The etymology of the phrase “chink in the armor” goes back to The Middle Ages when men fought in suits of armor. One would look for a chink, as in a hole (chink actually means hole), in the armor of the opponent and attack that weak point, hoping to break through his protection to deliver a kill shot. This action is the same as today’s boxing pugilists who “work the cut” when one develops over an opponent's eye. All of it has absolutely nothing to do with race. Finding a “chink in the armor” of an opponent is a common sports euphemism used by Federico a hundred times in the past, by his own account. Not one Asian congresswoman ever complained about it.
Certainly the word “chink” was later bastardized (my apologies to the children of unmarried couples) into a slur referencing the shape of Asian eyes. That, of course, still has nothing to do with the medieval concept of attacking an opponent’s weak point.
Next is the word "niggardly":
Controversy recently surrounded the word “niggardly.” It is a word of Nordic etymology that means a small sum, having nothing to do with race. The N-word* is a slur of Latin etymology (Latin for the color black is niger) that has nothing to do with sums. They aren’t even homonyms as they are spelled differently (note the “er” vs the “ar” difference). At best, they share an inexact phonetic sound, making the two words about as related as Jeremy Lin and Loretta Lynn.
Back in 1999, David Howard was a white aid to black DC mayor Anthony Williams. Howard referred to that year’s budget as “niggardly,” noting of course its size, not its color. Swift came the allegations of racism and Howard tendered his resignation and the Mayor accepted it. What happened next confounds those of us trying to navigate the new language rules. Howard is gay. The gay community lobbied for his reinstatement, and the Mayor offered to re-hire him. I’m not sure if that means gays can’t be racist, blacks can’t fire gays, niggardly is not the N-word for thee but is for me, or something else.
On the strange idea that some words are to be used only by people of a certain race:
Owned” words are now becoming fashionable. For instance, black people are claiming dominion over he N-word.* Recently on “The View,” Sherry Shepard took the position that it is OK for black actress Whoopi Goldberg to pronounce the N-word* in full but not OK for white host Barbara Walters to do it. According to this new English language rule we must not judge one’s speech on the content of their word characters but on the color of their skin.
The owned word rule really took shape when white radio and TV personality Don Imus was fired by MSNBC for joking that the Rutgers girls basketball team, in comparison to their opponents, looked like “nappy headed hos.” The use of the word “ho” in particular was seen as a horrible affront to black women. The issue was so important that NJ Governor Jon Corzine was critically injured in a high-speed car accident as he raced to get to a meeting between Imus and a black pastor to fashion Imus’ public apology.
The same year Imus was fired, the song that won the Oscar was “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp.” While lamenting the difficulties of mastering prostitutes, the song, now enshrined in pop culture with such beautiful music as "Over the Rainbow," also referred to black women as “bitches” “niggas” and “hos.” Not one college basketball team complained about it.
The strange cycle in which words are accorded meaning and then banished:
There is a cycle that repeats itself in the world of insults, having to do with adopting scientific medical terms and using them as insults. The weird rules that apply to “socially acceptable” insults eventually catches up to the medical dictionary usurpers and the PC police try to shut them down. Some insults, it seems, are just too insulting.
But the usurpers have traditionally won the battle, and the medical terms are removed from the medical books, to live out eternity in the land of misfit words.
If I don't stop now, I think I might quote the entire essay. I will just leave it to you to read the rest.
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