By now the whole world has blown up over President Trump’s “sh!thole” remark. It even caused a stir as foreign newspapers tried to figure out how to translate the word properly.
Chinese media outlets are tightly controlled and have relatively little latitude when it comes to creative interpretations. The official Xinhua News Agency and other outlets translated the expletive as “fenkeng” — literally “cesspit.”
In Africa, the continent that was the object of Trump’s insult, Tanzania’s Mwananchi newspaper translated his comment as “mataifa chafu” — simply, “dirty countries.”
Taifa Leo, a sister Swahili publication to Kenya’s leading Daily Nation, chose “nchi za kinyesi,” a more or less direct translation that has a gentler word for excrement.
I don’t want to address the content or of his remarks or what they mean in a global content. I want to address his word choice.
To keep reading, click here: An HR Viewpoint of Trump’s Bad Language
“An HR Viewpoint of Trump’s Bad Language
I’ve been called horrible things for advocating for clean language in the workplace. Maybe people will listen to me now.”
WOW!
#1 You are not “HR”. You never had a significant position in HR and have been out of it for so many years you hardly know how to spell it, let alone what it is all about. You don’t speak for the profession.
#2 Maybe people will listen to you? If your head gets any bigger it will explode like an H Bomb.
Parker, I have to wonder why you continue to read anything Suzanne writes. She is probably measured in part on the number of clicks and comments she gets. You are really doing her a favor by being here. If I don’t like someone, I just move on.
Parker, I live for your comments.
1. My LinkedIn profile is public, so everyone is free to see my whole professional life. I’m sorry it doesn’t meet your approval.
2. That would be really messy, but since I’d be dead, I wouldn’t be the one to clean it up, which REMINDS me:
I just started listening to a new podcast called The Cleaning of John Doe. it’s about a crime scene cleaner. Fascinating
I haven’t read this book but it looks interesting:
Swearing Is Good For You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language by Emma Byrne
I’ve heard that it’s good for you and that people who swear are more honest, but I still maintain that bad language can cause problems.
I don’t commonly use swear words because it dilutes their impact and can become meaningless in context. The quintessential example of this is the exclamation, “Oh sh*t! I stepped in dog poo!”
Which means, when I do carefully choose to use a swear word, it rocks people back on their heels and they tend to think, ‘Wow! If she is that upset, maybe we should pay attention to [situation]!”
Alas, the problem with the President’s comments wasn’t that they contained swear words. Most people swear at some point or another, especially in the rough and tumble world of politics. Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson were notorious for their salty language. The problem with the President’s comments were that they were racist.
Indeed, there is no polite way to say what he REALLY meant, “We don’t want any more non- white people coming here.”
Having not been in the room when so-called comment occurred, I cannot speak to atmosphere which caused output. I did like the message redone in “cleaned” up language. What I see for this situation, was a spontaneous reaction to the continued delay to come to a constructive goal by need to make certain conditions mandatory ( a behind the scenes trick that politicians hid from the public ). I know this because one of the biggest complainers is my Senator who criticizes every word out of Trump’s mouth and never comes up with any solutions.
I am not condoning using swear words but I agree with the frustration faced by the President. What you missed in your articles is the fact that our elected politicians ignore their main role ( representing the people). They get paid whether or not ,so delays in making changes like balancing the budget which by the way was the reason for the frustration (timeline this Friday 1/20/18) and it is the second time they’ve not completed this task because of lack of real conversation.
In a real life business setup, budgets have to be set and evaluated with adjustments made to reach goals which is how things work but our politicians think they’re exempt from doing their job. Problem we have so many pretend to be PC (political correct). I call it hypocritical sensitive.
Being frustrated isn’t a good excuse for being racist. Can you imagine how that conversation would go look if you tried it with your HR? “I’m sorry I called Bob a N****, but I was just so frustrated that our budget isn’t balancing. Also, I’m not actually sorry and still think Bob’s a N****, Juan is a rapist, and Hitler did nothing wrong.”
Yes, I think people got so hung up on the swearwords that they’re not focusing on the appalling sentiments being expressed.
Insisting on clean language at work is fine. But the *squid lips* part is not the problem. By focusing on that, you and everyone else who does it are glossing over the real point of the remarks–that Trump welcomes immigrants from predominantly white countries ONLY. He is basing immigrants’ “merit” on the color of their skin. That is racist. It’s a dog whistle to his neo-Nazi base, and you either missed it or ignored it.
He is racist–it’s been well documented over years and years. His policies are racist, and by the way, this is no longer a safe and stable country, especially for people of color. If you support him, you support racism. There are no grey areas anymore. They’re not even trying to hide it.
That is not acceptable in our workplace and it shouldn’t be acceptable in our government either (also a workplace, which we, the taxpayers, are funding). There’s a much bigger problem here than curse words.
I love the squid lips euphemism, by the way.
There’s a pretty big difference between calling a country “unstable” and calling it a sh!thole. One is clearly a lot more insulting than the other.
Trump’s biggest job as our leader is managing our foreign relations. Making sure other countries like us, want to trade with us, pass laws that are favorable to our interests in our area, are willing to work with us on military campaigns if need be, don’t become hotspots for terrorists who hate us enough to blow up our buildings, etc… Shit like this is the reason he’s failing at that.
Well, that was my point, wasn’t it? By using that term, he was being offensive. Maybe that was his goal. Maybe that is just the way he speaks. If he’d said “unstable and unsafe” it wouldn’t have been offensive.
What was offensive was not merely the language used, but more importantly, his rejecting all those non-White countries as sources of immigration, in comparison to Norway. I’m half-Norwegian and was offended. A substantial percentage of Norway’s population is made up of immigrants from some of those countries falsely characterized as “s—holes” (or “s—houses,” as some of the President’s apologists are now claiming was the actual term used).
Pretty much. (and how that’s less insulting and horrid even if they’re right is beyond me)
Not sure why people get so mad at this.
I work at an advertising agency where one of our stated values is “[squid lip] Fear” but I understand the power of language and why some people prefer not to use the words (I do use them at work).
There are positives and negatives and I think it should be a personal choice.
Of course it’s personal choice, but you don’t get to choose the consequences.
Also, I edited out your bad word because this is my blog and I don’t do bad words.
I do try to avoid swearing in most professional situations, but even so, not all cussing is created equal.
There is a difference between me saying something about “what the fluff is taking so fluffing long on the fluffernutter project” and me referring to a client/vendor – or you, the person I’m talking to in the meeting – as a fluffhead. The problem with the latter is not just that it’s “salty” language, it’s that it’s insulting and disrespectful and it still would be without the swear-word. The same goes for Pres. Trump’s quote, so this may not be the best example to make your point.
I agree with the fact other commenters have pointed out regarding the issue being much broader than word choice. I also agree with the point of your article just being about that one particular piece of the issue and using it as an example of how language choice in the workplace can have huge and lasting implications, intended and unintended.
This also is a perfect example of the dangers of broad generalizations. Even if he had cleaned up the language, if the message was still that ALL people of certain countries are unwelcome while ALL people of other countries are welcome, it would not matter what word was used – it matters that a broad judgment based on assumptions and generalizations could be making policy in this country.
Of course, all of this assumes that lying Dick Durbin is, for once, telling the truth. ha! I’m not buying it.
Multiple sources — including the White House and President Trump himself — confirmed that the President used an expletive. The only real difference appears to be that some reported that the term used was “s—house” and not “s—hole.” But, to the best of my knowledge, no one has denied that the President objected to immigrants from majority-non-White countries, in favor of immigrants from Norway.
Eloquently said (unlike the subject). This is also a matter of avoiding a toxic worker haha: http://recruit.ee/bl-toxic-worker-eb-bh
I have absolutely no problem that he used coarse language. That part doesn’t offend me. I use similar language regularly. I work in an industry where it’s basically expected that people will swear.
What offends me is how he used the language to describe other countries and insult non-white people. I mean, he’s the freakin’ President of the United States!