MMM… WE THINK SHE WAS BEING “IRONIC”

DEAR MARY McDonald-LEWIS: [“Letters to the Editor,” June 28, in which Ms.
McDonald-Lewis reminds the Mercury that the word “welch” is an oppressive
term directed at Welsh people.] I am all for ending the use of terms created
out of the idiocy of long-dead bigots. That would certainly make for a nice,
clean, and P.C. kind of world, wouldn’t it? Therefore, did you notice that while
you were engaged in a hysterical, arm-waving Chinese Fire Drill (Whoa, I’ve
never seen a Chinese person actually do that!) you used the word “gyp” in the
context of cheating a person out of money? Of course, being an oppressed Welsh
person who is well aware of other stereotypical terms used here in America,
you know that “gyp” is derived from “gypsy,” and we all know why “gypsy” has
the connotations it does. They’re all thieving bastards, right? Just wanted
to make you aware that your letter was full of hypocrisy. Be careful.

Pisano-Jackeen Yankee Broad from the Ghetto

NO, REALLY… WE’RE PRETTY SURE SHE WAS BEING IRONIC

TO THE EDITOR: DON’T OPPRESS THE GYPSIES! [Re: Mary McDonald¯Lewis letter,
June 28] Now I hate Lon Mabon’s guts as much as the next person, but I had to
wince at the use of the word “gyp,” surely a description invented by gypsy oppressors.
I just wanted to point out the inadvertent, slightly painful hypocrisy and pretension
of a letter about intolerance.

Jeff Mulcaster–A proud Gypsy descendant
(Okay. Not really)

JESUS CHRIST! SHE WAS BEING IRONIC!!

TO THE EDITOR: I just wanna say that as long as Mary McDonald-Lewis is staging
Chinese fire drills over the brutal intolerance and profound ignorance of using
the word “welch” in a headline, she might stop for a bit of her own advice.
Perhaps she is profoundly ignorant of the origin of the word “gyp” (“Lon Mabon
being something of a gyp”). It is a shortening of the word gypsy, which in itself
began as a negative term for the Egyptians who traveled out of Africa into Eastern
Europe. Blah blah blah, please tell her to shut the fuck up.

Anonymous

SHE WAS BEING IRONI– OH, NEVER MIND.

TO THE EDITOR: Maybe Mary McDonald-Lewis meant her letter to contain ironic
uses of language, but maybe not. In any case it is unfortunate that in her plea
to cease using derogatory terms about the Welsh, she used one herself about
gypsies. The term “to gyp” derives from gypsy; it is a derogatory term. It implies
that gypsies cheat or steal. So why does she think it is okay to use derisive
terms about gypsies, but not about Welsh? Also, maybe Ms. McDonald-Lewis has
been to lots of “Chinese fire drills,” but I suspect not; I suspect that reference
also contains a misleading cultural stereotype that she might do well to avoid,
particularly in letters she writes to complain about cultural stereotyping.

People really ought to think more about the language they use, especially if they are going to launch complaints about other peoples’ uses of language. I have not edited this letter much, so it may not be perfect, but I am fairly sure it does not contain any inadvertent language insensitivities.

C. Dollanganger


KATIA AND SCOTT, SITTIN’ IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

OH, SWEET, SWEET KATIA: Congratulations on your piece “High School Confidential”
[about imprisoned teenage impersonator, Treva Throneberry] being featured on
the website Nerve.com. We here locally are well
aware of your tremendous writing talent. Now, all Netizscheans of America, nay,
even the world, can bask in the blissful glow that your words do shine upon
us. My only fear is that the petty, backbiting staff that you are forced to
endure at that “regional” newspaper may not feel the same. Write on, I say!
Do not let them deter you in your art!

Scott


KARRIN AND THE NRA, SITTIN’ IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

TO KARRIN ELLERTSON: Thank you for your article, “There’s Nothing Like the
Feel of Smoking Steel” [Feature, June 28, in which Karrin visits the local shooting
ranges.] It has been quite a while since I read an article about firearms without
the usual call for total prohibition.

You had the courage to step into a totally unfamiliar world. It’s enough to inspire me to take a chance and step into the world I fear… retail shopping! Well done!

John F McEnroe
National Rifle Association Certified Instructor

P.S. It has been my experience that women are naturally better shots!