A nip in the air

[craftsman]

A presenter on Britain's BBC Radio 1, the flagship national radio station, Edith Bowman did the following and got in big trouble with race relations groups:

Discussing newspaper articles about modern slang, Bowman read out an e-mail from a listener saying: "When the weather is a little cold, we say that it's a bit Pearl Harbor, meaning that there's a nasty Nip in the air."

The trouble was I found it quite funny. There are of course many serious reasons why I shouldn't have, but I did.
I was wondering if it was a British sense of humour thing or the fact I'm from London and the cockney rhyming similarity. Also the fact that Pearl Harbour has no emotional connection to me as I'm not American or that my Great Uncle Bob used to make me laugh when he kept talking about the 'nips' and the 'war' when I was a boy.
Or perhaps should I beat myself around the head with a large object with racist carved into it until I find it less funny.
What do you think?

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

That's a tough one. I found it more offensive than funny, but I will admit that I did smile (In other words I did see the humor in it and appreciate it.)

I don't think you can really be upset with the reporter for saying that on the air, unless you believe that she showed poor discretion in her choice of stories/material. Actually, I do think that she showed poor discretion, but I personally wouldn't get very upset about it, seeing as it wasn't her own use of words, but the words of some anonymous emailer.

 

[miki78]

When watching Tna the other night they used what my Dad said was video footage of the Bomb in Hiroshima

We all sat there desgusted and wondered why they would use a sceen of such real life destruction for a TV show

It seems people have a detached sence of reality it isn't happening to them so it becomes like a TV show

 

[undrentide]

As far as reading it as an anecdote , I also found it very funny. Perhaps because it is just a story - a kind of ethnic joke things but merely a word play.


But I'm not sure what I would feel if I actually hear someone (especially someone from the US) say it. I might be offended, or think it is a very bad taste as a joke. It really depends on the situation - when/where it is used, who says it and how.

 

[Revenant]

Not offended, nor amused. I can definitely see why it got some negative responses though.

 

[Tuffy]

What do you think?

Eh, I'm japanese and have no problem with it.
Hell, I make way more racists remarks about them blokes anyway.

 

[MeAndroo]

This reminds me of when Bill Parcells, head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, referred to trick plays as "sneaky Jap plays." It's inappropriate, but there are worse things that happen. The generational rationalization amuses me, because I can't wait until the day I can be cranky and intolerant and just blame it on "growing up in a different era."