Prince Harry Nonsense

[Viking]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/123700/Watch-Prince-Harrys-racist-outbursts-on-video.html

It's all over BBC and SkyNews and everyone is sooooooooooo concerned. We lovingly referred to one of our teammates as "The Gook", and he loved it. Word is "The Paki" was down with his nickname as well.

Absolutely ridiculous.

[FrontrunnerDK]

And the Ministry of Defence said last night: “This sort of language is not acceptable in a modern army.”

I'm afraid he's in for quite the wake-up-call if he actually one day visits the barracks. Looks to me like Harry's just one of the boys. Good for him.

[Sapper-RAE]

Slow news day, don't worry about it Harry's one of us!

[Starlight]

Yes. Sounds like some chinless wonder in the MOD needs to HTFU.

[10thvet]

OMG...He is even smoking in the video, when will the horror end.

[Ole crusty bastard]

I didn't realize that the word 'Paki' was that offensive. My wife is a Pollock, I suppose that now I should just refer to her as 'the old woman'?

[OldSwabbie]

I think its remnants of the "Uber Ultra PC" crowd that made those silly assed statements. When will they grow up? Even though he's a prince, he's STILL a 24 year old young man in the Military. For crying out loud, those clowns flappin their traps need to STFU or get bitch slapped... Yea, this stuff sends me into orbit.. Freekin hypocrites.

You Go Harry!

[0699]

Or "the ball & chain". They really like it when you call them that. :biggrin:

[godfather]

"God save you". hahahhahahhahahahah, now that was funny!

[Longrifle]

There was a time in old England when these two "journalists" would have been guests of the Tower awaiting the axe for their BS.

And the Ministry of Defence said last night: “This sort of language is not acceptable in a modern army.”
I disagree.

Wonder what Kipling would think of all this . . . :rolleyes:

[mags123]

Unfortunately, there rules are vastly different for a high profile member of the Royal Family than they are for us "mortals".

I cannot see how the MOD could have avoided making the statements they did. Once the story was out, they had to do some damage control.

[The Fat Guy]

I didn't realize that the word 'Paki' was that offensive. My wife is a Pollock, I suppose that now I should just refer to her as 'the old woman'?

It wasn't the word Paki, It was when he said Fuck Paki, you look like a raghead!

I still think its bullshit. Why is it we feel at home using such terrible names for the ones we love the most? I think it attests to the Strength of Our Brotherhood. Or maybe we just don't know any better LOL!

[HighDragLowSpeed]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/123700/Watch-Prince-Harrys-racist-outbursts-on-video.html

It's all over BBC and SkyNews and everyone is sooooooooooo concerned. We lovingly referred to one of our teammates as "The Gook", and he loved it. Word is "The Paki" was down with his nickname as well.

Absolutely ridiculous.

I'll stand up and go against the grain to disagree here. Most people think that the words they are called by are important, have an idea of where the line is that marks "offensive", who crosses that line, and for what reasons. I'm hardly PC but how long would any of us put up with a stranger calling us "shithead" for any period of time if words weren't important?

in my view, that's for them to decide where the line and circumstances are just as it's for you to decide who calls you what and for what reasons. Such individual decisions and circumstances can't be applied equally across the board to others.

Plenty of minorities in BTDT type units allow the line to be crossed in order to not make waves in such a reputation driven thumbs up/down organization. It's a de facto requirement to be "one of the boys" in units that frankly otherwise look and act very much alike and are invited/selected/retained on their very subjective ability to fit in, isnt it?

Why is it important to fit in? "All you have to do is pass some physical and mental tests to an uncommonly high standard and...oh yeah... not get a single thumbs down" can mean honest-to-gosh meritocracy or be a simple filter to help keep the club a certain way. We all know such names are only meant in jest and are in no way designed to subtly keep people in their place relative to some arbitrary standard...much like the red suspenders in the 80s/90s were really only meant to hold pants up. ;)

Maybe your friend and the pakistani member of Harry's unit loved the names "given" to them and perhaps I'm wrong but (depending on the unit) I'd love to hear what choices either of them had without the risk of getting a subjective strike against them. My point is that sometimes the only pragmatic thing to do is to take it as part of the overall deal of having been selected - others might have handled it differently and rightly or wrongly found their rucksack in the hall or received a thumbs down later in their career.

my 2 colombian pesos

[EarthPig]

OMG...He is even smoking in the video, when will the horror end.

No shit....:rolleyes:

RLTW
EP

[Viking]

I'll stand up and go against the grain to disagree here. Most people think that the words they are called by are important, have an idea of where the line is that marks "offensive", who crosses that line, and for what reasons. I'm hardly PC but how long would any of us put up with a stranger calling us "shithead" for any period of time if words weren't important?
in my view, that's for them to decide where the line and circumstances are just as it's for you to decide who calls you what and for what reasons. Such individual decisions and circumstances can't be applied equally across the board to others.
Plenty of minorities in BTDT type units allow the line to be crossed in order to not make waves in such a reputation driven thumbs up/down organization. It's a de facto requirement to be "one of the boys" in units that frankly otherwise look and act very much alike and are invited/selected/retained on their very subjective ability to fit in, isnt it?
Why is it important to fit in? "All you have to do is pass some physical and mental tests to an uncommonly high standard and...oh yeah... not get a single thumbs down" can mean honest-to-gosh meritocracy or be a simple filter to help keep the club a certain way. We all know such names are only meant in jest and are in no way designed to subtly keep people in their place relative to some arbitrary standard...much like the red suspenders in the 80s/90s were really only meant to hold pants up. ;)
Maybe your friend and the pakistani member of Harry's unit loved the names "given" to them and perhaps I'm wrong but (depending on the unit) I'd love to hear what choices either of them had without the risk of getting a subjective strike against them. My point is that sometimes the only pragmatic thing to do is to take it as part of the overall deal of having been selected - others might have handled it differently and rightly or wrongly found their rucksack in the hall or received a thumbs down later in their career.
my 2 colombian pesos

That's a good take on it and I respect where you're coming from, but I guess I look at this situation differently. What I took away from the reports is that "The Paki" was a friend of his. I can say for certain the "The Gook" didn't give two shits about us using that name for him. He actually introduced it to us as it had been his nick on a prior team. I am having a hard time thinking of anyone I've ever come across who sucked up a derogatory nickname because they were afraid of not being accepted by unit members.

We've all been called names. Some of them we didn't like (usually during our younger years), some we liked, and some we wore like badges of honor. The military seems to be fond of attaching [what could be construed as] controversial nicknames to guys. Like anything else, it's all about context, which I think Harry's comments were taken out of.

[grappler]

It wasn't the word Paki, It was when he said Fuck Paki, you look like a raghead!
Two different instances, bro.

It was his buddy "Dan the Man", he said looked like a raghead.

I still think its bullshit. Why is it we feel at home using such terrible names for the ones we love the most? I think it attests to the Strength of Our Brotherhood. Or maybe we just don't know any better LOL!

Right on.

I believe it was in the Ranger(I miss it) thread that someone wrote: I miss walking up to a buddy and greeting them with, "What's up motherfucker?" And meaning/knowing I would die for that guy.

[HighDragLowSpeed]

Viking: I totally understand your viewpoint, brother.

[Sharky]

That's a good take on it and I respect where you're coming from, but I guess I look at this situation differently. What I took away from the reports is that "The Paki" was a friend of his. I can say for certain the "The Gook" didn't give two shits about us using that name for him. He actually introduced it to us as it had been his nick on a prior team. I am having a hard time thinking of anyone I've ever come across who sucked up a derogatory nickname because they were afraid of not being accepted by unit members.

We've all been called names. Some of them we didn't like (usually during our younger years), some we liked, and some we wore like badges of honor. The military seems to be fond of attaching [what could be construed as] controversial nicknames to guys. Like anything else, it's all about context, which I think Harry's comments were taken out of.



Yep. Well said. It's a brotherhood thing. Inside the brotherhood his nickname might be "Gook". Let someone outside the team call that same guy a gook and the ass-whipping will probably commence. It's the age-old problem of people passing judgement and imposing their values on something that they can never understand and will never have the balls to go find out for themselves.

[Balls]

Yep. Well said. It's a brotherhood thing. Inside the brotherhood his nickname might be "Gook". Let someone outside the team call that same guy a gook and the ass-whipping will probably commence. It's the age-old problem of people passing judgement and imposing their values on something that they can never understand and will never have the balls to go find out for themselves.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

As one of my old CO's used to tell us: "From the outside looking in, they will never understand it. From the inside looking out, you will never be able to explain it." :cool:

[Invictus]

This is indeed, an incredibly slow news day. This event happened 3 years ago when Harry was an Officer Cadet at Sandhurst. Not too long ago there was a genuine problem with racism in the British Army, which has, successfully, worked hard to change attitudes within it's ranks. What we sometimes see, is the MOD trying so hard to gain public opinion that the pendulum swings in entirely the other direction - resulting in pettiness and hypersensitivity.
I am pleased to say that back in the real world, banter and nicknames are as gutter level as ever.
My friends have no problem whatsoever when I ask them if "any of you c*nts need a beer?"

[Parajuevos]

Good natured insults, racial or otherwise, are hurled around barracks and locker rooms. They are part of the cammaraderie that holds people in dangerous occupations together. They are not uttered maliciously but in jest. They're good for the morale.

People, in the sheltered world, who live in their cubicles and stare at computors and who are brainwashed by overdone EEO guidelines, lawyers and so called "champions of minority groups" can't understand this. What they need to do is wipe the tears from their infantile eyes and the snot from their noses and start worrying about shit that matters.

It has been my experience that when people are the recipient of these types of jokes, it is because they are liked and accepted. It has also been my experience that most of them are quite capable of dishing it out as well as taking it. Those who are not part of the joking culture are those who aren't trusted. They are usually crybabies, malcontents and people who have a chip on their shoulders.

I prefer a world, where men are men and where the sensitive and sissified among us stay the hell off my turf.

Fuck Political Correctness.

[Dark Helmet]

It's the age-old problem of people passing judgement and imposing their values on something that they can never understand ....


Word.

[Flying Pig]

I longed for the day to have a degrading nickname.....It meant you were IN! A right of passage.

[Spinner]

Neither one of the princes can win in situations like this. Because of their royal lineage, their standards of behavior (regardles of what occurs within the unit amongst each other) will always be set at some impossible level.

I always thought aviators had some cool call signs, and found it even cooler after I found out that most of the call signs refer to some goof on the part of the recipient. Nobody gets to choose their own CS.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123010685

[RGR.Montcalm]

I didn't realize that the word 'Paki' was that offensive. My wife is a Pollock, I suppose that now I should just refer to her as 'the old woman'?

So your wife is a fish? or did you mean "Polock"? Otherwise try lemon and butter wrapped in foil on the grill....:biggrin:

[jsmurphy]

Good natured insults, racial or otherwise, are hurled around barracks and locker rooms. They are part of the cammaraderie that holds people in dangerous occupations together. They are not uttered maliciously but in jest. They're good for the morale.

People, in the sheltered world, who live in their cubicles and stare at computors and who are brainwashed by overdone EEO guidelines, lawyers and so called "champions of minority groups" can't understand this. What they need to do is wipe the tears from their infantile eyes and the snot from their noses and start worrying about shit that matters.

It has been my experience that when people are the recipient of these types of jokes, it is because they are liked and accepted. It has also been my experience that most of them are quite capable of dishing it out as well as taking it. Those who are not part of the joking culture are those who aren't trusted. They are usually crybabies, malcontents and people who have a chip on their shoulders.

I prefer a world, where men are men and where the sensitive and sissified among us stay the hell off my turf.

Fuck Political Correctness.

X2

Bunch of damn hand-wringers...

[DurkaSixTwo]

Neither one of the princes can win in situations like this. Because of their royal lineage, their standards of behavior (regardles of what occurs within the unit amongst each other) will always be set at some impossible level.


Unfortunately so true!

As an aside, I didnt even know that Paki was considered offensive. I just thought it was a slang word similar in context to Aussie! I use it all the time! The whining left wing soap box liberals from the UK and Pakistan would have a fit then if they came to Australia as we openly refer to them as Pakis on national television and in national print media - ie the "Aussies give the Pakis a hiding in cricket"... etc and no ones seems to care too much :rolleyes:

[Matchanu]

I longed for the day to have a degrading nickname.....It meant you were IN! A right of passage.

Soooo fucking true.

It was like being hazed......err welcomed into a platoon. If they liked you, you got a nice official "welcome".

If not, you were left alone.


Team guys call other team guys just about anything offensive. It meant you were one of the boys, as long as your nickname wasn't shitbag.


The minorities in the teams were the first to make fun of themselves, it broke any tension if there was any.

The public has no concept of the inner workings of a functional unit, a little look and they get their panties in a bunch, yet they cannot understand why the workplace they are employed is so fucked up.

Go figure.

[smp52]

Unfortunately so true!

As an aside, I didnt even know that Paki was considered offensive. I just thought it was a slang word similar in context to Aussie! I use it all the time! The whining left wing soap box liberals from the UK and Pakistan would have a fit then if they came to Australia as we openly refer to them as Pakis on national television and in national print media - ie the "Aussies give the Pakis a hiding in cricket"... etc and no ones seems to care too much :rolleyes:

FWIW, from what I have been told "paki" carries the similar cultural baggage in England as the "N" word here. Personally, I don't know either way, but I guess different things fly in different places.

This incident was from a few years ago when the young Prince was still learning how, regardless of where he is, he's still a Royal. He will always be held to a different standard and this is another lesson learned for him, that he has to be very aware of his surroundings. Not everyone will see things the same way as such, discretion is a better choice, even if his actions are within context of the particular situation. He is a leader, by birth. We don't subscribe to the system (thankfully, our revolution took care of that), but they still do.

[MakoZeroSix]

I thought it was only bad if you called them "Bloody Wogs". Paki doesn't seem like such an insult. Just like a shortening of the name. And didn't "wog" come from an attempt at making a politically correct term for them 150 years or so ago? "Western Oriental Gentleman"?


The British seemed like a bunch of slaves to me on my visit there last summer. The video cameras everywhere, the flashing "slow down" signs on the highway, the registering of knife wounds at hospitals, the visits from child services if your kid gets a bump on the head, ect. Not to mention when I arrived at Heathrow it looked like I had arrived at Kuwait international airport. They have pretty much just thrown in the towel as a civilization.

[smp52]

I thought it was only bad if you called them "Bloody Wogs". Paki doesn't seem like such an insult.

Neither of us are Pakistani, either.

I've met some people who've had little exposure to American culture, but have watched their share of rap videos and dropped the "N" word. Until they've interracted with enough Americans, it really isn't possible for that person to understand the context of dropping the the word around. There are other examples as well even within immigrant communities that one side finds offensive (second gens), but the other doesn't (first gens).

IMHO, just as people shouldn't judge the Prince for being a 20 year old cadet horsing around, likely saying something that would go unoticed between comrades, it's difficult for me to judge what another society that isn't my own finds acceptable/offensive either.

Plus, American media is tame compared to crazy British Tabaloids...those guys are nuts.

[steelbreeze]

Prince Harry video nasty that will spark outrage

Just looking at the title indicates that they are trying to create news, not report it. If that is the best that they can do as far as showing him in a negative light, I suspect that he is a pretty well liked and respected officer.

[Massgrunt]

Whoever released that video was a total buddy fucker.

[ironpaw]

I thought it was only bad if you called them "Bloody Wogs". Paki doesn't seem like such an insult. Just like a shortening of the name. And didn't "wog" come from an attempt at making a politically correct term for them 150 years or so ago? "Western Oriental Gentleman"?

It stood for "Worthy Oriental Gentleman" I think...

and yeah, the word "Paki" in the UK is similar to the N word in the US, or "Boong" in Australia.

[Ole crusty bastard]

So your wife is a fish? or did you mean "Polock"? Otherwise try lemon and butter wrapped in foil on the grill....:biggrin:


I must of learned to spell under the tutelage of Danial Boone :o.

[nofear]

or "Boong" in Australia.

Jaysus, I haven't heard that word in about 10 years.

Recall working in an Aboriginal Community, where some tourists from melbourne were visiting. I was talking to a couple of locals and used the term "black-fella" which is extremely common when talking with them.

The tourists nearly had a heart attack whilst screaming at me that I was racist. Then they got these funny looks on their faces when they noticed the locals rolling around with laughter.

I just stood back and let the locals explain that they, and I, were "white-fellas", and the locals were "black-fellas".

People who want to push their standards upon us can go fuck themselves.

Was funny getting our American teams mates used to being welcomed with a daily, "G'day c*nt!" :biggrin:

[OldSwabbie]

The more the "Uptight" and "SNOBISH" british press tries to make Harry look like a bad guy ~ the more I would love to punch them in the Nose. They are peddling Bullshit... at Harry's expense. I felt terrible when he apologized... Shows he's a bigger person than they are. I cant stand Snobs nor people who believe themselves to be "Elite"... arrrrgggg

[ironpaw]

Jaysus, I haven't heard that word in about 10 years. :biggrin:

YEah I've never heard of it either till I met my mother in law's partner. He's about 60, hails from Bunbury (WA), and is rough as guts. Calls me a gook now and then too :D

[Spinner]

Unfortunately so true!

As an aside, I didnt even know that Paki was considered offensive. I just thought it was a slang word similar in context to Aussie! I use it all the time! The whining left wing soap box liberals from the UK and Pakistan would have a fit then if they came to Australia as we openly refer to them as Pakis on national television and in national print media - ie the "Aussies give the Pakis a hiding in cricket"... etc and no ones seems to care too much :rolleyes:

I always thought the term "Paki" was an acceptable shorthand derivative of Pakistani.

I still do, the criticism of Prince Henry notwithstanding. Is there anybody on the board of Pakistani descent who can clarify the issue?

[DurkaSixTwo]

Just looking at the title indicates that they are trying to create news, not report it. If that is the best that they can do as far as showing him in a negative light, I suspect that he is a pretty well liked and respected officer.

Whoever released that video was a total buddy fucker.

I agree totally with both of those statements!

Was funny getting our American teams mates used to being welcomed with a daily, "G'day c*nt!" :biggrin:

BAWHAahaha.... I used to love the look of disgust on my American Team Mate's faces when I used to do this too. Eventually most of them started doing it back, but originally, the look on their faces was priceless :p I still remember our Holy Roller's face. Absolute shock and he was an 18 series!! He looked like a little kid who had been told that Santa Claus was make believe :biggrin:

[10thvet]

Calls me a gook now and then too :D


One of my KATUSAs(Korean Augmetee to the US Army) told me that "Gook" was a Korea word for person. Such as Hun GOOK was a Korean person and Me Gook was a American person. Once again a simple word gets streteched and abused and ends up a derogatory word. Maybe one of you world wide travlers can set me straight if my Katusa was messing around with me :)

I am overseas and we have a differnt bunch of guys I work with. I am the
"old bald man" and the korean American(he does not speak korean) I work with is the "Little Asian boy" and we mess with each other all the time...The only things that are off limits are kids, wives and mothers unless the person himself brings it up. Everything else....GAME ON....

Oh yea and God have mercy on you if you shoot the lowest score for the team during range day. You will get fucked with...

[Parajuevos]

One of my KATUSAs(Korean Augmetee to the US Army) told me that "Gook" was a Korea word for person. Such as Hun GOOK was a Korean person and Me Gook was a American person. Once again a simple word gets streteched and abused and ends up a derogatory word. Maybe one of you world wide travlers can set me straight if my Katusa was messing around with me :)

I am overseas and we have a differnt bunch of guys I work with. I am the
"old bald man" and the korean American(he does not speak korean) I work with is the "Little Asian boy" and we mess with each other all the time...The only things that are off limits are kids, wives and mothers unless the person himself brings it up. Everything else....GAME ON....

Oh yea and God have mercy on you if you shoot the lowest score for the team during range day. You will get fucked with...

I don't know if it's Korean or not but we called the VC Gooks. We also called them Charlie (Which came from the phoenetical- Victor Charlie- for VC), when I was in Vietnam.

The Koreans were funny as hell, at least the ones I knew, while recuperating in Nha Trang from Malaria. The "Gooks" probably didn't find them amusing but they were our friends.

The banter back and forth would go something like this:

U.S. Soldier: "American G.I. number one, Korean G.I. number two."

Korean Soldier: "No, Korea G.I. Numbaw won, America G.I. numbaw sixtynine!"

Usually the verbal banter would evolve into a slap fight, usually between a black U.S. Soldier and his Korean counter part, which would end when the Korean got slapped a little too hard and became homicidal, chasing the laughing black soldier, who he couldn't catch, all around the area as the rest of us stood around laughing like hell.

[SOTB]

....I didnt even know that Paki was considered offensive....I found out that it was after working with a former Marine officer who was stationed in Pakistan. I then ensured that it was the ONLY word I would use when describing Pakistanis. I feel so horrible....

[kpel308]

Hell, my Digger mates made my CS "Seppo." I know what it means, and I use it with pride, as it came from my MATES. The press need to either get a life, or quit using our valuable oxygen.

[MixedLoad]

It's when your team mates stop making fun of each other that you know that something went really wrong. Disparaging remarks about mothers, sisters, heritage, ethnicity, religious beliefs, looks, cars etc are an integral part of cohesion.

I don't expect the people who've never suffered with each other to understand where that sense of humor comes from in the first place.

The Princes have a set of balls. Something that certainly can't be said for most of their male family, especially on the paternal side of things. They drink beer, get laid and want to fight for their country....oh the horror!

[EightyDeuce]

Soooo fucking true.

It was like being hazed......err welcomed into a platoon. If they liked you, you got a nice official "welcome".

If not, you were left alone.




at the time I thought I was the most hated cherry ever to step foot into Charlie company 2/505's barracks, drinking beer off the floor, my squad screaming in my face while doing pushups that I better not quit before the other cherry who showed up with me that day did. I had no idea who anyone was or who I needed to listen to I just did what was being screamed at me the loudest.

I can't remember a day where I went without calling someone mother fucker or fuck face or fag all as terms of endearment. Don't think that would fly in my current work place though.

Now I have to deal with an employee who reports to me who without fail is late everyday and wants to leave early every day because he likes to leave before it get's dark. WTF!

[10thvet]

... drinking beer off the floor

Wait a minute... you had beer at your welcoming party !!!! :biggrin:

[Guy]

Yep. Well said. It's a brotherhood thing. Inside the brotherhood his nickname might be "Gook". Let someone outside the team call that same guy a gook and the ass-whipping will probably commence. It's the age-old problem of people passing judgement and imposing their values on something that they can never understand and will never have the balls to go find out for themselves.Bunch of "overly" sensitive bunch of pansies that are complaining. People wonder how the Iraqis are capable of scamming/stealing millions and/or billions of $$$$ from the USG...they do it because no one dare to say: "YOU THIEVING SOBS!"

Stay safe.

[Matchanu]

Suffice to say, I really like Prince Harry, he's putting his money were his mouth is, being one of the boys, he's a real deal.


I'd drink with him anyday of the week and never get offended if he called me a "seppo" or a "dirty yank".

I'd take it as the highest complement.

Cheers to our warrior prince across the pond, good on ya you filthy limey.;)

[Massgrunt]

They drink beer, get laid and want to fight for their country....oh the horror!

Agreed. They must be stopped before they act normal again!

The news of the world would have had quite a hissy fit around US Marines. Dirty Mexican, pinche guero, Luke the Gook, inbred motherfuckers...

Same with an international environment, septics, SA jokes, Americans troops need a Wal Mart in war time, etc, etc.

[DurkaSixTwo]

I found out that it was after working with a former Marine officer who was stationed in Pakistan. I then ensured that it was the ONLY word I would use when describing Pakistanis. I feel so horrible....

Hahaha.... Nice :biggrin:

I dont feel so bad now about using it all the time :p

[Invictus]

Looks like the gutter press have been digging some more and discovered that Prince Charles has an Asian friend whom he calls 'Sooty'. Like father like son - Outstanding!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/7826701.stm

[Spinner]

Wait a minute... you had beer at your welcoming party !!!! :biggrin:

(In my best Homer Simpson voice): Mmmm...floor beer...(gurgling sound fades out...)

[okami1]

"When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it stick, I give it to them double dirty. It may not sound nice to some bunch of little old ladies at an afternoon tea party, but it helps my soldiers to remember. You can't run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn't fight it's way out of a piss-soaked paper bag."

"Sometimes I just, By God, get carried away with my own eloquence."

-Gen. George Patton

[ironpaw]

One of my KATUSAs(Korean Augmetee to the US Army) told me that "Gook" was a Korea word for person. Such as Hun GOOK was a Korean person and Me Gook was a American person. Once again a simple word gets streteched and abused and ends up a derogatory word. Maybe one of you world wide travlers can set me straight if my Katusa was messing around with me :)

No, he's telling the truth. I spent a few months in ROK/Osan and took a basic Korean course...and yeah "guk" means person, and "hanguk" is Korean person.

Like everyone else has said...it all depends how who is calling you the name...

[EightyDeuce]

Wait a minute... you had beer at your welcoming party !!!! :biggrin:

indeed, and lots of it. I wouldn't exactly call it drinking it though, it was more like slurping it off the floor like a dog out of a water bowl on the downward movement of the pushup. They were the nicest and most welcoming bunch of fellas a guy could have asked for. They went through all my brand spanking new gear to make sure it was the highest quality and took things that they felt I didn't need and held onto it for me :biggrin: