'Cakewalk,' 'o Can Do' and other harmful language we must stop using

NBCU Academy ^ | October 6, 2022 | Claire Wang

[Fiji Hill]

As journalists, it’s our job to choose our words wisely and not perpetuate stereotypes.

n the 13 years that I’ve lived in the US, I’ve heard the words “No can do” on so many occasions — from teachers, comics, news anchors, Hall & Oates — that I’ve always thought it was simply a cheeky way to say “alas.”

But the phrase, I learned several days ago, emerged in the late 19th century, around the time the US passed the Chinese Exclusion Act banning immigration from China, the country of my birth. Some white Americans popularized the saying to mock the accented, sometimes ungrammatical English of Chinese immigrants.

Sign up for our newsletter! Right Arrow There are many common sayings we take for granted that have racist histories and inferences, some more obvious than others. Take “open the kimono” (which describes corporate transparency) and “kabuki” (a stand-in for political theater). While innocuous in corporate-speak and among media pundits, phrases like “open the kimono” still evoke the image of a bared body that draws on harmful stereotypes against Asian women, said Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, the executive director of Asian American Journalists Association.

“A term like this acts like ‘death by a thousand cuts’ in that it isn’t outright malicious, but it perpetuates the hypersexualization of Asian women,” she said. “We have to acknowledge the fact that it does have historical roots in the western gaze on Asia.”

As journalists, we have an ethical obligation to choose our words wisely, particularly when describing people from underrepresented groups. It’s important not to glaze over words and phrases — often not English in origin — that perpetuate stereotypes and trivialize historical trauma against marginalized communities.

“In journalism, our goal is to build trust and credibility,” said Karen Yin, editor and founder of the Conscious Style Guide, a digital library of resources and newsletters on crafting inclusive language. “If our word choices repeatedly veer into insensitive territory, we’ll end up insulting and alienating our audience.”

What’s more, Yin said, clichés and idioms that draw on racist, sexist or ableist tropes often obscure prose and wind up confusing the reader.

“The fix is simple: Say what you mean,” she said. “Using clear, precise and plain language goes a long way. And always consider the context, because context and content work together.”

Below are some examples of insensitive language to look out for.

Language that’s harmful to the disability community Words like “insane,” “crazy” and “hysterical,” better known as “disability euphemisms,” have become common parlance to describe shocking occurrences, and are often found in headlines and sprinkled throughout reporting. The same goes for “crippled” and “lame” and metaphors like “turning a blind eye.” Experts say such language, while generally non-malicious, can be damaging to people with disabilities by underplaying the seriousness of their conditions.

“For many people with disabilities, the cumulative effect of this sort of ‘innocuous’ language is that it ignores their existence,” said Kristin Gilger, director at the National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Gilger said the challenge with conducting sensitivity training is that language evolves quickly, particularly in the disability community. To address that, the NCDJ created a style guide with dozens of commonly used terminology that reporters should avoid when describing people with disabilities. Rather than policing language, Gilger said, the point of the guide is to encourage reporters and editors to write about disability issues with more confidence.

“One of the biggest issues now is that people are afraid to report on this community because they don’t know the right language to use, or they’re worried their mistakes are going to affect somebody,” she said. “What we’re doing is trying to tell people, ‘Look, we want you to try because there is not enough coverage of disability.”

Language with racist roots A number of clichés in the English language are rooted in racist notions and “otherness.” Often, they twist a word taken from another culture to mean something unflattering. Some draw on the grotesque treatment of enslaved Africans; others misrepresent Indigenous traditions celebrated by tribes that suffered irreparable harm under western colonialism. And many will make you go, “Oh, yeah, that usage does look a little sketchy,” if you think about it long enough.

Here are some harmful sayings to avoid:

• “Bottom of the totem pole” — A totem pole is a sacred Native American monument; in some tribes, carvings of animals and other symbols on the bottom of a pole are, in fact, a mark of honor. The idiom in mainstream culture, however, suggests that someone or something is of the least importance or lowest social standing. Non-Native people who use the phrase in this way, Indigenous activists say, are not only engaging in cultural appropriation but also desecrating tradition.
• “Let’s have a powwow” — To Native American tribes, a powwow is a social gathering for ceremonial purposes where people sing, dance and engage in healing rituals. In American parlance, “powwow” is used casually as a substitute for “meeting” or “discussion.”
• Spirit animal — In some indigenous traditions, like the Potawatomi and Shawnee tribes, part of a belief system called “totemism” includes spirit animals that operate as spiritual guides through a person’s life. However, the pop culture adoption of the term has come to mean a creature that embodies one’s inner personality.
• Cakewalk — “Cakewalks” were dances enslaved Africans performed on plantations mocking the mannerisms of their enslavers. It has since been twisted to mean “easy victory.” Uppity — “Uppity” traces back to the Jim Crow South as an epithet white people reserved for Black people who didn’t show them enough respect.
• “Sold down the river” — The saying derives from the practice of selling slaves down the Mississippi River to cotton plantations in the South. It’s now deployed as a substitute for “profound betrayal.”
• Grandfathering/Grandfathered in —The phrase has its origins in Jim Crow-era laws that put requirements, like literacy tests and poll taxes, on voting. The idea was to prohibit Black people from casting their vote. But when some feared the laws would also disenfranchise poor white Southerners, several states made it legal for those who had voted in elections prior to vote moving forward. Now, “grandfathered in” means a provision in which an old rule applies to some, but a new rule applies to others.
• Gyp/gypped/gypsy —”Gypsy” is a pejorative used to describe the Romani people, and carries many negative connotations, including being “swindled” or “cheated.”
• “Call a spade a spade” — For most of its history, “call a spade a spade” was simply a metaphor for “tell it like it is.” But the saying took on racist overtones in the early 20th century when it became a derogatory term for Black people.
• Gung-ho — The term traces back to 1930s China, as an abbreviated translation for the “industrial cooperative movement,” which organized unemployed workers and refugees to produce public goods during the war. Years later, it was adopted by the US military, which mistakenly thought the concept meant “teamwork.” Today, gung-ho has become a zinger to mock someone who’s too enthusiastic, a try-hard.

  Many of us have uttered at least one of these sayings in our lifetime. Bringing attention to offensive language isn’t about scolding or shaming people; it’s about guiding them toward better practices. A good rule to consider: If you’re questioning whether a saying is insensitive, just go ahead and avoid it.

[Fiji Hill]

In today's woke world, you will wind up at the bottom of the totem pole if you call a spade a spade.

[wbarmy]

Seriously, has every single person under the age of 30 become a teenage girl in thought and spirit? Because they sure act like it.

[tet68]

oR IF YOU CALL A SPADE A SHOVEL !!!

[Chode]

[EvilCapitalist]

Claire(author of the article) would probably flip if she knew that niggardly isn’t a racist word.

[Skywise]

Ok Clairen.

Look, you’re a racist twit. There were black americans in the 19th century and they used the term too.

I also object to your racist term “white americans” completely and intentionally erasing germanic, dutch, irish, scottish, polish americans and other nationalities. No, as a racist china girl you just judge people by their skin color. Nobody goes around calling you “Yellow Americans”

To wit - STOP WRITING, you’re not as smart as you think you are and everytime you write another piece you just prove your racist attidues and spew hate speech you’ve been indoctrinated to think is an enlightened position.

Chairman Mao would be proud.

[pingman]

I (a bonafide palefaced honky) play Taj Mahal’s “Cakewalk Into Town” for mixed age crowds at many open-mic nights, to great applause. I always smile a bit when I get to the “stealing chickens mama, from the rich folks’ yards...” passage, and once goofed up and sang it as “... THE WHITE FOLKS’ YARDS...” with no blowback. Lucky, I guess.

[left that other site]

We melting pot speakers of American English need to Bury the Htachet and Circle the Wagons to protect our Lingo!

[SamuraiScot]

“The fix is simple: Say what you mean,” she said.

I'm so sorry, babe. No Can Do.

But if you're nostalgic for the language police back home, we might be able to get you on a slow boat to China.

[jeffersondem]

Let’s eliminate use of the word “racist.”

It has been overused and now used almost exclusively to denigrate or disqualify a white person that votes or thinks differently than the democrat party.

Instead of using the word “racist”, replace it with the honest phrase: “I hate that person.”

[I want the USA back]

I’ll continue to use English expressions when I speak and this jerk can go fly a kite.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

So it’s rooted in actual history?

Sorry, no can do!

[Retrofitted]

How did “cakewalk” go from a dance done by slaves to meaning “easy victory”? Especially when it means a task easily done. You know... like the bloody game we used to play at church! https://www.thegamegal.com/2014/06/05/cakewalk/

[lastchance]

“But the phrase, I learned several days ago, emerged in the late 19th century, around the time the US passed the Chinese Exclusion Act banning immigration from China, the country of my birth. Some white Americans popularized the saying to mock the accented, sometimes ungrammatical English of Chinese immigrants.”

I seriously doubt it. This as the same amount credence given to the story that the word picnic had racist origins. None.

[Olog-hai]

The term originated with the blacks FWICS.

[Lazamataz]

You are Satan.

[Qwapisking]

ms. wang is just one of the many fruitcakes of the world carrying a torch for her mistaken belief that anyone really cares who she is, what she writes OR what she thinks. just another self-important qwap spewer injecting qwap.

[Terry L Smith]

To Miss WangWongBingBong,

To think that after declaring you came to this country as an alien adult, that you have intellectual superiority to attempt and redefine American colloquialisms, you are in error.

1. the greatest status you could ever achirve is “naturalized”, not born here.

2. You are, and will always be, just a woman.

3. You, as an Asian, have no mouth for things of Native American categories, of any kind.

4. I, being a Native American halfbreed, did.

5. A lot of those terms you find inadequate, are, and have been, a part of American military culture, which as a Viet/Cold War veteran, are part of MY culture. To think i would accept “a browbeating” by a mon-American Asian female,
you would do better by purchasing the latest model “Bad Dragon”, go home, and play with it, with my blessing!

[metmom]

I have a better idea.

How about everyone stop being so easily offended. then you just have to worry about controlling yourself and not everyone else.

[lastchance]

Cakewalk — “Cakewalks” were dances enslaved Africans performed on plantations mocking the mannerisms of their enslavers. It has since been twisted to mean “easy victory.” Uppity — “Uppity” traces back to the Jim Crow South as an epithet white people reserved for Black people who didn’t show them enough respect.

Yeah like the slaves would dare to do that. It’s called a cakewalk because it was a courting ritual where girls baked a cake and her beau (secret or otherwise) would buy the cake and get to walk out with her. Also sometimes he got to be first on her dance card.