A chink in Jeremy Lin's armor

[Ramenasia]

Somehow I doubt Jeremy Lin cared at all. The writer probably didn't even know it was a slur, seeing as it fell out of popularity decades ago.

[Bombadil]

Somehow I doubt Jeremy Lin cared at all. The writer probably didn't even know it was a slur, seeing as it fell out of popularity decades ago.

Headline writers aren't employed because they're ignorant of the meaning of words, their job is to create short headings that attract attention.

Now I'm more than happy to believe that they thought it was a light-hearted quip, and I'm sure most people would take it that way, yet to think they didn't know what they were writing is effectively thinking they weren't very good at their job - in which case they should probably be let go anyway.

[The House of Petain]

Somehow I doubt Jeremy Lin cared at all. The writer probably didn't even know it was a slur, seeing as it fell out of popularity decades ago.

Are you kidding? Chink is still very much a commonly used slur.

[Person012345]

Many of all y'all may remember several months ago that a couple of ESPN employees were fired after the ESPN website ran a story by them whose headline mentioned a chink in Jeremy Lin's armor. The phrase is itself a common one, referring to a weakness which has been discovered and exploited--in this case, in Lin's basketball game. The problem in this case, however, came about because Lin is Chinese-American (ok, Taiwan), which makes an alternate meaning of the word "chink" relevant.

Oh wow. Now one should alter the English dictionary lest Taiwanese basketball players feel insulted...
Really, have people got nothing better to do than playing victim?

An apt comparison would be me complaining about the sentence "Risottia owns a pet guinea pig" or "Risottia took a trip to Guinea". OMG RACIAL SLUR!

Feh.

Was Lin even offended? A lot of the time when people complain about this sort of shit it's reactionary and no-one was really offended in the first place.

[Xsyne]

Anyone who thinks it wasn't entirely intentional doesn't know shit about how headlines are written.

[Cameroi]

whoever the hell jeremy lin is, why in the hell should i give a rat. journalists being fired for doing their jobs i am of course opposed to that happening. but really, espn can take a flying leap. i wish to got there never was such a thing. and my thoughtless neighbors who insist on constantly forcing it on everyone else had it shoved where the sun don't shine.

[SaintB]

If he had been standing in his dresser and they reported it as "A Chink in Jeremy Lin's Amiore" that would be racist. Instead they were using a common phrase with a commonly understood usage and it was therefore not racist, not in the least.

[SaintB]

Many of all y'all may remember several months ago that a couple of ESPN employees were fired after the ESPN website ran a story by them whose headline mentioned a chink in Jeremy Lin's armor. The phrase is itself a common one, referring to a weakness which has been discovered and exploited--in this case, in Lin's basketball game. The problem in this case, however, came about because Lin is Chinese-American (ok, Taiwan), which makes an alternate meaning of the word "chink" relevant.

Oh wow. Now one should alter the English dictionary lest Taiwanese basketball players feel insulted...
Really, have people got nothing better to do than playing victim?

An apt comparison would be me complaining about the sentence "Risottia owns a pet guinea pig" or "Risottia took a trip to Guinea". OMG RACIAL SLUR!

Feh.

In my mind its more like people being upset that someone pointed out that Risottia's car's tire suddenly deflated at once; making a whopping noise.