Shall we put a full stop on snowflake attitudes?
IS THIS the first sign that we might be approaching a return to common sense? Jasmine Stunell, a trainee hairdresser at Leo Bancroft salon in Surrey, sued for age discrimination when a colleague told her to “grow up” when she was 16; the claim has been thrown out of court.Thank goodness. In fact, Jasmine seems more in need of sympathy than anything else, as she apparently has a somewhat troubled background, and in all probability she would never have brought this case had we not created a culture in which almost anyone can sue for almost anything.
But still. Here is a list of other phrases and behaviour that do not discriminate against anything:
Daft git. This does not denote anyone being stupid. It is usually said with affection, especially in the north of England. (It’s not offensive to say that either. I lived in Manchester for six years.)
Putting full stops at the end of text messages. Some of the snowflake generation think it is aggressive. It is not.
Grow a pair. This is particularly not offensive when it’s used towards women.
Silly twit. See daft git, above, except in this case it’s more prevalent in the south.
Muppet. This insult is so affectionate that Jim Henson used it to create a very much loved television show.
Complete moron. All right, so this is not particularly affectionate, but it’s a relatively controlled reaction to the type of behaviour that would have fiery Latin types reaching for their revolver.
Batting for the other side. These days it’s increasingly difficult to tell which side anyone is batting for, not least as there seem to be a lot more sides, but this harks back to the days when it was all a lot more straightforward. It should also be noted that huge swathes of Britain adore gay culture and always have done. Readers old enough to remember Larry Grayson will know this. See also Gunner “Gloria” Beaumont in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. Confusingly, the actor who played him, Melvyn Hayes, is straight.
What rubbish. See controlled reaction, a la complete moron, above.
Silly sausage. This is not a comparison to an ignorant meat-based food stuff. It is a way of denoting that you adore someone but you are British so you can’t tell them so in so many words. “You silly sausage you” makes the impact even stronger.
And on the subject of insults and causing offence, it is worth taking note that the very best of all of them are in Yiddish. I am proud to know a few words of that fine language, including the different definitions of a schlimazel and a schlemiel. A schlemiel is the chap who knocks over the soup and the schlimazel is the chap whose lap it lands on. Beat that!