Is "DINK" offensive?

[MrCoffee]

MERLIN, Ore. - The state of Oregon has ordered a family to turn in the vanity license plates on its cars because their Dutch last name, which is written on the plates, is similar to an offensive word.

The plates, UDINK1 UDINK2 and UDINK3 are on the vehicles of Mike and Shelly Udink and their son Kalei. Two of the plates are five and seven years old. One was issued last year. Last summer, Kawika Udink's application for UDINK4 was rejected and the state ordered that the other three plates be returned.

"DINK has several derogatory meanings," Yvonne Bell, who sits on the Department of Motor Vehicles panel that approves vanity plates, told the Daily Courier newspaper. DMV spokesman David House and Bell said the word can be treated as a verb, which gives it a sexual reference, and also can be a racial slur targeted at the Vietnamese.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20966693/

[Connonym]

1. I thought it was synonymous with dork

Is it a racial slur?

[skygazer]

2. I was surprised at the plate I saw the other day

On a low-rider. "DYM BAG"

How that one got by them, I'll never know. :eyes:

[MrCoffee]

4. I saw "DZNUTZ" on a TX license plate...

laughed so hard i almost crashed.

[DS1]

7. that's the car you have following the real drug carrying car by about 2 miles

talk about a cop magnet, you might as well just have "I dare you to search this car, piggie! OINK OINK!" written on your bumper

[flvegan]

3. No, matter of fact, I loved "Green Mind"

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=71802105

Man oh man
My hands in the plans
Fan of the man
Sands in the plans
I'm at home
On my own
Gone and flown
A home's a home
Ren the Hoak
And other folk
Soaked and soaked
By their joke
Hey Hey Joe Joe
Whatcha know whatcha know
Hey Hey Joe Joe
Whatcha know whatcha know
*Push and push
The level of the tone
A bone's a bone
A moan's a moan
What's next what's next
Who knows not those
Bear it wear it
Live it or die it
Hearts that bleed
Hearts that need
Need and need
Bleed and bleed
Toke and toke
The smokin' toke
Smokin' Joe he know
Smokin' Joe he know
Hit after hit
My fuck's not fit
To sit and sit and
Follow that shit
On my own
My brain's my home
I'm alone you're alone
I'm alone we're alone
*Repeat
There's no glove
There's no love
Push to shove
No glove no love
Safety first
Safely thirst
Skirt the hurt
That ignorance flirts
Go to bed
Cover your head
Cover your head
Or end up dead
Cover you heard
Or end up dead
Cover your head
Or end up dead
Man on man
My hands in the plans
Fan of the man
Sands in the plans
I'm at home
On my own
Gone and flown
A home's a home
Ren the Hoak
Another bloke
Soaked and soaked
By the joke
Hey hey John K
Watcha say watcha say
Hey Hey Joe Joe
Watcha know watcha know

[mzteris]

5. What?

I didn't know "dink" had some sort of racial overtone.

I say that all the time. :blush: What the heck is it supposed to mean?

I thought it was like being a little dingy - forgetful, silly, type of thing.

[skygazer]

6. I thought it meant HAVING a little dingy

:rofl:

[Gormy Cuss]

19. You dink.

:rofl:

When we said it as kids, it meant sort of like dork but more like stupid jerk.

[Parche]

22. You Have A Little Dinky?

:rofl: :hi:

[MrCoffee]

9. according to the Oregon DMV, it's a racial slur against Vitenamese

i use dink all the time too. i thought it meant the same thing you do. as in, "what do you mean you forgot the _______, that's the whole reason we're here, you dink."


i had no idea it could be a racial slur.

[skygazer]

10. Oh, gosh, I DID know that!

I just forgot. :dunce:

[Connonym]

12. me either, maybe it's a Wisconsin thing?

It's sort of ingrained in my vocabulary but if it does have an offensive racial meaning I'll stop using it. I'd like to know... Gosh how many phrases from childhood that we learned innocently we now come to find are not so innocent. I was talking to an elderly neighbor the other day. She's selling her house and she made a remark to me about the buyers "jewing me down" I was a bit flabbergasted to hear that expression. Perhaps I should have commented to her that it's not a very polite thing to say but I was cowardly and kept my mouth shut. I wonder if she thinks it's an innocent expression that she's known all her life the way I think dink is an innocent expression. Why does language have to be so freaking difficult?!

[Rhythm]

49. I've heard that in my workplaces a couple of times, and it wasn't pretty

Let's just say that the speakers got a history lesson, and were more than happy to apologize and not re-offend.

Same thing goes when people use "Gay" as something derogatory.

[mzteris]

54. I've used it for YEARS.

even when I was in NC.

I had absolutely NO IDEA!!

I did have someone look at me funny not too many months back but I didn't really think much of it. Now I know. :blush:

And there are a LOT of Vietnamese around here, too. Oh geez. I hope to hell I never said it around them. sh*t.

OK - breaking that bad habit is now becoming a priority.

[AllegroRondo]

8. I saw "FAH KIT" a couple years ago

I want to know how he got that past the censors.....

[Mike Daniels]

11. I thought it was akin to "dork"

I guess it's true...you do learn something new every day.

[Left Is Write]

13. If people can have BUSH on their license plates, surely they can have DINK!

[billyskank]

34. As ever, the voice of reason.

:hi:

[Tian Zhuangzhuang]

14. This is exactly why South Park makes fun of liberals. nt

[Shell Beau]

29. South Park makes fun of EVERYONE!

[kenny blankenship]

15. Damn, this will be bad news for the Ucunt family...

They all loved their personalized plates, when last I visited with them.

[Courtesy Flush]

16. I was only familiar with the Double Income version

My wife and I are DINKs. It's the next best thing to being rich. Compared to our co-workers who are parents, we're living the life of Riley.

The way things are these days, we'd be raising grandchildren by now, so our kids could live like DINKs. It's better this way.

[MrCoffee]

17. i miss my dink days...

when MrsCoffee and I were carefree and up to our eyeballs in disposable income.

[Connonym]

18. hey, "the life of Riley" is offensive to Irish people

cut it out willya? (kidding)

[Courtesy Flush]

26. How about the Life of O'Reilly?

Talk about offensive! :)

[Deja Q]

20. Isn't the word a colloquialism for 'penis'?

:shrug:

[ghostsofgiants]

21. How can anyone find a pro wrestling little person clown offensive?

[Parche]

23. Merlin Oregon Is right wing territory also

Lot of right wingers in Southern Oregon...........:grr: :hi:

[Xithras]

24. Isn't that a telletubby?

Dinky Doo or some crap like that?

Let them have it. Dink used to be a slur used for Vietnamese, but I don't think I've even heard it used in 20 years (it was popular in the 70's when the boat people were coming to the U.S.).

I don't think they should get their license pulled because their last name happens to be similar to some obscure, rarely used racial slur.

[Reverend_Smitty]

25. Still I think this takes the cake for best license plate ever!!!

[no name no slogan]

46. The funny thing is...

...it's a completely normally issued (aka non-vanity) plate, too.

[Shell Beau]

27. It is there last name! How is that offensive?

I have never even heard of that word.

[xchrom]

28. double income no kids.

[billyskank]

30. The I-Ching calculator says

a suffusion of yellow.

[MrCoffee]

33. very good, Mr. Gently, nee Cjelli

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

31. I don't know - why don't you ask an Asian person

[billyskank]

36. I didn't know Alan Shearer was Asian.

:D

[Susang]

32. From UrbanDictionary.com

2. dink 173 up, 110 down

Local slang in Vermont. A stupid person, a jerk, an a-hole. A general putdown of one's abilities.

You are such a dink.
by neil May 25, 2004 email it

Maybe it's regional? :shrug:

[billyskank]

35. The BBC is currently embroiled in a scandal over the naming of a cat

on the popular kids' TV show Blue Peter. They held a phone-in vote to name the show's new cat, and the poll favoured the name Cookie. But the producers overruled this and named the cat Socks, because apparently "cookie" is a slang term for a woman's genitalia.

News to me. :shrug:

If you say it with a raised eyebrow or a wink, can't every word be a slang term for something to do with sex or genitals?

[supernova]

38. Cookie?

Well, I guess now we know what The Cookie Monster was really after all these years. :crazy:

The current fashionable word here is "taco."

[kenny blankenship]

42. I prefer fine china.

[Rhythm]

48. Anything can be double-entendre, or an outright sexual come-on...

Oktoberain and i have joked about that for a long, long time...

"I'd like to butter her toast."

"So, wanna check out my fuel injection?"

anything...

[hfojvt]

37. not nearly as offensive as

herk.

[crim son]

39. As a kid growing up in Ontario, a dink was

a penis. Make of that what you will.

[rateyes]

40. I googled "define: dink" and this came up

"ball played just over the net or blocker’s hands, instead of spiking"

So, yes, I guess it is sexual. :evilgrin:

[rateyes]

41. I would have voted for betting my sweet bippy...

but, can't remember what a bippy is. :shrug:

[Westegg]

43. Yep. See this "Apocalypse Now" quote...

KILGORE
You smell that? Do you smell that?

LANCE
What?

KILGORE
(pointing to trees)
Napalm, son. Nothing else in the
world smells like that.
(crouches down)
I love the smell of napalm in the
morning. You know, one time we
had a hill bombed for twelve
hours...and when it was all over,
I walked up. We didn't find one
of them, not one stinking dink
body. The smell, you know that
gasoline smell? The whole hill-
smelled like-victory.

[Blue_Tires]

60. lol

col. kilgore was the fuckin' MAN....i could have watched a movie just about him

[Mountainman]

44. I thought it meant "dual income no kids" which describes my wife and I. I don't find that meaning

offensive. It's our choice.

[REP]

52. Another Proud DINK Here!

[trof]

45. Dink was a reference to Viet Namese during the 'war'.

Don't know if they're reaching back that far.
I wouldn't think so, but who knows?
A bit over the top, if so.
Think the term has been out of use for a long time.

[Rhythm]

47. "Dink" was a friend's nickname in high school...

There was a large-ish crew of us who hung around together at the midnight "Rock Horror" screenings on the weekends in the '80s, and Dink was our most reliable floor-show "Rocky".

For the life of me, i have no clue what his 'real' name was...
I'm not sure that anyone, other than his girlfriend, did.
And she just called him Dink, anyway. *L*

[Left Is Write]

53. For some reason I just thought of the book "Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!"

(Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers it.)

[Swede]

50. Who ya dinking now? Did you dink her? etc

So,ya it's got a lot of uses.

[Generator]

51. Oregon fascists?

As ELLEN says, "HOW DARE YOU!"

We just handed a defeat to the patriot act. Take that!

But as far as DINK-so now it's offensive to be dual income no kids?

Bless the childless-but they dare not be proud I guess! LOL

[triguy46]

55. I didn't know it was a noun....

I use it to describe my normal at home activities, like "I'm going to dink around with the tractor.." or "I've got to dink around with with the computer".

[BlueIris]

56. I still can't figure out what verb form of "DINK" is a reference to sex or is sexist, but whatever.

I hate the idea of allowing license plates with derogatory language on them in my state, especially if the obscenities are racist, misogynist or misanthropic. That's not something the state should be condoning in any form. Just because I don't "get it" doesn't mean others won't and won't be horribly offended.

[Left Is Write]

57. Years ago, in the dark ages when I was but a youngster...

one of dink's many meanings was sexual in nature, as in, "He dinked her on the first date."

It was also synonymous with a significant portion of male anatomy.

AND it meant an idiotic jerk.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

58. My boss calls me a DINK all the time...

Double Income, No Kids. :shrug:
People are just not happy unless they are offended.
Duckie

[pitohui]

59. personlly i'm proud to be double income, no kids

how is it offensive?

the breeders need to get over themselves plus...it's these folks NAME

[bridgit]

61. right = Oregon, poverty with a view...

:spray: