Racist terminology in chess problems

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Matthew Turner
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Re: Racist terminology in chess problems

Post by Matthew Turner » Sun Jun 13, 2021 9:50 am

Imagine how a gesture which means that you are going stop playing because you have already won, performed during the national anthem, would play out with public opinion.

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Gerard Killoran
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Re: Racist terminology in chess problems

Post by Gerard Killoran » Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:20 pm

Matthew Turner wrote:
Sun Jun 13, 2021 9:50 am
Imagine how a gesture which means that you are going stop playing because you have already won, performed during the national anthem, would play out with public opinion.
Most of us don't have the national anthem playing in our heads during a game of chess, especially when resigning. However, each to their own.

Geoff Chandler
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Re: Racist terminology in chess problems

Post by Geoff Chandler » Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:25 am

Hi All,

It appears we all agree the term should be dropped though that is a very awkward decision for the Problem World.
I'd imagine some non-racist traditional die hards would call such a change as bowing to the nannies.

However here the term is wrong, although I'd listen to and not think any less
of anybody or shout them down if they thought the terms should stay in use.

I have no idea what else we can do here regarding the matter. Someone has to mention it to the
problem society (though I have no doubt the rumblings here would have been heard) and then
it's up to them how they proceed.

Maybe they can suggest that future authors/composers use a different name (what ever that may be)
And apart from that I do not know what else they can do.

The lad who came up with the term was actually called Elias Silberstein (Frank Janet was a pseudonym)
Maybe a new term could be 'The Janet Theme' making it apply to both white and black pawns.
(A white pawn using all four of it's moves is an 'Albino' IMO this should also be changed.)

The book that started this thread off was first published in 1976.
A different book I have that still uses both terms was first published in 1996.
I'll not name the book because as Justin mentioned, it is not about the authors
using it, it is the terms that are out-dated.

(it gets very messy trying to tip-toe around any racial issue, one has to pick your words very carefully.
If I have failed and given a clumsy unintentional offence to anyone then I apologise, it's not been meant. )

Tim Spanton
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Re: Racist terminology in chess problems

Post by Tim Spanton » Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:35 am

Am reading Jack London's The Cruise Of The Snark between rounds while playing at a tournament in Crete.
The book, published in 1913, recounts the novelist's sailing adventures in the Pacific, including Melanesia and the Solomons.
Here he is describing "Beche De Mer English," a sort of pigeon:

A primitive vocabulary means primitive expression; thus, the continuance of rain is expressed as rain he stop. Sun he come up cannot possibly be misunderstood, while the phrase structure itself can be used without mental exertion in ten thousand different ways; as, for instance, a native who desires to tell you that there are fish in the water and who says fish he stop. It was while trading on Ysabel island that I learned the excellence of this usage. I wanted two or three pairs of the large clam shells (measuring three feet across), but I did not want the meat inside. Also, I wanted the meat of some of the smaller clams to make a chowder. My instruction to the natives finally ripened into the following:

“You fella bring me fella big fella clam—kai-kai he no stop, he walk about. You fella bring me fella small fella clam—kai-kai he stop.”

Kai-kai is the Polynesian for food, meat, eating, and to eat; but it would be hard to say whether it was introduced into Melanesia by the sandalwood traders or by the Polynesian westward drift. Walk about is a quaint phrase. Thus, if one orders a Solomon sailor to put a tackle on a boom, he will suggest, “That fella boom he walk about too much.” And if said sailor asks for shore liberty he will state that it is his desire to walk about.

Too much, by the way, does not indicate anything excessive. It is merely the simple superlative. This, if a native is asked the distance to a certain village, his answer will be one of these four: “Close up; long way little bit; long way big bit; or long way too much.” Long way too much does not mean that one cannot walk to the village; it means that he will have to walk farther than if the village were a long way big bit.

Gammon is to lie, to exaggerate, to joke. Mary is a woman. Any woman is a Mary. All women are Marys. Doubtlessly the first dim white adventurer whimsically called a native woman Mary, and of similar birth must have been many other words in beche de mer. The white men were all seamen, and so, capsize and sing out were introduced into the lingo. One would not tell a Melanesian cook to empty the dish water, but he would tell him to capsize it. To sing out is to cry loudly, to call out, or merely to speak. Sing-sing is a song. The native Christian does not think of God calling for Adam in the Garden of Eden; in the native’s mind, God sings out for Adam.

Savvee and catchee are practically the only words which have been introduced straight from pigeon English. Of course, pickaninny has happened along, but some of its uses are delicious. Having bought a fowl from a native in a canoe, the native asked me if I wanted “Pickaninny stop along him fella.” It was not until he showed me a handful of hen’s eggs that I understood his meaning.

MSoszynski
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Re: Racist terminology in chess problems

Post by MSoszynski » Sat Jun 26, 2021 9:25 am

I am currently relearning jazz guitar, and was looking for some tutorials when I came across this...

What Do We Call The Music of Django Reinhardt?

https://www.latonique.news/articles/wha ... -reinhardt

That is, if not G*psy Jazz. The writer suggests Manouche. Which received a very dismissive comment.

Tim Spanton
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Re: Racist terminology in chess problems

Post by Tim Spanton » Tue Jul 27, 2021 4:52 pm

Just listened to an episode of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue from last year during which, in a round of The Uxbridge English Dictionary, pickaninny was defined (I paraphrase) as the way Tories choose a leader

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