I just got up from conversation with a couple of older black men, that I said “well I got to go back to work and start cracking the whip.” And it occurred to me then that it was probably a really insensitive stupid thing to say.

Sadly, it hadn’t occurred to me until it’s already said.

      • Luci
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        33
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        Rice rocket was a term used for modified Japanese cars, and ricing your car meant turning it into a rice rocket.

          • Luci
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            11 months ago

            Nah, just subtle racism

        • Bob@feddit.nl
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          11 months ago

          I thought “ricing” meant submerging your stuff in rice to get the moisture out to stop water damage.

          • Luci
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            11 months ago

            Slang can mean different things, depending on context

      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        23
        ·
        11 months ago

        I’m a Linux user and love some good rices. But I’ve no idea what “ricing” comes from. Why is it offensive?

        I believe it is racist slang that emerged in the 90s with the advent of cheap japanese and korean cars that were easily customizable (civics, accuras, etc…). Throw a turbo and a loud exhaust, and bam, now its a rice burner. These were prevalent in Asian immigrant communities, but also other places.

        It basically meant like, cheap, but also very fast car, of Asian origin.

        • ArtieShaw@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          12
          ·
          11 months ago

          There’s an older form that goes back to at least the 1970s when fuel efficient Japanese cars started to become popular in the US: “Rice burners.”

          There was some made-in-America angst at the time because of the oil crisis, coupled with some quality issues that made these cars more appealing. The phrase was definitely used pejoratively. I can remember my dad muttering about it well into the '80s.

      • reflex@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        ·
        11 months ago

        Why is it offensive?

        It would probably be like calling Beemers and Mercedes bratwvrst-mobiles.

      • Eh-I@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        I know some people that refer to Japanese motorcycles, mostly “crotch-rockets,” as ricers.

        • Thisfox@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          11 months ago

          The only people I know who say that are in fact Japanese, but I agree it is a racist term.

        • Bob@feddit.nl
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          11 months ago

          Sort of an insult to beans and rice, two of the greatest categories of food, to make slurs of them, too.

    • OtterA
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      11 months ago

      I think one of the Lemmy comms for it changed their sidebar and posts to remove that a few months ago