How to get a powerful canter, without speed?

[JB]

@meupatdoes

@JB, what would it really cost you to just say “transition”? There is literally no cost to you, but a proactive show of simple respect would mean a lot to trans COTH readers or trans/trans questioning folks in your own life.

Out of habit I’m going to probably type trannie and not think twice. But don’t worry, I don’t get into transition discussions much so you won’t likely ever see it again.

Do you really want me and everyone else to also stop typing coon, also an abbreviation, when that’s a lot more frequently used to mean raccoon, I’ve typed it forever (along with possum - is that also a derogatory word somewhere I don’t know of?), and is certainly derogatory in the right context?

Coon as a slur has been around a lot longer than tranny/trannies, so why is tranny a hot button, when I bet you can go to Around The Farm, probably more than a few on Health, and find a bunch of comments about coons, without anyone complaining?

I’m genuinely curious why it’s ok to pick an issue with one word, but not others.

[gertie06]

Ah, I gotcha! I actually didn’t even know they existed on YouTube. I try to avoid that particular black hole . I joined because I’m low key obsessed with Tik Maynard and wanted to take his courses. Some of it gets a little tedious, but I have to say that I’ve learned some things overall!

[danhelm441]

@gertie06

I joined because I’m low key obsessed with Tik Maynard and wanted to take his courses. Some of it gets a little tedious, but I have to say that I’ve learned some things overall!

Oh! How was that? I remember really liking Tik Maynard’s book, but more from a literary/memoir perspective. His teaching style doesn’t get through to me, for whatever reason. I think he tries to go “big picture”/theory, and I need tiny picture/practical. I do love his RRP freestyles though. Major horsemanship goals

[meupatdoes]

@JB You are the only one who brought up the word “coon”.

Somebody brought up that the word “trannie” is hurtful slang toward trandgender individuals and asked you to reconsider casual use of this specific word. That is the full extent of what is being asked of you in this thread.

Whether or not you also want to extend that reconsideration to “coon” is up to you, since you are the one who brought that one up.

[JB]

@meupatdoes

You are the only one who brought up the word “coon”.

I did bring it up because it is exactly the same as “trannie” - it’s a shortening of a legitimate word that in the shortened version also has a derogatory context. So I’m asking - why is trannie a problem but coon isn’t?

In all the years I and many others have used coon instead of raccoon, I have not once seen anyone say “you know that’s also a racial slur, right? You should stop using it”.

Why tranny? And yes, if someone is that upset about this, they should head over to any other thread where coon, and any other shortened word that has a modern derogatory meaning, and ask that the word not be used. That’s why I brought it up, as it seems there is discrimination about which words are offensive and which aren’t.

[meupatdoes]

@JB People addressed trannie because that is the word that you used in this thread. Nobody extended their persecution of you to every word in the English language. They asked you to reconsider just the word they saw you use.

If you would like to voluntarily also reconsider your use of the word coon, it certainly wouldn’t hurt anyone, or cost you anything. If you would also like to advocate against the use of the word coon, as you suggest we do,by all means feel free.

I am perfectly happy to not use coon, either, (not that I ever did, I always said raccoon bc that’s how I happen to talk) so consider me converted.

Really, it’s up to you how proactively inclusive you want to be with your language. If it’s important to you to use words that other people can find hurtful, in spite of the fact that they have told you other people can find them hurtful and politely asked you to reconsider your usage, then you don’t need anyone’s permission. People are politely ASKING you to reconsider, but you can, of course, do whatever you want.

If it’s really important to you to continue to knowingly use potentially hurtful language, hey, that’s your call.

[gertie06]

You’re right on the money! When he talks practical application, it’s great. When he gets neck deep in the theory, it’s kind of a snooze.

The thing is that I’m into groundwork/horsemanship AND hunter/jumpers. He’s one of the very few trainers I know of who can teach both.

I’m also looking forward to taking some of the Jenny Susser/Tanya Johnston courses that are more sports psychology focused. Those are next on my list.

[pony_grandma]

Anyone still use the word gyp?

gyp ( plural gyps )

1. (derogatory, sometimes offensive) A cheat or swindle; a rip-off

Going to have to rewrite dictionaries now.

[S1969]

@pony_grandma

Anyone still use the word gyp?

gyp ( plural gyps )

1. (derogatory, sometimes offensive) A cheat or swindle; a rip-off

Going to have to rewrite dictionaries now.

But this word has always only been derogatory.

Are we really still talking about this?

[CindyCRNA]

I do. What’s wrong with it?

[GraceLikeRain]

@pony_grandma

Anyone still use the word gyp?

gyp ( plural gyps )

1. (derogatory, sometimes offensive) A cheat or swindle; a rip-off

Going to have to rewrite dictionaries now.

I regularly used this word until college. Someone politely but firmly explained the origins of the word. I had no idea and never met offense. The fact that I was ignorant and did not intend harm did not prevent my words from negatively impacted others. So, I modified my word choice.

I cannot control the language of those around me but I can control my own word choice. If something as simple as swapping out a word makes someone else feel more comfortable, safe, heard, etc. why wouldn’t I make this absolute bare minimum effort? It really isn’t hard.

[S1969]

@CindyCRNA

I do. What’s wrong with it?

A cheat or a swindle; a rip-off - like a gypsy. (Person of Romani descent).

It’s equivalent to using “jew” as a verb - “He kept trying to jew me down and get a lower price.”

[McGurk]

I am fond of saying, around certian audiences “I christianed him down on the price a little.” I particularly like it when people get offended by it, and explaining my usage.

I think it behooves us all to be aware of how racist language creeps into our everyday speech and is normalized.

Let’s renege on a bet, not Welsh on it.

Let’s split the check on a date, not go Dutch.

Let’s just threaten our children with kidnapping, rather than being taken by gypsies.

After a rough indocrtrination into Southern culture, I learned to substitute “redneck” for all the hateful expressions that included a racial ephithet. I found it worked astonishingly well: “Redneck rich”, “Redneck engineering”, “Redneck honeymoon”, etc.

I used to routinely use the phrase “off the reservation” to describe someone who had exceeded their boundaries, or expanded the scope of a project. Then I read about the origin of that phrase, and I made a conscious effort to stop using it.

It’s not that hard.

[danhelm441]

@McGurk

I used to routinely use the phrase “off the reservation” to describe someone who had exceeded their boundaries, or expanded the scope of a project. Then I read about the origin of that phrase, and I made a conscious effort to stop using it.

I noticed myself saying this one too, then paused and thought, wow, kinda uncool. On a similar note, the expression “we can Chinese menu it,” used to come up a lot at my job to describe picking and choosing parts of something and reconfiguring them. I’m sure no one using the expression has any bad intent, and it’s not like it’s actually derogatory, but it just struck me as weird to say it and fairly easy to avoid. I just say “a la carte” now to convey the same thing. Ofc, jury’s out on how the French feel about that one.