Warning: Yet another post with no business content. But if you’re old like me, you might find it an amusing walk down memory lane.
As much as I try to deny my geezerhood, this blog keeps tripping me up.
A few months ago, it was being accused of being homophobic for using the phrase “flame away” in my post on why I hate San Francisco.
Now I’m a chauvinist pig for calling Barbara Ehrenreich an “ignorant slut.”
A quick history lesson.
“Ignorant slut” is a reference to the classic Saturday Night Live bit with Dan Ackroyd and Jane Curtin.
Saturday Night Live was a great sketch comedy series that debuted in the 1970s, and launched the careers of people like Bill Murray, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell. For those of you who don’t recognize the first eight names, let me reassure you that they were once big stars, and very funny.
If none of this still rings a bell, SNL is also the show that did the “Lazy Sunday” rap on the Chronicles of Narnia.
Side note for all you geezers out there: For the current generation, Bill Murray is that old guy in all the Wes Anderson movies, John Belushi is Jim Belushi’s brother, Eddie Murphy is the guy who does all those family comedies that aren’t funny, and all the other folks are random people from the caveman days, along with Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle.
At any rate, back to “you ignorant slut.”
In a classic Weekend Update bit, Dan Ackroyd and are two dueling news anchors. As they debate issues,, they lob insults at each other, culminating in Ackroyd’s famous line, “Jane, you ignorant slut.”
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live
Now Barbara Ehrenreich is ignorant, but I had no intention of implying anything about her sexual practices. I was simply tipping my hat to a classic take on the absurdity of this kind of debate.
By the way, where are all the troll’s rights protesters? After all, trolls have feelings too!
P.S. For bonus points, identify the reference in this post’s title.
My advice: ignore any and all PCoids. People who troll the world finding offense in everything are losers who need lives.
By “explaining” yourself, you only encourage ’em…
If you are qualifying each post w/ or w/o biz content because your prestigious position on the FeedBurner Entrepreneur network, then I think it’s not worth it. Just listen to your heart, and post it, regardless of business content!
I’m not a fan of political correctness. But when I am to offend, I want to do so intentionally.
In this case, there was simply a misunderstanding, so I wanted to clarify.
If, on the other hand, someone were to complain that I hadn’t used the right crypto-racist terminology (people of color, anyone?) I would denounce him for the scoundrel he was.
Your post raised a sensible objection that was immediately obscured by the tasteless SNL allusion. I do wish Ehrenreich would address herself to the problem of comparative advantage. It could only make her analysis more interesting.
Big props for the allusion to T. S. Eliot — he can’t be understood without the footnotes either. 😉
I got the ignorant slut reference right away and thought it was hilarious.
In my mind, give the haters the old Emily Latella “Oh, never mind!”
ob opening quote: i always liked eliot’s love song for j alfred prufrock.
maybe it’s me, but you don’t strike me as the person eliot had in mind when writing the poem in 1917.
Mark,
No, but I love the line. It’s nearly perfect in its euphonious sound. And it has stuck with me for almost 20 years so far.
Another one: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”