Radio was playin', Desmond Dekker was singin'

[venta]

A quick question:



[Poll #1344729]

Edit: I don't mean "give me a list of names", I mean "which term would you naturally use in conversation if talking about such a thing".

If you're going to fill in an answer, please do so before reading on.

I would habitually refer to that sort of stereo (ie portable, speaker at either end, tape deck in the middle) as a ghetto-blaster. I seem to remember that that's what everyone was calling them in the 80s when I first started interacting with such things.

Problem is, I've no idea of the origin of the term. Which ghettos were being blasted exactly ? Is it possible that someone somewhere might find it an offensive term ?[*] Is it even in common enough usage now that I could expect someone to be sure what I meant - or am I just hopelessly outdated in my choice of name ?

What other words are there ? Apart from radio-cassette player, of course. I'm not very clear on what exactly a boombox might be - could it be one of those, or is it subtly different ? Can I still call it a ghetto blaster if it's got a CD player in it ? Does the choice of name depend on the kind of music player - could one still blast ghettos with Wagner, for example ?

[*] According to Wikipedia, yes. But it's a particularly shoddily written piece, plus I'm interested in what other people think.


_{That image is just quickly grabbed from google image search, so if you're in The Future, it's probably red-exed by now.}

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of words/phrases I learned as a kid which I used freely in the past, and now realise are extremely offensive. I think you're only culpable if you go on using them once you have (or should have!) developed an awareness of how they might be interpreted.

Some of my playgroundisms are firmly lodged in my head and sneak out when I'm not paying attention - the usual effect is simply to make me sound a bit babyish. However, there are a few which are offensive. The most common phrase at junior school if accusing someone of stealing was "thieving Arab". Even today the word which most easily follows 'thieving' is (to me) 'Arab'.

Obviously I don't regard this as an acceptable thing to say - or in anyway something based in reality; when I learned it I suspect I didn't even know what an Arab was. I do worry that one of these days I'll inadvertently say it :(

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

I grew up with "theiving gipsy" in similar circumstances. I still accidentally slip and refer to being tricked as being "gypped" although I always correct myself straight away.