Rick Perry's nhead Problem

[Link]

What exactly are they accusing him of?

I'm going to assume you are friends with this guy...

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[memphis]

No GOP primary voter is going to give a damn. So sorry, New York Times.

[I Am Feeblepizza.]

There are actually a ton of definitions of the word "nhead." Here are just a few:

1. A bollard made from an old cannon; An isolated part of a coral reef; The coneflower; hard tussock on tundra; often moss
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nhead

2. Turret at top of locomotive boiler, over crown sheet, from which saturated steam is taken for operation of pumps, stoker, injectors, and headlight turbine
www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/glossry1.Html

3. Slang for an isolated coral head, or any knob-like solitary protrusion, often semisubmerged, that's a hazard to navigation. Also, naval slang for a small winch or capstan
combat.ws/S4/MILTERMS/DIVING.HTM

4. A strong black chewing tobacco, usually in twisted plug form; negro head.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nhead

Given the racial history of Perry's home state/region, I'll give the media the benefit of the doubt. If this story sticks then Perry will falter, causing Cain and Bachmann to regain the support they both used to have. Newt might also have a better chance now.

[Tender Branson]

Also, the so called "Neger" or "Neger-Weizen", is a popular beer here in Austria and Bavaria.

Does anyone know if the FDP has succeeded in banning the beer ?

http://www.vorwaerts.de/nachrichten/ae-neger-ae-soll-in-bayern-verboten-werden

[Mechaman]

For those wondering how bad Perry's debate performance was, this is it -- the moment. It really is spectacular to see a human being crash and burn like that.

That was kind of painful, but with the hype I'd be expecting something like Miss South Carolina's answer about finding the US on a map.

Yeah I mean Jesus Christ he sounded like a 6 year old kid describing the sex scene in Fair Game than he did the long time Governor of a state.
I mean damn even Georgie at least sounded like an adult for f***'s sake.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

In moment like this, we all are ns.

[angus]

In Swedish you cannot use the word "neger" in polite conversation anymore (and that is the equivalent of negroe rather than n).

Sort of similar here. Normal everyday conversation not being "polite", of course.

What'd be the German equivalent of 'n'?  

It exists as a loan-word from English. And yeah, it is considered highly insulting unless used by a Black man.

That has changed over the years.  When I was in elementary school neger was a regular, formal word used in books.  For example, I have a Diercke Weltatlas from circa 1974 that shows the races of people.  (Yes, I stole it from the library at the Gaußschule Grundschule where I attended.  I suppose I was really into maps in the second grade.)  Anyway, I noticed that on the African continent, there are shaded areas for Bantuneger and shaded areas for Congoneger, etc.  All under the broad heading of "neger gruppen" or something like that.

I don't ever remember the word n being a formal, regular word in the US.  I think that even in the mid-1700s, when Maryland and Jamaica were English colonies and major slave markets, it was probably considered low-class slang.  

[angus]

A similarly insulting equivalent in German would be "Bimbo", I suppose.

It's always funny to gringos when we see those big trucks in Mexico with BIMBO painted on the side.  Or to see BIMBO commercials there.  For years I saw them all over Mexico, but never here.  After NAFTA, I started occasionally seeing them on the US Interstate freeways. 

[Peeperkorn]

What kind of person names his house "nhead" ?

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Did Herman Cain handle this subject well over the weekend (basically to call it offensive without sounding too hackish)?

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I'll give the media the benefit of the doubt.

Never a good idea.

[The_Texas_Libertarian]

First I heard of this and he's been the governor of the state I live in for several terms now.  Another reason why I voted for a human who wasn't Perry in 2010

[The Mikado]

There's all sorts of unfortunate old terms that contained that word in them that had to be renamed.  The old American term for Brazil nuts used to be "ntoes."  That said, if you were to refer to Brazil nuts as such today, you'd get absolutely reamed for it.  I'm not surprised that this location was once known as its unfortunate name, I'm just amazed that its never been renamed.

[Peeperkorn]

In Uruguay we use negro but is not pejorative.

In fact the majority who follows negro's traditions are white:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umP07EGmGBA