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How does it make our Jewish members feel when they hear people using the term Nazi to describe people who aren't Nazis as in 'environmental nazi' or 'breastfeeding nazi'?
I'm looking at one member in particular because I know you've posted about it previously and you were really eloquent but I can't find it anywhere.
I am not Jewish but i really loathe the overuse and misuse of the word, I think we have taken the real horror of what they did and trivialised it.
I am not Jewish, but have worked in a largely Jewish business and TBH you would be seriously reprimanded for using it.
I know it has become part of Aussie jargon, but I think some conciousness around its use is a good thing. I know most people use it without any intention of offending anyone, but just like terms such as retard, or gay, we need to be mindful of the wider implications of using a politically and emotionally laden term so flippantly.
I am not Jewish, nor do I know much about the Jewish way of life, however I know that I also don't like using the word "Nazi" therefore I never use it.
I don't really use it (as far as I know) but I had never really thought about how inappropriate it was. I think it comes from the Seinfeld episode with the 'soup-nazi' - it just kind of caught on from there and I know lots of people who say it in relation to lots of things. When I think about it, I can totally see that it is offensive, but it is amazing that it is so normalised that I don't really bat an eyelid when I hear it.
Thanks for your post Onyx :)
Im not jewish either but funny this comes up..
yest i was at the tattoo parlour and the guy across me was getting a HUGE nazi sign on his chest.
I actually felt embarrassed for him and quite ashamed that he still had that belief. But in truth he also made me feel quite uncomfortable, and i didnt know where to look.
Not a fan of the word. I have a pretty foul mouthed at times, but do not use the word Nazi, unless it's in relation to the holocaust. A truly horrific time in history that shouldn't be associated with jokes and tongue in cheek comment in my mind.
Interested to read a Jewish person's perspective, so subscribing.
I do understand the difference people mean when they say it these days BUT does that mean another *N* word could be used, because the 'meaning' is different. I think not;)
i'm not Jewish, but i don't think you need to BE Jewish to feel uncomfortable with the term. my ancestory is German, and as much as none of my family were involved (as far as i know - my great grandparents fled Europe for Australia at the time) it is still something that i don't like. i have been watching a lot of documentaries lately about the war and the holocaust, much of it with actual film of the time, and it saddens me no end
i know it's come from the Seinfeld soup-Nazi episodes - we're programmed to be desensitized by things like that... knew there was a reason i wasn't a Seinfeld fan - it's not amusing
I'm Jewish by maternal bloodline (but not a practising Jew) and I find it offensive.
I have issues with other religious titles being used in a derogatory way as well (the term witch comes to mind).
I'm not Jewish but have a social conscience and find it offensive. To equate someone who feels strongly about breastfeeding with a political party that was responsible for the killing of millions of innocent Jews is just terrible. It may be slang and used for a number of years but so are lots of words used in the past until ppl realized how insulting they are.
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Drives me bonkers - simply becaue people clearly have no idea what it means or is if they use it in such context.
And it isn't just an Australian thing.
As for teh *other* "N" word - I have no qualms using the word to people that choose to use it themselves to describe their own kind - it makes me sick. They are the only people I know of that degrade themselves by using a word they themselves term as offensive. POs me no end.
I've seen the term breastfeeding nazi used around the place for years and never thought anything of it.
Grammar nazi or spelling nazi is the other one I see a lot. I can be one of those at times ... I have been known to edit people's posts on forums (where I have mod rights) to correct grammar/spelling *innocent whistle*
Maybe someone needs to coin a new phrase that is less loaded and get it in circulation?
OH yep ... maz hears you :(:
Do you realise how many Germans HATE the term....they lived through the rule of the Austrian who destroyed millions of lives and families and branded them from that war onwards as the worlds biggest ******** race!!!!!!!
Yes Im German....my parents immigrated here in 1969. My dad was beaten for not saluting to a soilder....he was 3 :(, My mum's grandparents and a few aunties were taken to concentration camps and never seen again :( my opa returned from war with only one leg and my great opa had everything, including the family title, castle, everything taken and burnt by the Nazi's......lots of those 'Nazi's' had to do what they did in the war...im talking about the guys lower down the scale..if they didnt they were tortured, beaten and killed infront of their families iand that was after they raped and sometimes killed the woman and children infront of them....yep so the world Nazi leaves a horendous taste in even German peoples mouths.
BG - I cant bring myself to watch those sort of programs..I break down and lose it for days afterwards :(
Yeah I get you;):
Its liek 'wog' just used to explain a Europian. Im a Europian thanks, not a wog :lol:
My FIL lived in Holland and his house had holes where bullets went when he was hiding in it during the 40's. (he had children late in life and is no longer with us). He was horrified when the Seinfeld episode came out and the term "Nazi" was used in jest. I think we really need to understand that real people died, and real people were forced to do things they wouldn't want to do but had to in order to survive. Its horrible. :(
I don't really get why people use the word Nazi to describe themselves... a breastfeeding Nazi? So... you'll bash, rape, torture people who don't agree with you or your decision to breastfeed??? I wouldn't want to associate myself with a Nazi, or people to think I'm anything like that. I don't personally find the word offensive, but I can see why others do. I do find it a silly thing to say, why would you want to be thought of as a Nazi? Everyone knows what kinds of things they did... :dunno:
Arcadia... just a different perspective. Google buddhist cross. There is a Buddhist cross that look similar to the Nazi swastika. Most people get them confused because the only difference is the orientation - it's flipped upside down.
I know this question as been directed at Jewish members and I can understand why you're specifically seeking their views but I also wanted to contribute my own though I'm not Jewish.
I think the term nazi is commonly used in place of fascist. Its as though people treat them as interchangable terms and I don't think most people using "nazi" are actually referring to the political party and their actions, but rather fascism.
Personally, to bandy around the term "nazi" shows a lack of respect for the acts that occured under nazi leadership and a sense of "forgetting"- which I feel is a very dangerous thing to do. We need to remember and look for signs of this ever happening again so we don't let it occur.
And as an aside, I generally find the term nazi, even in the context of fascist to be quite insulting. So if the term was "breastfeeding fascist" for example then that's still a really harsh way to describe a person. I don't know of anyone who would actually be so extreme in their actions regardless of how passionate they were about a cause such as breastfeeding or environmentalism.
I don't use the word in every daqy conversation. I have seen the term "breastfeeding nazi" and I hate it as much for the failure to remember the atrocities the Nazi regime committed as I do for the insinuation that people who are passionate about supporting breastfeeding must be labelled.
Same here Michael!! It REALLY annoys me when used to describe pro breast feeders.
meow -the thing that ticks me off about that is a simple lack of education of people - the Nazis (by definition itself, along with policy) were NOT fascists - they were socialists.
I don't use it, I don't like what it stands for, and after spending considerable time at high school and university learning about the atrocities that took place by the N, I feel that it is disrespective to those who have suffered and still do suffer at the hands of the N.
Perhaps those that use it without any thought or understanding of the meaning of the word and what it entails should be taken for a visit to feel the horror that is still present within the grounds of Auschwitz....
I was really surpsied leasha when I learnt that about the origin of the swastika.....
they have made me extremely emotional each time - and to be honest, it wasn't a conscious choice for me (DH is very interested in learning about it all from a more factual perspective). i think so many people could learn a lot about WHY this is so emotional for so many if they were to see even one episode of this series.:
A very corrupt form of socialism.:
were NOT fascists - they were socialists.
A corrupt form of whatever they were really- no box to put them in!:
Perhaps even 'breastfeeding dictator' would describe what people are trying to say actually. I prefer 'lactivist' myself ;)
I'm actually Jewish (Polish and German Jews in fact) and our forefathers/mothers only just got out of those of countries by the skin of their teeth (their sisters and brothers were not so lucky) - and I have to admit I use "Nazi" occasionally. While I agree that most people most probably see it as representing fascism, I see it more as representing the attitude that something or someone is superior to something or someone else to the point of ridiculousness. The reason why I use it occasionally would be to belittle it (not the circumstances but that moronic attitude behind it). If I got all offended and upset by the term I would be continuing to give it power, which I refuse to do. So I use it as part of satire, to make fun of it, to reduce it in a sort of "F-you" kind of way. I guess that might not make a whole lot of sense to some people... Someone pointed out its use in Seinfeld, this could come from a similar logic seeing that Jerry is also a Jew and he wrote it, who knows. I think its use really depends upon the person, their reasons for using it and the situation.: