken seriously and become part of folk-etymology.

In that context it has been alleged that 'nitty-gritty' is a derogatory reference to the English slave trade of the 18th century. The phrase is usually used with the prefix 'getting down to' and there is a sense that, whatever the nitty-gritty is, it is at the bottom of something. The suggestion is that it originated as a term for the unimportant debris left at the bottom of ships after the slaves had been removed and that the meaning was extended to include the slaves themselves. That report became widely known following newspaper reports of an 'equality and diversity' course for Bristol Council employees in 2005. Had the firm that was conducting the training known that their claims were to reach so wide a public they may have chosen their words more carefully.The general touchiness over language that might have had a racist origin is enhanced by the ongoing guilt felt by some communities that were formerly involved with the slave trade, for example the English sea-ports of Bristol and Liverpool. In July 2006, Liverpool Council debated the proposal that Penny Lane in Liverpool should be renamed to remove the association with the slave-trader James Penny. This was dismissed as ludicrous by many in the city, but the very fact that the suggestion was made indicates a degree of ongoing unease.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Talk:nitty-gritty
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

"Tank fly boss walk jam nitty-gritty, you're listening to the boy from the big bad city, this is jam hot. this is jam hot."

Quality song:party:
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

"tank fly boss walk jam nitty-gritty, you're listening to the boy from the big bad city, this is jam hot. This is jam hot."

quality song:party:

you iz racialist innit!
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

"Tank fly boss walk jam nitty-gritty, you're listening to the boy from the big bad city, this is jam hot. this is jam hot."

Quality song:party:

good spot and it was/is quality...stoopid fookin name for a forex signal/system seller though...doesn't anyone research this kinda thing before going live with a product?
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Are you sure it was meant to signify something derogatory or were they just ignorant of the original connotation?
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

They used to sell a paint called "nigger brown".
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Pretty much all etymologists agree that the phrase has nothing to do with slavery. Given the general level of ignorance, and the willingness of people to believe such theories, it's a stupid name to give software.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Pretty much all etymologists agree that the phrase has nothing to do with slavery. Given the general level of ignorance, and the willingness of people to believe such theories, it's a stupid name to give software.


It seems to be the consensus that this phrase does not derive from the slave trade. However, I am happy to not use it as it might cause offence even to people who don't know that this is not the derivation. I also don't wish to use a phrase that others might think that I believe is racially derogatory.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Are you sure it was meant to signify something derogatory or were they just ignorant of the original connotation?

Almost certain to be ignorance. I've never heard it used in that context. I've always understood it to mean "let's get down to the nitty-gritty" or "to the serious business and stop wasting time" which, really, is what he is doing.

Sorry, Black Swan, didn't realise it was you! :whistling
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Are you sure it was meant to signify something derogatory or were they just ignorant of the original connotation?

no no no, never suggested it was intentionally derogatory, just plain stoopid ....
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

From the Oxford English Dictionary . . . first recorded use only 1963!

nitty-gritty (%nItI"grItI). slang (orig. U.S.).
[Etym. unknown.]
The realities or basic facts of a problem, situation, subject,
etc.; the heart of the matter. Also attrib. or as adj.
1963 Time 2 Aug. 14/2 The Negroes present would know perfectly well that the nitty-gritty of a situation is the essentials of it. 1963 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Sept. 14/1 Says W. C. Patton, field secretary for..the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 'Now we're down to the nitty-gritty, the hard core who've never been interested in politics.' 1967 Freedomways vii. 186 All those 'nitty gritty' actions and styles which set Negroes off from the rest of American society. 1967 N.Y. Times 27 June 20 He's not afraid to get down to the nitty-gritty of unpleasant problems. 1968 Times 15 Nov. 17/2 To get down to what the American will call the 'nitty-gritty' of the matter-the heart, sir, the heart. 1969 Listener 25 Sept. 420/2 The Animals were already into the nitty-gritty of blues history. 1973 Computers & Humanities VII. 163 Most of the Harris work covers the nitty-gritty problems of subject analysis. 1974 Financial Times 6 Mar. 36/2 Mr Wilson is expected to appoint a trade union MP or two as junior Ministers
at the Department of Employment to make up for Mr Foot's lack of experience in the 'nitty-gritty' of trade union negotiations. 1975 Publishers Weekly 13 Jan. 56/3 He still can startle the reader with his abrupt shifts from nitty-gritty reality to far-out fantasy.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Oh, boy! What we are coming to! Tom, I'm not going to stop using phrases that I have used all my life, just because someone doesn't think it is poiitically correct.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Oh, boy! What we are coming to! Tom, I'm not going to stop using phrases that I have used all my life, just because someone doesn't think it is poiitically correct.


But Split, I would be absolutely mortified if I used a term that another person thought might be aimed in a derogatory way at them on the grounds of their skin colour, also religion, sexuality etc. No matter that they might be wrong regarding the term amd wrong regarding my intentions, I want to only cause offence when I mean to.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Language is constantly evolving, and each generation may use words differently.
tomorton makes the conscientious point of being sensitive to other peoples feelings and cultures, but that is a form of self-censorship.

I think also it depends on whether the phrase is "current". eg, nitty-gritty may have been a dergatory term many generations ago, and the current generation are using it entirely differently, and perhaps innocently in a different context. Here, it shouldnt be seen as offensive.

Today, I am sure that someone referred to trading the dot.com bubble as "raping" the market. In the wrong audience, this term may be seen as insenstive.

Whether something is offensive, I think you have to judge whether it was done deliberately or not.
Being of Indian extraction, I know many indians who use the term "paki" within their own group, but would be mortified to have a white person utter that word. I find that immensely funny.

I reckon this thread is gay.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

I am with Splitlink on this.

trendie did your gaydar pick up that this thread is gay?
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

I don't believe people should feel like they are walking on eggshells when it comes to language just because what our forefathers got up to. I can't apologise for something I had nothing to do with.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

When I was young ( going back a bit) "gays" were called "queers" . I guess that that was derrogative ,in some way, so "gay" became the word to use. So that is one sector of the community that has been satisfied and I have managed to adapt to using that term.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

When I was young ( going back a bit) "gays" were called "queers" . I guess that that was derrogative ,in some way, so "gay" became the word to use. So that is one sector of the community that has been satisfied and I have managed to adapt to using that term.

And now the term gay is judged to be derrogative. Its human nature to abuse and insult each other, I suppose a constant stream of new terms of absuse at least adds an element of variety.

I was listening to an interesting radio 4 program last week on "hate crime". The police in the UK no doubt have government targets to clamp down on this sort of thing, but amusingly, its the victim rather than the police who decide if an event constitutes a "hate crime". One guest on the program, clearly a fully paid up member of the Politically Correct brigade went as far as to suggest that "looking at someone in a funny way" constituted a "hate crime"

They'd have you hung drawn and quatered for suggesting someone was gay

Still on the other hand, if you live in the UK, the next time you need a copper remember to tell em that whatever happened to you was a "hate crime" and they'll be there in two shakes of a lambs tail and you'll have their undivided attention.
 
Re: Forex 'nitty gritty'.com, does he realise the meaning of the words "nitty gritty"

Don't even bother if you are a straight white male!

Still on the other hand, if you live in the UK, the next time you need a copper remember to tell em that whatever happened to you was a "hate crime" and they'll be there in two shakes of a lambs tail and you'll have their undivided attention.
 
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