The new "Charlie"

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"Hajis" seems to be the word used by members of the American military occupying Iraq to refer to the locals.
http://www.fcnl.org/issues/int/sup/iraq vehicles414-03.htm

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" (Email Removed) Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

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[nq:1]"Hajis" seems to be the word used by members of the American military occupying Iraq to refer to the locals.[/nq]
Maybe I'm missing something here. I don't know of any derogatory associations of 'Haji' - it's even part of the name of the mighty Stelios! Far preferable to some of the other epithets known to the US military for Middle-Easterners.

John Dean
Oxford
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John Dean filted:
[nq:2]"Hajis" seems to be the word used by members of the American military occupying Iraq to refer to the locals.[/nq]
[nq:1]Maybe I'm missing something here. I don't know of any derogatory associations of 'Haji' - it's even part of the name of the mighty Stelios! Far preferable to some of the other epithets known to the US military for Middle-Easterners.[/nq]
Well, there's that little tag-along friend in the Jonny Quest cartoons...apart from a few mysterious rope tricks I don't remember that he actually did much of anything, so invoking his name might refer to his uselessness..r

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[nq:2]"Hajis" seems to be the word used by members of the American military occupying Iraq to refer to the locals.[/nq]
[nq:1]Maybe I'm missing something here. I don't know of any derogatory associations of 'Haji' - it's even part of the name of the mighty Stelios! Far preferable to some of the other epithets known to the US military for Middle-Easterners.[/nq]
Are you implying that "Charlie" was a derogatory term for the Viet Cong? It's just a shortened form of "Victor Charlie", the phonetic code for "VC".
It was also a habit in Vietnam to refer to the VC as "Charles". If they wanted to be derogatory there was a whole lexicon of terms for the Vietnamese but not the VC specifically.
Brian Wickham

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[nq:1]John Dean filted:[/nq]
[nq:2]Maybe I'm missing something here. I don't know of any ... the other epithets known to the US military for Middle-Easterners.[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, there's that little tag-along friend in the Jonny Quest cartoons...apart from a few mysterious rope tricks I don't remember that he actually did much of anything, so invoking his name might refer to his uselessness..r[/nq]
But his name was "Hadji Singh". If you search for "Hajis" you'll find references to those going on the Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca). I don't think it's so much the name as the fact there *is* a nickname for "them" as opposed to "us".
As discussed here back in 1993, Charlie came from the NATO phonetic alphabet for Viet Cong (Victor Charlie), not from Charlie Chan or Mr. Charlie (supposedly an offensive slang term for white folks).

The NATO phonetic alphabet:
Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey X-ray Yankee Zulu
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" (Email Removed) Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

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[nq:2]John Dean filted: Well, there's that little tag-along friend in ... anything, so invoking his name might refer to his uselessness..r[/nq]
[nq:1]But his name was "Hadji Singh". If you search for "Hajis" you'll find references to those going on the Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca). I don't think it's so much the name as the fact there *is* a nickname for "them" as opposed to "us".[/nq]
You don't think they* have nicknames for *us? (!) You don't think Murrican troops have nicknames for themselves?
John Dean
Oxford
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[nq:2]"Hajis" seems to be the word used by members of the American military occupying Iraq to refer to the locals.[/nq]
[nq:1]Maybe I'm missing something here. I don't know of any derogatory associations of 'Haji' - it's even part of the name of the mighty Stelios! Far preferable to some of the other epithets known to the US military for Middle-Easterners.[/nq]
It's non-derogatory as long as it's used in its original sense. Once you start using it irrespective of whether the person in question has been on the Hajj, it smacks of cultural insensitivity. Going one step further, if it's used to refer to a non-Muslim Iraqi then it would be reasonable to expect the excrement to hit the air conditioning.
How popular would you be in Israel if you started calling everyone "rabbi"? It's a term of respect, no?

Peter Moylan (Email Removed) http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au (OS/2 and eCS information and software)

The new "Charlie"

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