Prince Harry

[emeraldgirl1]

AIBU to find it impossible NOT to have a sneaky crush?

Like pretty much every grown woman in America, apparently...

Only a few years ago I was openly mocking a friend for her minor obsession with him.

And oh god I have just realised my mum fancies him too...

Land my husband has been in 20 years, my father did 25. I can assure you the boys banter is definitely like Prince Harry's. Maybe your husbands arm are a bit more civilised.

I was reading the list of qualifications obtained by the Royal Family. I don't think its accurate
Zara Phillips is a qualified physiotherapist specialising in Equine Physiotherapy. She went to University at Exeter.
Prince Harry qualified as an Apache pilot. The Apache is one of the hardest helicopters to qualify to fly.

I have a lot of respect for Prince Harry - especially his work with the Lesovo orphans and the work he is doing for injured servicemen.

I loved this story from the Royal Wedding

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383268/Royal-Wedding-wiggly-worm-Picture-Eliza-Lopes-Prince-Harrys-gift.html

I have seen on other threads too the assertion that black is unacceptable in the US. I am American. I live in the South, where these issues have heightened significance. Black is fine, as is African American. Actually some black people prefer black; but either is fine.

LunaticFringe Well done for finding that out. I guess that makes sense then,that there is no "Paki" race whereas the others all are. You live and learn.

WouldBeHarrietVane (love your NN by the way; one of my favorite fictional characters)

This quotation from wikipedia (which admittedly always needs to be done with caution) I think is pretty accurate:

Surveys show that the majority of Black Americans have no preference for "African American" versus "Black," although they have a slight preference for "Black" in personal settings and "African American" in more formal settings.

I actually do use African American most of the time, but using Black is not in and of itself offensive.

When I worked in Botswana, I would often call friends 'kaffir' in ironic jest, I would never have uttered to anyone who did not know me.

In turn, my friends would normally refer to me as 'lekgoa' meaning 'vomit from the sea'.

Context is all. Saying a word does not make you a racist.

I should also add that black is really used as an adjective only; African American can be either an adjective or a noun.

Exactly complexnumber. When I say "word up my nigger" it's in an ironic way taking the piss out of the gangsta rappers because I'm a pasty, freckly girl and my mate isn't even remotely gangsta. I'd never dream of saying it to anyone who didn't know me well.

The 70s were horribly racist but I think everyone has overcompensated. We need to get back to a point where people are comfortable describing the only mixed race student with an afro out of nearly 500 as that rather than feeling they have to say something like "frizzy hair" which could be loads of people and actually made me dismiss the guy with the afro because surely if the student I was looking for had an afro that would be the first thing used to describe him? Luckily the student knew who I was because I never would have found him.

Groups reclaim words all the time. Gay people have reclaimed "queer", certain segments of black youth culture in the US have reclaimed "nigger" etc. Not all words have the same emphasis in other countries either - Chinky is a perfectly acceptable term for a Chinese takeaway in Ireland and Paki is a perfectly acceptable shortening of Pakistani in Australia. It's not the words but the intention behind them that make them unacceptable.

"Paki is a perfectly acceptable shortening of Pakistani in Australia"

To white racist Australians, possibly!

The "reclamation" thing in the US is vastly overstated. That word is so deeply offensive that many people won't even say it or write it out, even in quotation.

Yes the reclamation of the N word is widely argued against.

Scone, need to say that I love your name and whenever I see it I say 'yes it bloody does!'

The mind boggles that someone on this thread is trying to justify use of the words 'nigger' 'queer' 'paki' and 'chinky'.

Whenever there is a thread about racism people do this - perhaps to justify their own behaviour because they don't want to stop using racist terms.

'It's not the words but the intention behind them that make them unacceptable.'

Utter nonsense.

And I don't believe all these people with hordes of black friends who think it's hilarious when they call them Sambo, just as a little joke,you know. They either don't exist, or the black person is being very gracious, like Prince Harry's friend, and is burning them in effigy behind their back.

They are the sort of person who say "I can't keep up, the words you can use change all the time". And similar crap.

'Chinky is a perfectly acceptable term for a Chinese takeaway in Ireland'

No it most definitely isn't. I do not know a single Irish person who would use this term. Please don't tar us all.

Advice to visitors-

"If you go into an Irish pub in London, it is polite to say "top o' the mornin' to you Paddy" to the landlord"

I am as anti Royal as you can get but I don't have a particular dislike of Prince Harry. For someone bought up with unimaginable wealth and privilidges it's something that he works and does charity work at all. Their are other dictator type Royal families in the world that do neither.

He comes across as a bit of a idiot though. The nude Vegas thing was a bit .

Forces blokes often have lovely fit bodies but Harry does NOTHING for me.

It's time to abolish the royal family.

Could I have made any more typo's?

It is not my IPads fault.

"Welsh people enjoy the poem "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief......"

Funnily enough, was talking recently to someone who has worked with Harry, and said how well he fits into the Army. And also how skilled you need to be to fly an Apache - so maybe he isn't highly intelligent academically, but he is where it counts in his career.

Can't believe some of the comments above! Someone on the first page saying it's widely accepted he's James Hewitt's son. Bullshit.

Must be great to be one of those people who's never made a bad judgement call, perhaps too busy sitting on a computer being personally vile about someone who's making the most of the life they've been landed with.

But I have to say OP, YABU!!!

I've never heard that "welsh poem" before.How does it end?

"It is traditional to wear a ginger wig at all times in Scotland, and any true Scot would be deeply offended if you did not draw attention to his thrifty nature"