<![CDATA[De-Squawed - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I'm pretty sure there isn't really a place called Pussy Creek in Ireland, because we don't use the word Creek.

We do, awesomely, have a town called Muff, though. And yes, it supposedly has a diving club.

Stellanova

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @@CorporateTool: From what I've read, the party line is that the Washington team was named "in honor of" an Indian player or coach, but the guy was not actually Native - he did play for the Carlisle Industrial Institute team, which was an Indian boarding school, but was a white guy. Also (and this is really @all the DC team fans), I understand it's tradition, but "Redskins" is an incredibly offensive term. I try to avoid saying it, because I find it akin to the n-word. It's just that there seems to be so little awareness of Native American issues and perspectives, and so much (both tradition-wise and financially) invested in these racist names.

If anyone wants to know more about Lori Piestawa, the Hopi soldier that "Squaw Peak" was re-named for (hurrah!), there's a great article about her here: [edition.cnn.com]

zora

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @oeditrix: whoops, just read the discussion on this.

oeditrix

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @PeteRR: Er, yes, shyster is anti-semitic. Right? Am I on crazy pills?

oeditrix

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I remember the first time I saw the landmark in West Texas called "Squaw Teat Mound."

I thought it was hilarious at the time, but I can see why it's considered offensive. I wonder if they've changed it.

oeditrix

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> For more on this, I highly recommend "From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame" by Mark Monmonier. If you're a history and map nerd like me, it's a hoot. Even if you're not, it's worth it to see the map of Dildo, Newfoundland. Located right across from Spread Eagle Bay. No joke.

nattiebo

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> i've been reading jezebel about 3 weeks now, and finally plucked up courage to submit myself to your 'comment criteria committee'

i was gonna point out the presence of Muff in ireland. there's also Kilcock, where local wags have removed the kil bit of the sign as you enter the town but i guess that doesnt count.

unfortunately in my 28 years in ireland i've never heard of pussy creak, can't find it on a map, and googling only returns 'funny town names' results. how come you've got links to twatt & cooter but not to pussy creak?

please let this town be true. and let house prices be lower than dublin.

jilla

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Luckwouldhaveit: Amen! It IS about time this got sorted, and as much as I'd love those team names gonzo last week, I don't see it happening anytime soon. The pro sports=mucho dollars=insanity >sigh<

jezebelacious

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I just hope that when they changed the names, the tried to keep it named after the Native woman it was called for. Many of these places were in reference to a specific woman, and changing the name to something like, "Star Creek" instead of the name that referenced the actual woman is really erasing a part of Native American history.

Jenloveshercurves

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @mercymercyme: More topically, though, I had no idea that squaw was a derogatory word. There's so much Native American history (and that it is mostly "history" is another topic) in the area I grew up in, and we studied it respectfully. I did a report on Squaw Sachem in elementary school! I had always thought that it was an acceptable term. However, given the geographical and linguistic diversity of Native Americans, it seems really naive to think that one word meaning this same thing would be acceptable amongst all tribes. A little critical thought, earlier, would have disproven that, I guess.

mercymercyme

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @nellicat: In beautiful Salem, MA, we have Bunghole Liquors, a literally appropriate name for an outstanding establishment. And, while it's not an unintentionally hilarious name, like Wet Wang (SNICKER) it's worth mentioning.

mercymercyme

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @OldUrbanProfessional: Dude, Redskins doesn't need to go! I seriously can't imagine rooting for them without singing, at the top of my lungs: "HAIL TO THE REDSKINS! HAIL VICTORY! HAIL TO THE REDSKINS! PRIDE OF OLD DC!!" That's some serious tradition. And yes, it's totally un-PC, but we're not racist like that anymore, and they already had to go change the Washington Bullets to the Washington Wizards (SUCH a pansy name! Wizards!), and we have to endure the suckiness of the city-invading Nationals, not to mention the heartbreaking suckiness of the 'Skins in the first place.... Can't we just keep our team? Please?

I don't think any Native Americans in the area are offended anymore. Not by the name, at least. By the amount of losing, well... we're all offended by that.

stoprobbers

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater, "shyster" is not anti-semitic.

Speaking of cultural references, Many times my Irish Grandma would say, "Speak of the Devil, and there He is". She meant it in a benign whenever-you're-talking-about-someone-they-show-up way. I used it a few months ago when one of my bosses walked into my office as we were discussing something he was involved in and he got very offended. I explained the entymology to him later and he's okay with it now. I hope.

PeteRR

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> "Shyster," which refers to an unprincipled lawyer isn't anti-semitic, "Shylock" which refers to a greedy individual(from the Jewish moneylender) is.

Squaw isn't racist or sexist -- it's a myth that it was ever more than a generic term ([en.wikipedia.org]).

"Redskins" needs to go, but I can't figure out how "Braves" is any more offensive than "Celtics," and their mascot is certainly a lot more admirable than the feisty leprechaun in Boston.

Finally, there is precedent on the USGS action: in the early 60s, a number of geographic features with a derogatory name for African-Americans were changed. Thus, one can now hike through "Negro Hollow" along "Negro Creek" in Shenandoah National Park.

PS. The Grand Tetons be changed? And what if those same Frenchmen had discovered the Grand Canyon?

OldUrbanProfessional

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I used to take the Squaw Peak Parkway to work every morning, now I take the Piestewa Peak Parkway.

Emotastic

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @thefuturessobright: What do you mean by your comment, "Having once stood next to a Native American"?

Maria

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @nellicat: I'd guess it has something to do with Shylock - a character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Antonio, the 'merchant', ends up owing Shylock (a Jew) some money and the terms of the loan were that if it couldn't be paid, Antonio would owe him a 'pound of flesh' (that's where that comes from.) They go to court over it (Shylock represents himself - that's where the lawyer thing comes in) and Portia (Antonio's sister) persuades him to have mercy on her brother.

Merchant is a trouble play, stereotypes-wise. On the one hand, the character of Shylock is commonly used to invoke the pejorative stereotype of a money-grubbing loan shark (though usury was pretty much one of the only trades open to Jews during Shakespeare's time - Christians were forbidden from making a profit off money-lending.) On the other hand, Portia is one of Shakespeare's strongest and most confident women (of his women who aren't forced to dress as men for most of the play...)

distractedbyshinyobjects

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Dear Blond Diary...: This is really an @ at all the people talking about "shyster."

TOTALLY COINCIDENTAL, I swear, I'm incredibly bored at work, and was playing around on the Online Etymology Dictionary, looking up curse words (because I am that mature, really, all 23 years of me are pure and refined and highly cultured), and I found THIS under the etymology of "shit":

shyster Look up shyster at Dictionary.com
"unscrupulous lawyer," 1843, U.S. slang, probably altered from Ger. Scheisser "incompetent worthless person," from Scheisse "shit," from O.H.G. skizzan "to defecate" (see shit).

I swear I wasn't actively looking. Does this call into question the anti-Semiticness of the word? I think so. Also, because my Bubbie never reprimanded me for using "shyster." I got reprimanded for a lot of things, though, especially cursing by accident in Yiddish.


stoprobbers

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @tscheese: Pussy Creak could be a new term for Queef. Yes?

wilmawonker

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @lippybug: I'm pretty sure it refers to sitting on the ground around the fire, like the Savages did, when nice civilized Christian folk would use a chair.

Dear Blond Diary...

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> does anyone know if phrase sitting "Indian Style" (cross-legged) was derived from Native Americans, or Southeast Asian Indians? I've always wondered... And is using that phrase considered un PC?

lippybug

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @and Begorrah: My friend used to say "shyster" when she was trying to stop swearing. I think she got it from her grandparents, who are Dutch, and I think they were actually using 'shiesser", or however you spell the German word for 'defecator"...so she was still swearing, effectively, just in another language, plus, she was being unintentionally anti-semintic. Sheesh!

Dear Blond Diary...

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I was reading the wikipedia article about euphamisms yesterday, because I was bored at work. This makes me think of that article, and how euphamisms develop and change over time. Words that were once tabboo are replaced with other tabboo words and we forget their original, demeaning meaning. I never knew squaw was a derogatory term, and knowing it now doesn't make it bother me. I think it's nice when bad words are able to change and evolve into just words.

That said, I don't really have a feeling one way or the other about this. Just leave my Redskins alone, ok?

stoprobbers

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Marlon Brando would have been very happy.

mepo

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I need to find a replacement for "Indian Giver." The other day I started to say it, and then caught myself, and said something like, "I don't want to be a India.... giver taker-backer" Anyone have anything less lame?

lippybug

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> The whole thing about "squaw" meaning vajayjay was made up [www.straightdope.com] Now, Toad Suck, Arkansas--there's a nasty place name.

halloweenjack

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @tscheese: My aunt is Romanian, and she really hates that term, and I unknowingly used it in front of her. She let me know, ahem, that it was derived from the notion of Gypsies being thieves. To her, it's like saying "indian-giver." Since she's married to my Shawnee/Cherokee great uncle, that term will also get you lectured at her house.

AbbyNormal

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> [books.google.com] Hey! One of my favorite authors wrote a book about this phenomenon.

troika

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @crushdmb: Piestawa Peak or something equally unspellable.

Xavoc

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I was just looking some this stuff up on Wikipedia and, damn, there are so many ethnic and religious slurs that I have never heard of! [en.wikipedia.org]

I enjoyed the history of "Les goddams": [en.wikipedia.org]

I Will Not Stop Feeding My Fat Baby

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @unpossibles:According to the local tourist website, there's lots on display at the Dildo and Area Interpretation Centre:
Ouch!

unpossibles

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Dear Blond Diary...: Why is "shyster" anti-semitic? I thought it was just anti-lawyer.

nellicat

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> The only interesting placename where I grew up is...I dunno, Sully Buttes. When I was a kid, it sounded like butts that had been somehow sullied, and I thought it was the most hysterical thing ever.

@Dear Blond Diary...: @AbbyNormal: My ignorance is showing, but I didn't even realize it was linked to Gypsies, to be honest. I've only ever seen it spelled "Damn! I've been jipped!" and I thought it was like, some kind of just weird archaic term.

Shows how little some people actually realize about slang, I guess.

tscheese

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Newfoundland is a treasure trove of great town names. You'll find Dildo a little south of Heart's Desire. If the Dildo Museum doesn't work for you, Conception Bay is a bit to the East, and once you've seen and done everything, take the ferry off the island from Placentia Bay.

unpossibles

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Wasn't there a similar incident in Canada a few years ago? I forgot how it ended up though.

PetiteGal

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @and Begorrah: I didn't know "shyster" was anti-Semitic, though it isn't a word I hear too often. I will continue to not use it.

"Gyp" is even harder, since strong prejudice against gypsies is prevalent, it seems.

Dear Blond Diary...

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I live near the Squaw Valley ski resort and I never knew its meaning. My all-time favorite town name: Why, Arizona.

I never understood what was so goddamn funny about the name of Milpitas, CA.

Cam/ron

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @ToniRockyhorror: There used to be a Beaver College in PA too. I think it's Arcadia University now, but they only changed it a few years ago. Like a girl who graduated in 1997 started out going to Beaver College and graduated from Arcadia.

lucyjae

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @ndngrl: Although Lynch herself was a close friend of Piestewa's and always made sure to bring her up when she was interviewed.

ndngrl

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Sophie: @TiffisBetter: The Seminole tribe gets paid by Florida State University for the use of the name, that's why they don't mind. Capitalism at it's finest.

hfree

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @westendgirl: Means the same as "cunt" I believe

Dear Blond Diary...

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @katieb singing the Boom Da Ah Da song: Tee hee, I went to college near Virginville and one of the exits to get there said "Kutztown Virginville" I always thought yeah right when I drove past.

@Sophie: and I'm pretty sure the Seminole thing is okay because it's a tribe and kind of celebrating the area.

lucyjae

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> My alma mater recently had to change mascots from "Indians." It irritates me to no end. Who cares? [Yes, my grandmother is Native American, so I get it.]

@lermanzo: We don't have beaver towns in my home state, but I grew up near Goobertown.

BAngieB

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I still laugh when I drive by Big Bone Lick Kentucky on my way to get some Bourbon.

baconpants

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @ndngrl: and she didn't get half of the recognition she should have. mind you, the whole "rescuing" jessica lynch thing was a bullshit propaganda fest.

Charlotte Corday

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Can someone explain the word "squaw" and why it's derogatory? I always thought it meant "Native American woman/wife," and didn't have an additional derogatory meaning in itself. Sort of like "teepee" -- it's just a tent, but I suppose if you tell someone to "go home and live in your teepee," that changes things.

westendgirl

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @gherkinfiend: hee, i should google where nether wallop is.

Charlotte Corday

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @crushdmb: It was renamed Piestewa Peak after Lori Piestewa, the first American Indian woman killed in combat while serving the US military. She was killed in the same ambush that injured Jessica Lynch.

ndngrl

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Charlotte Corday, Miss Stabby Stabby 1793: I have a fondness for Upper and Lower Dicker...both in Sussex and always good for a giggle...

gherkinfiend

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @nellicat: there is also a beaver falls in PA. and a beaver valley, too, if i'm not mistaken.

lermanzo

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Dear Blond Diary...: My friend inadvertently used the word "shyster"once and when she realized that it's anti-Semitic she started apologizing profusely and said "Oh god, I'm such a schmuck. Wait, shit, is 'schmuck' offensive too?? Damn it, I'm sorry." So cute. She didn't even feel better after I explained that "schmuck" is actually Yiddish.

andBegorrah

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Dear Blond Diary...: I agree, and I am guilty of the sin of using "retarded" as well, and am an ass, because I even call people out for using the term "jyp/gyp." (Offensive to Romanians/Gypsies) Considering that I find casual or latent racism/sexism/ageism so offensive vis a vis pejorative vernacular, I vow to stop using it today.

Now, Butte Lick, on the other hand...

AbbyNormal

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Ilikenoise loves Russell Brand and Matt Morgan: and don't forget cockermouth, cumbria, which STILL makes me titter.

Charlotte Corday

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @nellicat: In Agawam, MA there is an RV dealership named Beaver Camper. I will never, ever get over that name.

Spaceman Bill Leah

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @catness: Yep! Didn't help when I told her, "Well, it's on the bank of a mighty river..."

andBegorrah

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @nellicat: The school mascot where I went to college was a beaver. It used to be a womens' college, with a focus on majoring in Education.

Whenever we had some big sports thing, there would be banners all over campus, proclaiming, "Catch beaver fever!"

alicetheowl

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> My mama told me what "squaw' derived from when I was a tyke, and our middle school teachers struck like lightening when the term "gay" started sprinkling our vocabulary, and pretty effectively nipped it in the bud for my class.

I think we HAVE to remind people what a word really means, because even if people don't mean to be offensive, the derogatory association still lingers. I am ashamed that I still absently use the word "retarded" but I'm really, really trying to quit.

Dear Blond Diary...

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @nellicat: There is also a town in Ireland called Muff.

Sadly reports of a diving club based there are mere rumour...but I do have a fabulous key ring from the Top garage there!

gherkinfiend

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> What about Beaver Country Day School in Boston...used to be all girls, but now its co-ed. Go figure.

ToniRockyhorror

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Having once stood next to a Native American, I must agree with Maria that this is a change for the better!

Now I just want someone to give me the contact number for that Land o'Lakes butter chick. She's pretty hot. In a totally ethnic and in-tune-with-nature way.

thefuturessobright

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Yeah, this was a HUUUUGE debate here in Phoenix, AZ, because we had Sqaw Peak. I can't for the LIFE of me remember the woman they named it after instead. Stupid allergy meds!

little stripes

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @I Will Not Stop Feeding My Fat Baby: Isn't it, though? I saw their sign when I drove through. Now I wish I'd stopped to see if they sold t-shirts with their name on it. Next time I roll through, I will!

nellicat

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Crap, and I just launched Squawthamist.com - city news, concert info, missed connections...

es-ki-mo

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @jemandtheholograms: Let's not forget French Lick, Indiana.

nellicat

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @and Begorrah: Was it Volgograd?

catness

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @nellicat: Oh dear god, that's... awesome. "Beaver Liquor."

The Chattahoochee River runs through my town and there's a high school named after it. The school's dance team is called the "Hooch Troop". You know they get joked at school.

I Will Not Stop Feeding My Fat Baby

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Triphena: Yorkshire, England. I think "Wang" is an Anglo-Saxon word for field, or a particular field that floods in winter or something.

Also: Muff, Ireland. Cockup in Cumbria, Titty Hill in Sussex and Thong, Kent.

ilikenoise

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> When I was a kid, my mom had a magnet that was shaped like a wooden direction sign from Lancaster PA. On it were towns like, Blue Ball, Intercourse, Bird-in-hand (which sounds dirty but might not be). The irony of the Amish living in towns with names like this still kills me

jemandtheholograms

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @hortense: My brother-in-laws childhood bedroom is still decorated with an insane Cleveland Indians motif, with the horrible cartoon indian on the wallpaper, curtains and bedding. I am insulted by it even without any Native American heritage.

BlondeGrlz

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> My grandmother lived in "Shithole Land of the Assholes" for many, many years. Actually, Bakersfield, but that's just what she calls it.

andBegorrah

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Pussy Crick. Awesome. I heart Pussy Crick. GIVE IT!

buggeroff

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Here in Beaver Dam, WI, there is a store called "Beaver Liquor." Sadly, the high school team is the Golden Beavers and even more sadly, the girls' teams are the Lady Golden Beavers.

nellicat

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Ilikenoise loves Russell Brand and Matt Morgan: WHERE IS WET WANG? And more importantly, is there a large sign there where I can get my picture taken?

Yes, I'm a 12-year-old boy.

Triphena

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Ilikenoise loves Russell Brand and Matt Morgan:And of course, there is Fucking, Austria. Which is what a lot of people have been saying this week.

ilikenoise

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Luckwouldhaveit: I'm all for rectifying sins of the past by eliminating signs of it that remain to this day. Was there a suggestion the aggrieved party had for renaming any place that once was "Squaw"? Did they think whomever named those places really meant "Indian Pussy Meadows"? Moreover, who among us non-natives snickered every time we went to Squaw Valley at how we're still holdin em down? I guess a victory is a victory, but for those of us whose minds are now supposed to be changed, enlightened, or whatever all we really care about is that we have a new word for pussy. Congrats.

pepelicious

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @hortense: Although the Redskins were named by the four Native American players on the team, in honor of their bravery. Or so the story goes.

CorporateTool

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Hit me if you want, but as a Florida State alum and Nole, I have to say I always thought our mascot was badass, and the Seminole Tribe of Florida didn't seem to mind it. As long as we were winning anyway. Though now we aren't too great a football team.

TiffisBetter

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> The only way my friend could remember the name of the Russian city I was living in was by calling it "Vulvagrad." Semi-off-topic, but she is indeed such the kidding.

andBegorrah

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> There's also Virginville PA and Intercouse PA. Yay for the home state!

katieb: in charge of the war on the poor.

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Pussy Creak sounds like a fake Bond villain. Or an old drag performer!

JessicaLovejoy: Heart of Dykeness

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> never heard of this word but any victory is great.

nodoubt9203 [אִיזָבֶל]

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @nevin: Hee- what are the chances?

@femalemathmajor: I've been to a place called Wet Wang. Yes I am that immature, I find that amusing.

@hortense: I find that so unbelievable that that is acceptable.

ilikenoise

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Oh my GOD. Is it "Pussy Creak" or "Pussy CREEK?" I can't decide which one I like better!

tscheese

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Sophie: I think the Seminole tribe said they didn't mind, but the other ones - yeah.

I Will Not Stop Feeding My Fat Baby

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> It's great that they're changing the names away from racist, sexist terms. But the 3rd grader in me wishes they could keep the valleys named after female genitalia. I for one would love to visit cooter canyon or vulva valley.

femalemathmajor

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> One of my best friends is from one of the many 'Sugar Tits' that can be found throughout the US.

Mel Gibson should move to one of the towns!

freedc

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @hortense: @Sophie: Exactly, ladies. Based on aging, primitive stereotypes, and due for an overhaul. Some sports fans cling to these notions like NRA members to the Second Amendment, but the only traditions these uphold are those of prejudice, hatred and benighted patrician values.

AbbyNormal

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> There's some controversy over whether the word "squaw" actually derived from any word - in a Native or other language - referring to female genitalia, but it does have a history as a deragatory term for Native women. So, as a Native woman I am thrilled with these changes, but would like to see baseball follow suit and change the Redskins, Indians and Braves - and quit with the racist mascots and that stupid "Tomahawk Chop" BS.

Luckwouldhaveit

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Yay for a step in the right direction! I hope to see more in the future.

MedalofPetals

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @Ilikenoise loves Russell Brand and Matt Morgan: Booooooooooo! Seconds, mere seconds........

nevin

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> I always think that this one is a bit strange. At least they all appear to have been changed years ago.

[en.wikipedia.org]

nevin

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> It's good they changed offensive names like that. Although I wish the BORING Victorians didn't change the name of Gropecunt Lane.

ilikenoise

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> Is it a slang term in a Native American tongue? I've never heard anyone use the word squaw in that context before.

Triphena

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> About damn time. I know Native American activists have been working on this for ages. If only they could get sports fans to see how disparaging some of their mascots and team names are, then we'd be getting somewhere. I like Jane fonda quite a bit, but when she sat next to Ted Turner and did the 'Tomahawk Chop' I got really upset.

AbbyNormal

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> @hortense: and Atlanta Braves and Florida Seminoles.

Sophie

]]> <![CDATA[De-Squawed]]> And yet you can still go see a Washington Redskins game. Boo-urns.

hortense

]]>