Is the word ginger insulting?

JohnK

Today I was asked the question below by an non-Irish person (on another forum) who wanted to know if the use of the word "ginger" when referring to someone with red hair is considered insulting in Ireland. Is it? First I've heard about this but as a non-ginger maybe thats not too surprising.

Hey, John

I've got a question for you. I made reference to *********** as "ginger" awhile back and a moderator asked me to change the reference, saying the term is insulting in Ireland.

...
{snipped a bit here}
...

So my question is, what is the status of that term among the Irish, when it refers to red hair? Is it always insulting, or sometimes? ???

So what say you people of Ireland? Is this guy hurling vicious insults to all and sundry?

Mossy Monk

Insulting? How exactly?

JohnK

Mossy Monk wrote:

Insulting? How exactly?

Thats kind of what I'm wondering... This guy was PM'd by a mod on another forum saying he had insulted a person by refering to him as ginger.

Mossy Monk

Must be an overly sensitive person. But then I don't have ginger hair so can't really say how someone with ginger hair would feel.

Pigman II

Ginger is not insulting but it does generally conjour images of ugly pale looking people with freckles and bug-eyes.

Gran Hermano

Ginger or Ging-er ?

(Hmm, sudden flashback to getting a slap from a red-head chick for
inquiring about the health of her fire-pus... and who said red-heads
don't have tempers)

Binomate

It's not like they have souls or anything.

Irishpimpdude

Pigman II wrote:

Ginger is not insulting but it does generally conjour images of ugly pale looking people with freckles and bug-eyes.

Dont forget there sexy red hair!

faceman

Binomate wrote:

It's not like they have souls or anything.

i heard that if u take a photo of a ginger, they believe their soul has been taken in the image

YeAh!

Pigman II wrote:

Ginger is not insulting but it does generally conjour images of ugly pale looking people with freckles and bug-eyes.

Im ginger and i've never ever been called ginger in an abusive, insulting way. Id find it no more insulting than blondes would. Its all about the general image it conjures up. (Blonde - airhead).....(Ginger - images of ugly pale looking people with freckles and bug-eyes, as you put it Pigman).

Marksie

Was the person english by chance?

It is an insulting term in england as it is a derogatory term for gays.

Cockney slang
Ginger beer= queer

though you did say it was in terms of hair.

JohnK

marksuttonie wrote:

Was the person english by chance?

It is an insulting term in england as it is a derogatory term for gays.

Cockney slang
Ginger beer= queer

though you did say it was in terms of hair.

Most likely the mod who complained would have been English but I'm not certain yet. I'm trying to find out exactly who they were. The person who asked me the question was an American.

lemansky

Binomate wrote:

It's not like they have souls or anything.

Excellent:D I doubt that anybody found that post offensive,especially gingers!This is how the term ginger and related insults like that are taken here.As a laugh nothing serious.If somebody gets wound up having been called one then they're just looking for an excuse to blow their tops,not because they're actually offended.

JohnK

Thats pretty much what I was thinking alright as I just cant see anyone taking it as a serious insult especially since the post in question (which I never actually saw btw) would almost certainly have been positive towards the "ginger" person. Still though, it prompted a mod to complain and tell a user to edit their post. It’s a bit of a strange one really.

GhostInTheRuins

Daywalkers!!!!

biko

1 in 10 is redhead in Ireland so there's a lot of gingers about.

"Of course, part of the problem with redheads
is that there aren't enough of them.
They make up just two percent of the
US population. So they're pretty extraordinary.
Redheads are too numerous to be ignored,
too rare to be accepted".

Grant McCracken, from his book Big Hair: A Journey Into the Transformation of Self

luckat

I was on a bus today and a middle-aged woman was talking to a young mother with a red-headed baby. "Ginger!" she said. "Is her father ginger?"

You could see the mother flinching. She realised the woman wasn't actually trying to be rude, and said "Ah no, my own hair is a bit gingery." But at first she clearly took it as a rude way of talking about red hair.

I flinched myself. I'd say red-haired, or strawberry blonde, or auburn, depending on the shade. I'd never say ginger unless I was teasing, and I'd only tease if I knew someone well enough that they wouldn't think I was being nasty.

simu

biko wrote:

1 in 10 is redhead in Ireland so there's a lot of gingers about.

Orly? Surely it's less? I don't know many at all.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I've red hair and I don't find it insulting. However people have tried to insult me by calling me "ginger", but its water of a ducks back.

Btw, these people weren't Irish so maybe the Mod on that forum was taking the word "Ginger" in an English context, dunno.

Trippie

it is,only about 4% of the population has red hair afaik

smashey

It's only insulting to Karoma.

biko

simu wrote:

Orly? Surely it's less? I don't know many at all.

Ya rly, I heard it before but wiki agrees.

Time for a hair colour poll methinks

Kernel

I hear they're getting close to a cure.

Black Swan

"Ginger and spice and everything nice?" My Galway gran would say such things...

Oh, wasn't Ginger the actress bombshell on Gilligan's Island?

Scrotum

I'm a ginger does'nt bother me at all.
Sometimes when i'm reading a book on the green the odd trog
asks me if i've "read pubes".

I must remember that that one.

tallus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Kids
'Nuff Said :P

Hail 2 Da Chimp

http://www.gingerkids.org/faq.html
'Nuff said also...

challengemaster

oh grow up :rolleyes:

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Blue_Lagoon wrote:

"Ginger and spice and everything nice?" My Galway gran would say such things...

Oh and your granny was wrong its "Sugar and spice" ...Nothing nice ever came from being ginger! :P

tallus

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote:

Oh and your granny was wrong its "Sugar and spice" ...Nothing nice ever came from being ginger! :P

LOL! nearly choked on me tea!

Tar.Aldarion

The Ginger: These fall into two categories: male, and female:

The male ginger is often the victim of undeserved abuse because of his pale skin tone and unusual hair colour. These can often lead to dramatic insults such as 'Ging-er!' or 'Why so pale?'.

The female ginger has entirely different powers. Hence the phrase 'fiery redhead'. They cultivate the 'pale and freckly' look in an entirely different way.

Dun laoire

I've brown hair, black chest hair and a big bush of red hair on me boll1x. Gas innit. Yet i'm extremely handsome.

The_B_Man

shhh the gingers might be watching us....

AlmightyCushion

Trippie wrote:

it is,only about 4% of the population has red hair afaik

It's still 4% too much.

ruprect

luckat wrote:

You could see the mother flinching. She realised the woman wasn't actually trying to be rude, and said "Ah no, my own hair is a bit gingery." But at first she clearly took it as a rude way of talking about red hair.

I flinched myself. I'd say red-haired, or strawberry blonde, or auburn, depending on the shade. I'd never say ginger unless I was teasing, and I'd only tease if I knew someone well enough that they wouldn't think I was being nasty.

I have never seen somebody with natural red hair, only dyed. That is red as in a red traffic light. The colour of these "redheads" hair is like ginger, you were saying auburn, I cannot see what is insulting about trying to describe a colour accurately, and why ginger is a more offensive term than auburn.

There was a program on BBC3 recently F**k off I'm a ginger. The presenter was ginger and was making that same point, that his hair is certainly not red.

It is like people saying they are not black or white.

barryfitz

http://www.gingerkids.org/

Dyr

Kernel wrote:

I hear they're getting close to a cure.

I'm reliably informed that the ginger gene is going to be bred out over time as its not dominant or something. Darwinism at its best

uglyjohn

they're people? since when?

Blitzkrieger

luckat wrote:

"Ginger!" she said. "Is her father ginger?"

You could see the mother flinching.

Maybe she thought the oul one was asking "Is your husband ginger or are you a great big dirty slapper?".

AlmightyCushion

uglyjohn wrote:

they're people? since when?

I heard the government is thinking of giving them equal rights and maybe even the vote. Bleedin' disgrace :mad:

uglyjohn

Better Dead Than Red!

simu

biko wrote:

Ya rly, I heard it before but wiki agrees.

Time for a hair colour poll methinks

That's ginger OR strawberry blonde. Two different things.

Gizzle

I'd only take it as an insult if it was pronounced like "minger". But then again, I don't have red hair.

challengemaster

TBH, I'd love to know what everyone of you would do if you had a "ginger" child.

Idiot.count++;

Tar.Aldarion

Why would we let it go that far?

JohnK

Doesnt look like its much of an insult over here . Must be a british thing...

AlmightyCushion

challengemaster wrote:

TBH, I'd love to know what everyone of you would do if you had a "ginger" child.

Idiot.count++;

Shed a tear and then do what had to be done.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

AlmightyCushion wrote:

Shed a tear and then do what had to be done.

Dont feel sorry for it... If a ginger had the chance they'd kill you and everyone you love!

uglyjohn

it may be cute now.....but you have to remember a baby ginger grows up into an adult ginger!:eek:

A ginger is for life,not for christmas.

if everyone in that situation did the right thing we wouldnt be where we are today, the world would be a much better place.

seriously though,i dont think people here find it offensive, it would probably be more to do with how you say it.

tallus

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote:

Dont feel sorry for it... If a ginger had the chance they'd kill you and everyone you love!

LOL !

AlmightyCushion

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote:

Dont feel sorry for it... If a ginger had the chance they'd kill you and everyone you love!

I wouldn't feel sorry for the ginger because they deserve everything they get but I would feel sad about the fact that I would have to kill the mother (some one I probably deeply care about I presume) for unleashing this evil on the world.