|
Microplastics posted:White people don't often ask other white people where they're from. But that's the difference between "so where did you grow up/move here from" and "where were your ancestors 500 years ago I know they weren't in Britain blacks don't come from Britain tell me what exotic place you are really from you're not allowed to say Tottenham" I'm not sure that the second one even has a 'correct' answer (other than "gently caress off"), because if they're asking where someone's family were from before being trafficked to the Caribbean in the 18th century, which seems to be what that lady was asking, then none of the places that were around back then would correlate with postcolonial African states.  What would she even do with "well my ancestors were probably from the Yoruba states"? Other than be a weird racist, but she was doing so well at that anyway.
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 21:34
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 06:27 |
|
|
I think we here in Ireland and Northern Ireland ask it to sus out what topics NOT to talk about, politics and sport. I'm technically a foreigner here where I am, born and raised in NI, have a strong Tryone accent, so its noticable when I talk. I've had taxi drivers give me the 'where are you from' and had some incredible chats with some. happyhippy fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Nov 30, 2022 |
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 21:34
|
|
|
I used to have a bit of fun in Egypt when Egyptians asked me where I was from: "Ana min Shubra" or "Ana shubraweya" ("I'm from Shubra"or "I'm Shubraweyan" - which is in the heart of Cairo and saying you're from there would be roughly equivalent to saying you're a Cockney born n bred). Mostly they assumed I was German. Questions asked by Egyptians on meeting foreigners, almost always in this order. 1. Where are you from? 2. Are you married (if not, why not?) 3. Have you children? 4. How old are you? (Not in a 'chatting up' way, just curiosity, I think it's what they learn in junior school English lessons as acceptable.)
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 21:47
|
|
|
There was a question about mastodon severs this morning and this person from the mocking musk thread has always been a decent poster. Cabbages and Kings posted:my mastodon server at https://qualityassurance.dev is up and accepting signups!!
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 21:57
|
|
|
Guavanaut posted:They do in rural parts.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 22:20
|
|
|
So while I am Irish, I don't have a typical Irish accent. It has been described over the years as being
The most common variants are American. There is no reason for this, I haven't spent any considerable time in America. I can only assume it might be from watching a lot of American TV growing up, but even then it just a guess. Suffice to say I am often asked "so where are you from?" Obviously it's not on the same level as the Sistah Space incident. The only thing is I've started trying to have fun with it in recent years. Person: So where are you from? Me: Ireland. Person: No I mean originally. Me: Oh, you mean where was I born? Person: Yes. Me: Dublin. Because I'm Irish.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 22:35
|
|
|
Northern Ireland goes more hardcore. “what school did you go to?” is a massively loaded question here
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 22:43
|
|
|
Not to belabour the point, but like: what is even the benefit of knowing where someone's from? If they offer the information up themselves, sure, maybe I've been to the place they're from and we can talk about it, maybe I get to know them better and build a stronger bond on their terms. But it's not nearly as useful information as, where they live know? How they got to the place you both are? Whether they're a Tory or a decent person? Knowing someone's cultural heritage is very low on my list of "I must know!" facts about someone. If someone says to me "I'm from Italy" in conversation I might ask, whereabouts in Italy? But this weird desire to place their family history is so odd to me. I guess of you're obsessed with royal bloodlines then yeah, someone's familial history might be more important a subject to you. On the subject of family trees, at a reunion I was introduced to a cousin who's putting together a MASSIVE family tree and history which I was quite interested in learning more about, until he added me on Facebook and I saw his even more MASSIVE amount of posting about how great Brexit is and how you can't say anything in England today if you're white 😐 would have been interesting to see. I also have a bit of a difficult choice ahead of me in the future: turns out there's a huge family bible that's been passed down for generations to first born sons on my dad's side, and well, that's me. Haven't thought about it in decades, but this same cousin brought up the fact that my dad must have it, and my dad mentioned it as well last time I was home. I don't relish the idea of being the one who stops a tradition even if it's something like this that isn't part of my life. But better for someone else in the family to have it who cares about it, than me who doesn't, I guess. Any of you have any weird heirlooms you're having/ you'll have to deal with in future?
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 22:54
|
|
|
Mourning Due posted:
All my furniture comes out of a rich persons house and it does not fit in my 3 bed council house properly, I have 6 2ft by 2ft end tables because it turns out rich people fill spare space with plants and lamps and 12 dining room chairs. The bookcases from the library went to a local LGBT+ charity.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:04
|
|
|
Bobby Deluxe posted:I think the more acceptable way of asking is what their ethnic heritage is? Even then I can't think of many situations where it's appropriate to be the white one bringing it up. There's asking about someone's heritage, even doing it clumsily, and then there's questioning it when the answer doesn't fit your prejudices. The fact she didn't back the gently caress off at "I'm british" is profoundly cringe
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:08
|
|
|
Mourning Due posted:Not to belabour the point, but like: what is even the benefit of knowing where someone's from? If they offer the information up themselves, sure, maybe I've been to the place they're from and we can talk about it, maybe I get to know them better and build a stronger bond on their terms. But it's not nearly as useful information as, where they live know? How they got to the place you both are? Whether they're a Tory or a decent person? Knowing someone's cultural heritage is very low on my list of "I must know!" facts about someone. The fact that it's basically useless information is a positive, in terms of using it to get a conversation going. It's a no-stakes subject, if they don't want to answer you haven't lost out on anything meaningful, but at the same time it's a bit more personal than "so how about this rain, eh? wet innit" and gives people an opportunity - which they can turn down - to open up and talk about their favourite subject: themselves. (inb4 owlfancier says "mine isn't".) Much better than demanding their current place of residence, method of transport and political leanings like you're some sort of walking census.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:14
|
|
|
Dabir posted:The fact that it's basically useless information is a positive, in terms of using it to get a conversation going. It's a no-stakes subject, if they don't want to answer you haven't lost out on anything meaningful, but at the same time it's a bit more personal than "so how about this rain, eh? wet innit" and gives people an opportunity - which they can turn down - to open up and talk about their favourite subject: themselves. (inb4 owlfancier says "mine isn't".) Much better than demanding their current place of residence, method of transport and political leanings like you're some sort of walking census. Yeah, but the argument that it isn't a no-stakes subject if you're non-white, it's a loaded question that carries a meaning along the lines of "why are you here?", whether that's intended or not.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:39
|
|
|
Mourning Due posted:Not to belabour the point, but like: what is even the benefit of knowing where someone's from? If they offer the information up themselves, sure, maybe I've been to the place they're from and we can talk about it, maybe I get to know them better and build a stronger bond on their terms. But it's not nearly as useful information as, where they live know? How they got to the place you both are? Whether they're a Tory or a decent person? Knowing someone's cultural heritage is very low on my list of "I must know!" facts about someone. Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people. Slavery, racism, and murder are all historically human traditions that you wouldn't pass down to your son. You can either give it to someone else in your family to pass down or pass it down to your kid in a "this is a weird fun family fact" kinda way without the weirdo occult nonsense that usually surrounds Family Bibles. Or sell it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:39
|
|
|
Dabir posted:The fact that it's basically useless information is a positive, in terms of using it to get a conversation going. It's a no-stakes subject, if they don't want to answer you haven't lost out on anything meaningful, but at the same time it's a bit more personal than "so how about this rain, eh? wet innit" and gives people an opportunity - which they can turn down - to open up and talk about their favourite subject: themselves. (inb4 owlfancier says "mine isn't".) Much better than demanding their current place of residence, method of transport and political leanings like you're some sort of walking census. Tired: "So do you live nearby, or did you have to travel to get here today?" Wired: "So were your great grandparents born in this country?" Asking someone about their cultural background without them first offering that topic is othering and lacks emotional intelligence. It's possible to shoot the poo poo without asking off-putting personal questions. Also, your odd attempt at a dunk on excellent person OwlFancier tells me that you are a NotAnotherNumber99 alt/re-reg and I claim my £5
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:44
|
|
|
Mourning Due posted:Not to belabour the point, but like: what is even the benefit of knowing where someone's from? If they offer the information up themselves, sure, maybe I've been to the place they're from and we can talk about it, maybe I get to know them better and build a stronger bond on their terms. But it's not nearly as useful information as, where they live know? How they got to the place you both are? Whether they're a Tory or a decent person? Knowing someone's cultural heritage is very low on my list of "I must know!" facts about someone. That's where Iand too, people exist here and now, and the whole ancestry thing feels too metaphysical to me. I have living relatives I have barely any concept of much less dead ones, so if I were to look up the dead ones I can't do anything with that information except project some sort of magical meaning on it, but that doesn't actually come from them in any way it's just echoes off the back of my own head, it's a fabrication. And as was said earlier: Oh dear me posted:I think the bit that sucks is when people think their ancestry says or explains something about themselves (eg "I claim to have some characteristic, it is the Irish/Italian/Plantagenet in me"), instead of being cool anecdotes. I just find it very bizzare to do myself or when other people do it. Necessarily everybody alive today is the product of countless generations of people shagging, but I don't think meaning can be extracted from the specifics of that, only projected onto it from the present. But there is this strange ambient feeling I get from a lot of people as if it does have intrinsic meaning and I never know how to respond when people act like that. People do it to you as well, like they want to know about your history so they can start making weird assumptions about what you want or what you're like. It's bizzare. And it makes me skin crawl a bit. OwlFancier fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Nov 30, 2022 |
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:44
|
|
|
Bit late on the Stonehenge chat but talk of the fences and "you can't get anywhere near it" etc. reminded me that this photo of me and my Canadian friend exists: Heh. We visited with her (British) wife when I was doing them a favour and driving them back from Exeter to Heathrow which was on my way home anyway... and we stopped off at the henge in the fairly early morning. We didn't have that much time and didn't want to pay to get in, but she wanted photos, so I helped out. I have since visited with my wife and paid for entry. It's alright. You still can't get that close to the stones but it's still cool to have a wander around. I guess I'd say I wouldn't make a huge detour for it but it's pretty close to a major road anyway.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:46
|
|
|
I just never engage anyone else in conversation because I dont care what theyve got to say and I wont really be listening anyway.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:55
|
|
|
OwlFancier posted:That's where Iand too, people exist here and now, and the whole ancestry thing feels too metaphysical to me. I have living relatives I have barely any concept of much less dead ones, so if I were to look up the dead ones I can't do anything with that information except project some sort of magical meaning on it, but that doesn't actually come from them in any way it's just echoes off the back of my own head, it's a fabrication You can read things into that, like maybe it was Divine Annunciation, or more likely Act of Milkman. Some people get very funny about those types of things though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:55
|
|
|
Mourning Due posted:Tired: "So do you live nearby, or did you have to travel to get here today?" Sorry, you, uh, lose £5? Is that how it worked? Was there any penalty to just pointing at any random person in the street and going "you're him"?
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2022 23:59
|
|
|
Guavanaut posted:The best bit of all these fancy family trees with their lines and legal records and all that is when you see something that doesn't quite fit. Something a bit off. Like when there's a great grandad who died 11 months before the grandad was born. That's the other thing, my living family is enough of a mess that any attempt to build a map of the dead lot based on official records would be laughably wrong. And of course that gets into what do familial connections mean? I also have family who would have people recorded as their antecedents but I know that they did not have anything to do with them. What does the genetic connection signify? If presumed genetic links can be wrong and correct genetic links can mean nothing, at what point does the entire concept of a family tree just break down? WIth my lot I think it would be within living memory. The family tree was cut down and used to build the ship of theseus. OwlFancier fucked around with this message at 00:26 on Dec 1, 2022 |
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 00:01
|
|
|
Dabir posted:Sorry, you, uh, lose £5? Is that how it worked? Was there any penalty to just pointing at any random person in the street and going "you're him"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobby_Lud
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 00:05
|
|
|
Dabir posted:The fact that it's basically useless information is a positive, in terms of using it to get a conversation going. It's a no-stakes subject, if they don't want to answer you haven't lost out on anything meaningful, but at the same time it's a bit more personal than "so how about this rain, eh? wet innit" and gives people an opportunity - which they can turn down - to open up and talk about their favourite subject: themselves. (inb4 owlfancier says "mine isn't".) Much better than demanding their current place of residence, method of transport and political leanings like you're some sort of walking census. It's boring as gently caress. I have a Scottish accent, but have lived in the US for close to 30 years. I have been putting up with that question or some variant of it for that long and my god I will think less of you if that's your initial conversational gambit. There is a universe of things that are grounded in the here and now or why it is you are in the same place at the same time and with a little bit of imagination you can talk about those.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 00:10
|
|
|
Christine McVie has passed away. 79, so a good innings. I'm off to listen to Songbird.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 00:21
|
|
|
This is cool. https://twitter.com/Pal_action/status/1597974880854585345?s=20&t=nXMavzK59-Im1bVtH1TypA
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 00:29
|
|
|
Albinator posted:There is a universe of things that are grounded in the here and now or why it is you are in the same place at the same time and with a little bit of imagination you can talk about those. so how about this weather we've been having
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 00:40
|
|
|
Oh, I don’t mind a bit of rain. Made the road a wee bit slippy on the way in, mind.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 00:48
|
|
|
WhatEvil posted:This is cool. Jembery Corubine'd again!
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 01:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 06:27 |
|
|
New thread is up 
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2022 01:12
|
|