Quote: sootyj @ September 23 2013, 10:16 AM BSTGod free
'tis a pun.
Barely 
I read the news today oh boy! Page 1,320
Quote: sootyj @ September 23 2013, 10:16 AM BSTGod free
'tis a pun.
Yes indeed. Very good.
I know Godfrey in Dad's Army was Charles Godfrey but whenever Bloom speaks I think of that era.
Hey Roscoff what's your double barreled name after marrying an BCG mod?
Quote: roscoff @ September 23 2013, 10:18 AM BSTBarely
Bear Lee? So you came first?
Quote: Tursiops @ September 23 2013, 8:17 AM BSTMaybe, but what the press got excited about was the use of the word slut, not understanding - or choosing not to understand - that a) it did not mean what they thought it meant, b) it was a joke.
So? If a UKIP member went into a gay members event (I know, I know) and called them all a bunch of faggots, but he really meant they resembled bundles of twigs and we all totally misunderstood him, would that be okay?
The very fact that he didn't think "Hmm, I wonder that if I use the word slut to describe these women, whether people would think I meant the definition of sexual promiscuity that the majority of people now associate with it" shows precisely how laughibly out of touch he is with the social and political landscape. Bongo bongo land is another wonderful example.
I'm still lost though calling a collection of ladies
1 Sexually promiscuos and of low morals
2 Implying their opinions on politics are of little worth, because they should be cleaning their kitchens.
Which one is less patronising and offensive.
The real issue is 3 fold.
1 UKIP can not present it's self as a professional political party that can keep it's lunatic fringe undercontrol. This is rather worse than the BNP managed in the last election.
2 No one had the sense to go with the third meaning of slut, as in "slut walk" Which is a strong independent woman. So they really are behind the times
3 If MEPs are actually important, why do we keep voting in nutters as a protest vote?
Quote: Natalie Of Wicks @ September 23 2013, 11:51 AM BSTSo? If a UKIP member went into a gay members event (I know, I know) and called them all a bunch of faggots, but he really meant they resembled bundles of twigs and we all totally misunderstood him, would that be okay?
Quote: Natalie Of Wicks @ September 23 2013, 11:51 AM BSTSo? If a UKIP member went into a gay members event (I know, I know) and called them all a bunch of faggots, but he really meant they resembled bundles of twigs
I always think of these:
For some reason, they became less popular.
Course all this fuss distracted from the important policy decisions taken at the UKIP conference, such as the unicorn cull.
Quote: Nogget @ September 23 2013, 12:35 PM BSTI always think of these:
I see this all the time in the supermarket but think I've only had them once. I seem to remember them being like those tinnes campbells meatballs, which might explain why I don't eat them more regularly.
Brains Faggots are awesome and infinitely superior to tinned meatballs.
Problem is they have the lethal trifecta of being; unhealthy, messy and difficult to prepare.
So for the same amount of effort you might as well make something fresh,
Quote: Natalie Of Wicks @ September 23 2013, 11:51 AM BSTSo? If a UKIP member went into a gay members event (I know, I know) and called them all a bunch of faggots, but he really meant they resembled bundles of twigs and we all totally misunderstood him, would that be okay?
i think you are kind of missing the point that it was a joke. An insulting term used in jest, though the insult was not the one the press choose to interpret it as, even though the meaning was pretty bloody obvious from the context and understood by those present, who did not take offence.
You would think people on a comedy site might have some understanding how jokes work.
But if you are content to have journalists press your buttons to provoke slathering kneejerk prejudices then fair enough.
If we were talking about a comedian then I'd have more patience for it. He's not a comedian. He's a (using the term loosely) political figure. If he wants to tell jokes I can recommend some open mics to him. If what he in fact wants to do is affect the state of UK politics through his words and actions then I (and the rest of the voting public) will rightly judge him so.
Just because something is a joke doesn't mean it doesn't speak more widely of the joke teller. The news have looked at something he has said, within the context, and basically said "this guy is a pillock and probably a big old biggot", and we've all gone "yeah, you're probably right". Joke? Brilliant. Doesn't stop you being an out of touch bawbag.
Just for the record though; I neither was, nor am I now offender or surprised by his comments/joke/choice of language. When I was told about it I just rolled my eyes, and it feels a lot like most of the people who are responding to the story (amongst my circles, anyway) are mainly doing similar. I'm certainly not foaming at the mouth about it; all it's gone to do is further discredit a party which to many is already scraping the credit barrel.
I just don't buy the 'it was a joke, you can't take a joke, FREEDOM OF SPEECH' arguement which pops up every time someone's side splitting grade a joke-bombs don't get the response people would like. I think hiding behind the 'it's a joke' argument is a proper coward's response and basically shields public figures from acountability for their words.
Being a funny politician is a gamble, if you're very, very, very good at it.
Boris Johnson, Ronnie Regan, heck there's that Bepe guy in Italy who is a comic.
If you're just a bigotted old git in UKIP, then you end up looking like a clowns ass hole.
Quote: Natalie Of Wicks @ September 23 2013, 2:00 PM BSTI just don't buy the 'it was a joke, you can't take a joke, FREEDOM OF SPEECH' arguement which pops up every time someone's side splitting grade a joke-bombs don't get the response people would like. I think hiding behind the 'it's a joke' argument is a proper coward's response and basically shields public figures from acountability for their words.
Sootyj nail on the head award of the day.
Quote: Natalie Of Wicks @ September 23 2013, 2:00 PM BSTI think hiding behind the 'it's a joke' argument is a proper coward's response and basically shields public figures from acountability for their words.
Even when in context it quite obviously was a joke?
Yep. As a member of the political community absolutely everything you say (except for those behind closed doors with your loved ones) is completely open to public scrutiny. In this case it isn't so much the content of the joke but the fact that he made it at all. Whether you find it funny or not, or offensive or not is a different issue from the massively glaring lack of awareness displayed in actually opening his mouth and letting the words fall out of his face.