“Pay peanuts get monkeys”

[PennyWorth]

Is it offensive/racist to say this about a dodgy builder?

Possibly offensive. Not sure why it would be racist though?

Not racist. I say this at work regularly. Probably offensive to say it to them but usually true.

Depends upon the ethnicity of the builder, doesn't it?

Why would it be racist? I dont think you understand "the saying" it is offensive though.

I should have said English is not my first language.
Thought it meant if people pay too little the job won’t be done properly but someone told me it was racist?

That doesn’t answer why it would be racist?

It's a bit rude - but if the cap fits and all that.... 😁

But no, it's not racist.

I don’t know. It was said by my friend about his neighbour’s builder and my other friend said it was racist. I’m not the one who thinks it’s racist. Their first language is English and mine isn’t.

It isn’t racist. It’s an old say. Anyone trying to link those words to a specific ethnic group are themselves racist in my opinion

In itself no it’s not racist. It’s an old saying that means you get what you pay for.

however. If your builder is black or African heritage then you need to factor in that “monkey” is a racial slur used to infer that black people were closer to apes/monkeys than human.

i would use it in general conversation, but not about a specific person or tradesman.

It is an old saying. But, it’s not one that should be used if you’re speaking about a specific person / group who are black because “monkey” is a racial slur.

It means if you pay a crap wage you’ll get a crap job. It has nothing to do with race.

People in question are of Asian origin and according to my friend it’s well known in the area they do cheap dodgy jobs.

Agree with this, the same with the old saying "speak to the organ grinder not the monkey".

Why would it be racist? It just means if you don’t pay very much, you get people who aren’t very good. Why does racism come into it?

It doesn't matter whether they are Asian if they're crap at their job. Their race doesn't come into it.

It's more racist to think that it's racist, if that makes sense. By saying 'it's racist' you are then the one equating black people with monkeys.

Think it’s just offensive full stop
youre implying everyone on “peanuts” so min wage is.. a monkey/shit

Again nothing to do with race and everything to do with if you hire very cheap workers you are likely to get shoddy work done. Same as if you buy a cheap pair of shoes they probably won’t last as long as an expensive pair. Buy cheap buy twice as they say.

Why is min wage classed as peanuts?

That’s what I thought.

“Monkey” used to refer to an ethic group absolutely is racist.

the phrase itself is not racist, and I would not consider it so. However I would engage my sensitivity setting and never use it to refer directly to BME workers.

No, it’s normally used to describe people, trades or not quite but pretending to be, who undercut every professional trader to get the job. It’s not got a thing to do with those on minimum wage. So if you are looking for a plumber and 5 plumbers tell you the price varies between £1300 and £1500 but guy number 6 comes along and says he can do it for £800. If you pay the cheap guy you get a shit job.

The person could be racist yes,but in general it just means, you get what you pay for.

This explains it well.
Using 'monkey' as a racial slur is very old fashioned in itself though and lots (most?) young people would have never heard it and can sometimes fall foul of it. I remember some advertising campaign had a black kid in a 'little monkey' tee-shirt (little monkey is also an old fashioned, non offensive (for white kids) term for busy children). They got into big trouble for it and the young people who designed the shoot claimed to have no idea 'monkey' was a racist slur. I believe them. I don't think my older teen/young adults would have heard that slur.