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How acceptable is it to use the word "nazi" in a fun or joking context? Should it be acceptable?
E.G. grammar nazi (from a question on Quora), soup nazi (from Seinfeld), cleanliness nazi, etc.
I noticed that people on Quora got offended by a question that had the phrase "grammar nazi," so I got all curious about potential replacements, so I asked this question and the followup In the phrase "grammar Nazi" what words could replace "Nazi", ideally something fun or funny and recognizable?
I noticed that people on Quora got offended by a question that had the phrase "grammar nazi," so I got all curious about potential replacements, so I asked this question and the followup In the phrase "grammar Nazi" what words could replace "Nazi", ideally something fun or funny and recognizable?
otheradvice
2011 answer
Yes it's acceptable. How is it racist to make Nazi jokes? It's not like they exist now. They're all dead! Nazis aren't a reflection of Germans, they're just a minority fringe party that got elected.If the racist BNP party got elected in the UK, and started deporting all the black and asian criminals, and a both black and white person are at a party who were friends. And the white friend wakes up to his black friend jokingly putting shaving cream on his face making a comment, then the black person jokes "What are ya gonna do? Call the BNP on me?", that's not actually racist. It's being used in a joking manner. Both friends know that neither is racist.
However the BNP, racism and deportation would be real if they were elected; and that would still be a joke. But the Nazi Party aren't elected and are all dead, so how can it possibly more so, not be a joke? If the black person was German, and the white person substituted BNP with Nazis in his comment, it would still be a joke. It's not like it criticizes Germans to use a Nazi comment, and it's not like it criticizes white people to use a BNP comment.
People are just too darn sensitive, and can't take simple joke. There's nothing racist about it when people use the phrase grammar nazi. It's more about them reacting irrationally to what they feel, rather than logically interpreting what was really meant. Those same people would get upset about any word you say, even if you never said that word! The issue isn't about what you've said, it's all about them.
2019 answer
The goal of a comedian is to find out where the line is, and push it as far as it can go.