Magnitude-6.2 quake jolts Negros, aftershocks expected

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: GMA News

At least three predawn quakes, with the most powerful measuing magnitude-6.2, jolted the Negros area in Western Visayas, with the quake felt as far as Central Visayas and Mindanao.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology director Renato Solidum Jr. said the quake was recorded at 4:47 a.m. even as Phivolcs warned of possible aftershocks.

The United States Geological Survey initially measured the first quake at magnitude 6.4.

It said the epicenter was 126 km west northwest of Dumaguete; 135 km south southwest of Iloilo, Panay; 151 km south southwest of Bacolod; or 576 km south southeast of Manila.



Read more: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/225946/regions/magnitude-62-quake-jolts-negros-aftershocks-expected

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Worst. Headline. Ever.

They could've worded it differently?

[virgogal]

2. What's wrong with it?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. It's the name of the place

and it's not even pronounced the same. :shakeshead:

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Most people aren't familiar with Philippine geography

I myself have had more than a cursory education in the　field and did not immediately think of a region in the Philippines when I saw that headline.

[Dennis Donovan]

11. I know it's not your headline. I know of the Negros region, but when I first saw...

...the headline, the Negros region wasn't my first thought.:shrug:

[Cereal Kyller]

16. Not even the worst headline of the day!

Check this one from Slate:

http://www.slate.com/id/2298453/

[Rhiannon12866]

17. Geez... Don't these folks have copy editors?

I used to do that for a living and neither of these would have gotten by me... x(

[onenote]

29. I'm curious how you would have rewriten these headlines?

Presumably, even as an editor, you wouldn't have taken all references to Negros out of the first story or all references to "brain fag" out of the second.

The objections voiced in this thread reflect a somewhat parochial view of the world. I fully agree that the term fag is appropriately objectionable when used to refer to a gay individual. When used by Nigerians to refer to the condition described, which has nothing to do with being gay -- not so much.

As for the first one, I agree that if this headline had been intended for mainstream American audiences, who probably have no idea that there is a place called Negros, a different wording would have been appropriate -- as in fact was the case in AP's headline (6.2 Magnitude Quake Rocks Philippines) and the Washington Post headline (Magnitude 6.2 Quake Rocks Negros Island in Philippines).

But the headline in the OP was from a source that is aimed at Filipinos, who presumably know that Negros is in the Philippines and that its an island. So for that audience, the headline was perfectly appropriate.

[Rhiannon12866]

30. Well, not everything we wrote was aimed at American audiences.

But we had to be really careful because Americans are pretty easily offended. I agree that the other two headlines would be more appropriate for American readers and there are lots of words without double meanings and "fag" is just asking for it no matter who might be reading it. It also means sticks used to start a fire, but it would be the last word I'd choose... x(

We were told to aim for a sixth grade reader, LOL. I once used the word "obstreperous" and that didn't pass muster ;). Someone once used the word "niggardly" to mean stingy and all hell broke loose with complaints from readers over that one! x(

We adhered to AP standards, which I assume these publications also do. At least that's supposed to keep things safe, but I've also learned that there's nothing that someone won't take exception to, especially now. When they prohibited the phrase "inner city" and replaced it with "ghetto," as the acceptable term, I really did throw up my hands... :crazy: :hi:

[happyslug]

31. Faggot to mean Homosexuals appears to be less then 100 years old

General consensus is the term Faggot to mean a Homosexual came out of New York City about 1910-1920. It may be earlier, but the earliest written record of the use for Homosexuals is 1914.

While, no one likes the theory, the best theory as to where the term came from appears to be a similar sounding Yiddish word that appears to be in common use by Yiddish speakers of New York City of about 1910-1920 as a slang word for a homosexual.

The term appears to only cross the Atlantic to Britain only after WWII, British Troops are reported using the term "Fags" only as to Cigarettes in WWII (In addition most Americans appear NOT to use the term for anything but bundles of Wood till about the same time period, again showing it appears to be a New York City term, that spread to the West Coast and then the rest of the US).

Now the term Faggot when used to mean a bundle of Sticks (or Wood and later Cigarettes) can be traced back to the 1300s, but did NOT relate to Homosexuality until the 1900s and then in the US first. The Term "Faggot" is still used in Britain to mean a bundle of sticks, or starting in the 1850s a type of meat pie prepared and made in England (the term and dish never cross the Atlantic, Americans never used the term for this type of meal nor the meal).

Wikipedia on this subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot_(slang)

Another source of the use:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2112/how-did-faggot-get-to-mean-male-homosexual

Faggot to mean a Meat Pie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot_(food)

Other use of the term Faggot: including being a 18th century type of English voter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot

Just a comment on how this word came to its modern American Meaning AND that its older meaning still has life in Britain and much of the rest of the Non-North American English Speaking word.

[customerserviceguy]

18. Ok, you're right

That one really takes the cake.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. The headline writer is Filipino, writing for Filipinos

I would guess 'negro' is not a common word there.

[Dennis Donovan]

13. That was my guess - it certainly reads... differntly here in the US.

[Igel]

25. No, it doesn't.

At least not for people who can spell.

The word meaning "black person" is "negro" with the plural "negroes."

This is "Negros."

Heck, I imagine a lot of those responding to this thread spell the plural of "potato" "potatos," having graduated from the Dan Quayle English Orthagrafee Cours.

[The Big Vetolski]

19. "Negros" is Spanish for "blacks." It's the name of a Filipino island.

I knew what the OP was talking about and the racial reference didn't even occur to me. But, then again, I'm a geography freak, dude. I suppose he could have said "the Island of Negros" or "Negros Island." No, those don't work either, do they?

Maybe if Americans were actually taught geography?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

20. +1

[happyslug]

32. There is a Negro Mountain in Pennsylvania, named to honor an African American who died there

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_Mountain

Throughout US History the name used for African Americans have changed. In Colonial American the term Negro was preferred, it basically meant someone of the Negro Race. The Term "Colored" was adopted during the Colonial period to mean someone who was of mixed race. During the time period before the Civil War, how much African American "Blood" was in an African American became a way to discriminate. During that time period the less African American "blood" a African American had, the higher social status that African American had in much of the South. Over time this gave raise to the term "Colored" for African Americans, for "Colored" implied an African American had some white ancestors and thus was better then a "Negro" who had not white ancestors (Remember I am talking about pre-Civil War American NOT today so please do NOT take offense).

During the Civil War, the North decided to raise African American units, these were called "Colored" Troops for by that time more African Americans preferred the term "Colored" to the term "Negro" (and Negro's even more hated relative, that is spelled with two gs). The term "Colored" was used till the 1950s (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP was founded in during the height of the use of the Term "Colored" and thus why the term is in its name). In the 1950s and accelerating in the 1960s, the term "Black" became more and more popular. Previously the term had been avoided for its implied 100% African background, something most African Americans can not claim, but with the Civil Rights Movement more and more African Americans saw a need to praise their African background not be ashamed of it, and thus the term "Black" became the preferred term.

The term "Blacks" had always been used in terms of African Americans, but only as a substitute for the Term Negro, i.e. most people divided the people of the world in the 1800s into three "Races", the Caucasians, the Orientals and the Negro Races often "simplified" to the White, Yellow and Black Races (Today's students of people tend to reject these over simplified divisions, but popular in the 1800s).

At the same time period (The 1950s and 1960s), the term "Negro" came to be viewed as the same as its cousin with two gs and many African Americans came to view both terms as the same, even through both terms had been viewed as different for centuries (In the 1860s election, an American Politician when discussing the possible election of the Southern branch of the Democratic Party being elected President, made the comment that "the American People would never elect someone President who spells Negro with two gs" showing that among even white the variation with two gs was known to be derogatory as to African Americans by 1860).

Thus by the 1960s it became the norm to referred to African Americans as "Blacks" instead of Negros or Colored persons. This has been the Norm only since the 1950s (The term Colored survived in the US Army till the last Colored units were integrated during the Korean War in the early 1950s).

Since about 2000, the term African Americans seems to be the "Correct" term for people previously referred to as "Negros", "Coloreds" and "Blacks".

Given this history it is not surprising that some people would be offended on seeing these earlier terms for African Americans still being used for things named during those time periods when the earlier terms were viewed as the "Correct" term for African Americans. Negro is one of those terms, and since it is the oldest term and the closest with the derogatory name with two gs for African Americans it is easy to see why people object when they see the term. Most people should know better, but given most Americans get their geography lessons from TV News, we should not be surprised that things named centuries ago sound like a more recent derogatory term, people will jump the the derogatory term instead of the actual wording and what it meant when the term was first used.

[kestrel91316]

3. Oh, dear. How did the Whites manage to avoid the shaking??

[ejbr]

24. +1 n/t

[Igel]

26. Don't you mean "Whits."

After all, the old-fashioned way of referring to blacks is still spelled "Negroes."

Eh. What differenc dos an "e" mak?

[my2sense]

4. What the fresh hell is this? - That title (at first glance)

made my jaw drop.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. I, too, was momentarily stunned. nt

[Lucinda]

5. Is this more ring of fire quakes?

I'm not sure where this falls on the ring of fire outline...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. it's in the ring, just on the other side of the Pacific.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.gooddive.com/philippines-diving/negros-island-map.htm&h=700&w=540&sz=100&tbnid=GCo1ysn3kBN1BM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=69&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dnegros%2Bmap%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=negros+map&usg=__xO0YdFIS_-4Yfm4KRPu1AfTK1DU=&sa=X&ei=jIobTrqsIsPYiAL3573RBQ&ved=0CBoQ9QEwAA&dur=4603

[Permanut]

6. Agreed...

Right up there with:

"Ann Coulter does Bill Maher".

[izquierdista]

9. For those too lazy to Wiki it...

Negros Island was originally called Buglas – an old native word thought to mean "cut off." It is believed that Negros was once part of a greater mass of land, but was cut off either by what geologists call continental drift or by rising waters during the Ice age. Among its earliest inhabitants were dark-skinned natives belonging to the Negrito ethnic group, who had a unique culture.

Thus, the Spaniards called the land Negros after the black natives they saw on their arrival on the island in April 1565.

[DeadEyeDyck]

15. I went to the PI with my Dad when I was a kid

back in the early 90s. We went to Mindanao and up to Bagnio. I love those islands and the people. Once you got out of the big cities, it was like a giant garden of Eden. We went on a canoeing trip up the same river where they filmed the old Viet Nam movie "Apocalypse Now". They left much of the setting in place as a tourist attraction. Our guides were negritoes and they had their teeth filed to a point. Being half black, they seemed particularly affectionate to a kid like me. It was one of the most fun times in my life. I sure hope these people fair well and recover quickly.

[valerief]

21. I read the subject and thought it was 1965 again. nt

[Odin2005]

22. headline EPIC FAIL!!!

:rofl:

[Corruption Winz]

23. Headline did get a chuckle out of me...

However, when you understand what it represents, it's obviously a horrible situation. Hopefully, as many as possible were spared.

[onenote]

27. For those having fainting spells about this headline, how would you rewrite it?

[slackmaster]

28. Sonic boom scares minority groups in Sector B

And there's hamburger all over the highway in Mystic, Connecticut.