Slang terms

An Italian word for a Jewish neighborhood is insulting to black people? Only in America.

My personal reaction to the word "ghetto" is simply it is about separation in originally a somewhat (very) negative sense similar to usage of "apartheid" since 1990 or "beyond the pale" since an earlier time.

The "black inferiority" allusion may be part of that, but very marginally if at all. That's an American usage. The rest of us don't care. We would think enforced separation as discussed earlier.

I think Johnson needs to take more account of the diversity of world English. English is an American language but American slang does not necessarily drive educated English around the world.

Is Johnson a closet American nationalist in language? She/he needs to lift her/his game for the world market.

@RandomPerson

Thanks. There is no doubt certain words have different meanings and connotations depending on where and by whom they are spoken. I suppose context is the best reference when one is in doubt.

@ashbird

I think the implications depend on which usage of the word the speaker and listener are most familiar with and most likely to use. For most cities, ghetto will indeed refer to a poor, urban, black area. In some cities this isn't the case and people from the second set of cities will not have the same set of associations for the word ghetto. This is to a small extent how dialects begin diverging.

I have read all 11 comments. Now I am very confused. There is a part of town in Berkeley, California where a lot of restaurants are located. It is at the foot of the hills. The restaurants are of 3 stars to 5 stars price range (of the latter, most notably the Michelin-rated and world famous Chez Panisse), and the same in quality and standard in foods served. This area is generally referred to by the locals as the "Gourmet Ghetto". Racial overtones? The restuarants are French, Alberian, Italian, Nouveau Californian, Japanese, Midwest American, to name just the ones I have tried, which by no means comprise all. So what does the term "Ghetto" there mean? Maybe typical Berkeley anti-snob, if "ghetto" has a denigrating meaning? Or is there yet another layer of nuance in language usage? If yes, what is it?

Maybe I'm stuck in history, but to me 'ghetto' first implies areas in Italy in which Jews were forced to live. It became generalized to mean any area into which any distinguishable group was restricted, by law or economic necessity. I think it the most accurate translation of 'favela' or 'barrio', areas in which color plays next to no role.

It’s like using the word “populist” and claiming that it has no pejorative overtones.

Apart from its infrequent use as a technical term, "populist" is always used a pejorative. We never read in The Economist about those "populist" pro-democracy demonstrators in Myanmar.

To pretend that these loaded terms have no deeper meaning is disingenuous. It's like telling someone: “You’re stupid. You’re ugly. And you stink. But I mean that in a purely technical sense.”

As someone from Southern CA, I will say definitively that ghetto has to racial connotations the majority of the time its used, and it's used all the time. My car Mazda Miata is ghetto, but it is certainly not a stereotypical black car. I have been using ghetto as part of my everyday speech for the better part of my life and I am certainly not going to stop. In fact, there are times its appropriate and few other words work.

Ghetto can have racial undertones, but it would be clear in context. No one is going to get offended here if I say ghetto casually. Even in your tags ins linked to about a half dozen elasticities, none of which are Jewish. Go figure.

My understanding of ghetto isn't simply something of bad quality or very cheap, but also of low class. It's very close to "plebeian".

Ghetto can be applied to pretty much any area where there is a population with distinct characteristics. In the US it took on racial overtones and looking back in history it usually had an ethnic/religious meaning to refer to where Jewish people lived, often in areas they were forced to live in. Student ghettos are a perfectly natural usage from the broader definition.

It's usage without a qualifier can however be a big deal because of historical nationwide US usage where the association has been with particular poor ethnic enclaves. While the word can have a broader meaning, the reality on the ground is that most people associate ghetto with poor urban blacks and not the more general usage of the term. If you have broader associations that's great but if you're in the US most people will hear the racially charged meaning and not the more flexible broader meaning unless the context makes the difference in the specific usage obvious. Best not to assume that what's obvious to you is obvious to others and avoid the term without a specific qualifier like student ghetto (which is what the area I'm currently living in gets called but if I just said ghetto people would think of a rather different area of the city. Both "student ghetto" and "ghetto" have different meanings and associations in my current town and refer to distinct parts of the city.).

While I have noted the term ghetto has seemed to expand to encompass more ethnic groups over the years, my earliest association of the word recalls the Jewish ghettos described in Europe, particularly Poland and Germany, during WWII. Hamtramck, Michigan, a city totally within the city limits of Detroit, was casually referred to as a Polish ghetto when I was growing up. Whatever is the big deal?

In Montreal the word ghetto is often used to refer to the area near McGill University where many students live (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGill_Ghetto). A quick search on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_ghetto) reveals that this usage is not unique, but it does seem totally at odds with its more common usages as at least the McGill Ghetto is a rather nice place to live.

Another word that's taken on some surprising alternate slang meanings is "pimp", and also like "ghetto", it's used as an adjective. So someone's clothing could be pimp. But it's also a verb, as in pimping someone's ride (vehicle). It really took me aback at first, but I suppose that's an intended effect.

Isn't a ghetto a South African cake?

And ghetto used to mean Jewish? It's often used to describe poor areas no matter the race. In college towns "the ghetto" often refers to neighborhoods that are heavily populated by students, who see themselves as poor.

I agree that "ghetto" is often used without thought or reference to race. However, "gay" is also often used similarly without thought or reference to homosexuality---it is nonetheless offensive to (some) gays because it highlights an association between homosexuality and negativity. Just as someone might use "gay" to describe something that could never be described as homosexual without thought to the sensitivities of the listener, using "ghetto" could easily offend someone with more direct experience of inner-city life. As Johnson wrote, it is best avoided, especially be people not from the ghetto.