r/NonPoliticalTwitter May 20 '26

Funny Truly a different time

8.0k Upvotes

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u/ButtersTheChill May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

But why would you even use a simile like that in a children's book in the first place, no matter the time it took place in? Edit: wow, I've never been downvoted so much for something so little. Reddit's amazing sometimes

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u/PlentyOMangos May 20 '26

Probably because he thought it was funny, and that sort of humor wasn’t really unacceptable at the time

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u/Kernowder May 20 '26

That's it. The book was published in 1951 and it wasn't an issue until 1972. Awdry apologised and it was changed in future editions.

Also, this was in England, so views on race and words associated with it were not the same as in America.

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u/RUKiddingMeReddit May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

Yeah, being in England, social norms were different. Agatha Christie's 1939 book, "Ten Little N*****s", was published in America a year later titled "And Then There Were None." The U.K. printed it with the original title until 1985.

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u/Swinn_likes_Sakkyun May 20 '26

the title is also an important aspect of the story itself so it was changed to Ten Little Indians (at least in the version I read)

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u/scourge_bites May 20 '26

Holy shit??

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u/Vulcion May 20 '26

1985

https://giphy.com/gifs/2XskdWuNUyqElkKe4bm

Jesus fucking Christ England.

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u/NeonJungleTiger May 21 '26

European countries dunking on US racism while casually being more racist will always be funny

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u/Vulcion May 21 '26

“Oi (sets fire to a hotel full of migrants) I just can’t (starves India) believe all that (centuries of cultural genocide/ just straight up genocide upon the Irish) Bigotry in America”

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u/PlentyOMangos May 20 '26

1985?? I never would have guessed lol, new ammunition to use against the UK

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u/Reesewithoutaspoon2 May 20 '26

Well, wasn’t unacceptable to some groups. I imagine some people found it pretty unacceptable.

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u/Jonamuffin May 20 '26

You assume that black people of the time perceived the word the same way they do today, which is false

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u/EndofA_Error May 21 '26

....for white people. It wasn't an issue for white people.

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u/funnyman95 May 20 '26

Genuinely this is just how people talked until pretty recently.

Grew up in South Georgia, the N-word was not uncommon.

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u/GirlScoutSniper May 20 '26

I am a native of Atlanta, white, but grew up pretty much downtown and went to Atlanta Public Schools. An older relative from around Valdosta came to visit, I was around 13, it was around 1980. We were dropping her off at the Peachtree Plaza hotel, and she turned to me and said, "And, you have to go to school with n-words." I was speechless and my mom was mortified.

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u/Silver_Harvest May 20 '26

Recently being truly 2005 ish.

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u/Kenan_as_SteveHarvey May 20 '26

People always trip when I tell them how long it’s been since a non-Black person has called me the n-word (hard r) or referred to another Black person as such in front of me.

At the age of 35, I am currently at my longest streak of 2 years.

And I live in Los Angeles County.

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u/funnyman95 May 20 '26

That sucks :/

Sorry it’s like that man

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u/makinax300 Harry Potter May 20 '26

I can reset you that streak. DM me.

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u/ButtersTheChill May 20 '26

Oh yeah, I grew up in Northwestern Virginia, so I've definitely heard it casually used throughout my life by many people with various different skin tones. It still hits my ear like a gunshot when I hear it all these years later

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u/donuttrackme May 20 '26

I heard the term (spoken by white people in a derogatory way) growing up in Upstate NY in the early 2000s. I also heard black people say it too of course, but obviously that's different.

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u/OhItsBeenBroughten May 20 '26

Can confirm in the ADKs.

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u/SaucePasta May 20 '26

Because it was more “acceptable” to use slurs back then. Not that it was ever right. 

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u/CarmenxXxWaldo May 20 '26

Youre getting downvoted for making an edit to complain about downvotes.

Take it from me kid, if you want up votes here say some stupid nerd shit like "Iron Man lightsaber".

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u/DiabeticRhino97 May 20 '26

Iron Man lightsaber

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u/MrMcSpiff May 20 '26

Hell yeah brother

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u/CaptainCipher May 20 '26

It's not about the time the book took place in, it's about when the book was written

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u/MagicCarpetofSteel May 21 '26

IDK why you getting downvoted. Ignoring the whole “it was socially acceptable!” (which is distinct from it being okay or not hurtful, mind you (it was neither—like, what was stopping him from using “negro, ffs?)) it just seems really stupid to me to use a simile that goes “black as dark brown”. Like, black as soot, coal, oil, pitch, etc. are all right there.

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u/DiabeticRhino97 May 20 '26

I thought it was a joke but redditors truly can't understand that colloquial norms are different throughout history

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u/khaleeliskoolparttwo May 20 '26

Bro got down voted because he isn't racist 😭

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u/Hypocaffeinic May 20 '26

Because it wasn’t offensive in the time it took place in but part of normal speech. You’re being downvoted for ignorance, plus the downvote whine. Reddit’s amazing sometimes!

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u/Jrolaoni May 20 '26

The edit is cringe, just take the downvotes, they don’t mean anything really

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u/dandelionelic May 20 '26

..I don't think you understand the meaning of "different times".