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[8ball_gag]

This made me facepalm.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/2349017/Eskimo-lollies-rile-Inuit

A staple lolly of the New Zealand 50-cent mixture has upset a Canadian tourist because she considers its name and shape offensive

Comments

[xhile]

My flatmate told me of this last night. My quick 2c:

Would we make lollies called "Niggers" ?

If Inuits are offended, what's the big deal for us changing the name? If it *truly is* offensive, why would we want to have sweets that offend Canadians, any more than we would sell "Niggers" to black americans?

[cybogoblin]

Think of it this way... Prior to this news article, did you associate any negative connotations to the word 'Eskimo'?

'Nigger' was used as a derogatory since it's inception (sure, it is derived from nigro, the Latin for black), it has always been considered a negative word.

Also, it looks like the whole thing may be something of a common misconception.

Folklore has it that some Algonkian languages called Eskimos by names that mean "eaters of raw meat". Linguistic research by anthropologists does not support that etymology, but regardless it is commonly felt in Canada and Greenland that the term Eskimo is pejorative.

[8ball_gag]

My thoughts exactly.

[tlanti]

My flatmates told me about this and got me all curious so I want to try the lollies in question - I'd never heard of them until now! :)