Should we stop saying "biner"?

Someone recently warned me to stop saying "biner" because it sounds like the racial slur "beaner."  Old habits are hard to break, of course... but, should we try to stop saying it or are people just too sensitive?

Here's an article recommending a number of changes to how we speak; the author even recommends against "bombproof" (because it could be triggering to people exposed to actual bombings) and "lame" (because it's ableist).  

https://theavarnagroup.com/2017/09/25/but-weve-always-said-biner-exclusionary-words-in-outdoor-recreation-and-education/

No, becasue context.

No. You can stop if you want though.

Cesar Cardenas wrote: This is a joke right? As someone from deeply traditional Mexican family, I take no offense of hearing the word biner at the crag.
As a logical person, racism requires intent and context. Obviously, if you're refering to a carabiner as a biner because its easier to say and you mean no harm to anyone go ahead. The same for bombproof and lame. Obviously, if you notice someone is uncomfortable or unaware of this specific lingo, maybe just clue them in.

 If you're hanging out with someone who is complaining about this, just move on. The article seemed like a way to find racism in climbing for no reason. A poor attempt at seeming important. I teach young kids all the time and have to teach them how to belay or tie in. The alien is so funny to them so it makes it easier to learn. None of them think its racist lol. During winter I switch it up and make it a snowman with a scarf and a carrot/stick nose.

As a hispanic person, I feel like this author is trying to make me feel or think that I am oppressed, which might be worse than someone actually trying to oppress me lol.

Exactly. Thank you for sharing that perspective.

Geez, just call them, KRABS (Crabs)

MP used to just rehash threads once a year, are we cutting that down to 6 months now?

Whats your opinion on like, crag dogs man?

.

Cron wrote:
This topic has been discussed ad nauseam.

Somehow it managed to hit 11 pages last time. I know most folks don’t check the forums regularly, but this was barely 2 months ago. 

I don't get it either. People will type out a huge dissertation to ask a question instead of doing 15 seconds of search.

Advice to newbs: your startling observation/question has likely been discussed before. A lot. Do a search and then try to be original.

All discussed to virtual death:
ATC vs Gri-Gri
crag dogs
crag babies
littering and LNT
gang top roping
yelling and radios
climbing terms that might be considered a slur
booty vs abandoned vs lost
...and another 20 - 50 topics.

Anonymous wrote:

Cesar, if you don't feel oppressed how are we going to convince you that we have the solution to all your woes? Also, are you still going to vote for us?

I hope this thread turns into a debate about how only white people have ideas, and every other ethnicity is just responsible for picking sides.

I think there's at least a million old white ladies that think the words "black guy" should only be spoken in a whisper. Otherwise it's extremely offensive and uncomfortable;).

Cron wrote:
This topic has been discussed ad nauseam.

Somehow it managed to hit 11 pages last time. I know most folks don’t check the forums regularly, but this was barely 2 months ago. 

I did search for "biner" before posting.  There were 19,000 hits, and the Apr 2nd discussion was not among them.  Someone said I needed to spend "10 seconds" to do a search, but I spent far more and didn't find the prior thread.

Sorry.

I say "biner" all the time, and don't intend to stop anytime, but most folks today avoid using the term "niggardly" for nearly the exact same reason we would stop saying "biner."

JFC if we’re discussing this every few months I think I’m going to quit MP again. 

John RB wrote:

I did search for "biner" before posting.  There were 19,000 hits, and the Apr 2nd discussion was not among them.  Someone said I needed to spend "10 seconds" to do a search, but I spent far more and didn't find the prior thread.

In your OP you wrote:

Someone recently warned me to stop saying "biner" because it sounds like the racial slur "beaner." 

So you searched for "biner" but didn't search for "beaner"?

Anonymous wrote: 303 posts talking about "beaner." Most are either about this route or what appears to be misspellings of "biner" (they appear in a climbing context i.e./e.g. "does anyone know what kind of locking beaner this is?")

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/116222650/gringo-beaner (kind of ironic and funny too.)

I'm sure any (most) derogatory use of the word "beaner" has been flagged and gets the removed for violating rule #1 placeholder, and therefore doesn't even show up in the database search.

303 references overall, 239 in forum posts.

16th entry in the forum post list - a reply on page 3 of the 11 page thread. Search and clicking took all of 7 seconds.

Oh God not again.....

I'm not one to advocate unsafe practice, but this PC bs needs to play around cliff tops without 2 bomber pieces. This is the kind of garbage that people will focus on as some peripheral issue that will cause distraction and eventual accident. Stop infecting this sport with cancer OP, I'm not interested in mitigating the potential damage to fragile egos.

Best stop saying ''Crab'' too, might offend crabs........ 

It's funny because homophone sounds like a derogatory slur, but really it's why this is a ridiculous thing to worry about.

OMG this racist!