Am I being a snowflake about this - name of a nursery that is similar to something I find offensive ?

[Putoffalot]

AIBU to not want to send my child (of a mixed heritage) to a childminder with a name that is very similar to something offensive (GW). It’s come up when searching and is the closest to my work but I can’t even contemplate contacting them as it’s too close to the name of an offensive item ?

Welcome, OP 🙂

OP, I would trust your gut on this one. The owner has made a very clear and deliberate choice to name his/her establishment a word with wog in it. We all know what he/she is trying to communicate, and it's got fuck all to do with aquatic life

So does the late Terry Wogan’s surname.

No they’re not. I feel deeply uncomfortable every time I hear the word tigger, and I’ve never read my kids Winnie the Pooh for that reason.

Well I am white and now I know what the name is, I think it's deeply inappropriate and I'm stunned that any business would use it.

It's not a word I have ever heard - I don't think most people would be familiar with it,

I just wasn’t sure if I was being over sensitive. I don’t feel as if I am, it seems a really bad choice of name , but I find it hard to articulate what it’s like to have these kind of worries

OP asked a load of White women if she was being unreasonable. A load of White replied..... 🤣🤣🤣🤣 If she didn't want White women to respond, she probably shouldn't have posted on NM.

I'm surprised.

I have a reasonable general knowledge and I'm pretty old but I'd never heard that term

And I don't think the OP is that unreasonable actually.

There's lots of other choices out there

You're not a snowflake OP. It's a very poorly thought out name and I'm not surprised it made you feel uncomfortable.

@AffableApple

Thanks. I really do think it is one of those situations that if you haven't experienced racism/racism relating to your child, it's so easy to dismiss. I appreciate your understanding 🙂

FFS, here we are all trying so bloody hard not to offend that even using a British word brings on a fit of the vapours. This is the kind of rubbish that has people scared to use the word blackboard.

It’s entirely possible the owner is not British. It was the word used for tadpoles in New Zealand when I was a kid in the 80s.

Because they don't have to deal with your snowflake issues when deciding what to name their business.

Id think it was a dog whistle for racists too, and Id be embarrassed to send my babies to a place with that name. Hard no.

I'm white. I didn't tell her how to feel about an offensive-sounding name she justifiably feels uncomfortable about.

Cos I ain't a twat.

YANBU. I wouldn’t send my child to any establishment with w** in the name. There’s zero excuse for using it and people can deflect to etymology all they like - it’s an excuse to legitimise the usage of a highly offensive slur.

It's a normal name for a tadpole.

There's a word, which mean stingy or miserly, which sounds exactly like a racist term. I would never use the first word in any context, even though I know that the derivation of the word is completely different and totally unrelated. I think the same should be true of this word that means "tadpoles". Yes, it's a different etymological derivation, but it in part is spelt and sounds the same as a racist term. Why you'd want that for your business name is a mystery to me.

Yes I do.

As a PP more eloquently said, it's a micro-aggression that can be conveniently brushed off and explained away as innocent, all whilst being so very amusing to the racist tosser that named the place.

Oh don't be so disingenuous

It's nothing like the same!

Fair point!

I get it and I would find it offensive.

They should have gone with Tadpoles.

Well I hope OP never takes her DC to a zoo - some of them have raccoons. And don’t think of joining the Scouts either - you won’t believe what they use to fasten their neck scarves!

My grandparents always called tadpoles polliwogs - my mother didn’t like it because “it’s country speak” so I grew up very much using the “correct” words for everything (even a fire engine was a “fire appliance” 😂 ).

For whom?

Seriously, where is it in common use?