Pork Chop is a slang word referring to Portuguese people. It is not offensive to call someone of Portuguese decent a Pork Chop because it is considered humorous and endearing. Portuguese people refer to themselves as Pork Chops all the time and it has nothing to do with overweight women. "My boyfriend is the most amazing man in the world..I love my Pork Chop"
pork chop: A racist term referring to Puerto Rican people; also slang referring to Portuguese people. It is not offensive to call someone of Portuguese descent a pork chop because it is considered humorous and endearing.
Source: Webster’s New World Dictionary, urbandictionary.com
Are the Portuguese considered Hispanic? For some reason I bet if you called one a Hispanic ... it would fry his pork chops!
That was the only thing the Donner Party wouldn't eat!
FWIW, I grew up in the Lehigh Valley, and yeah, "pork chop" meant "Puerto Rican", and it was derogatory. I'm surprised to learn that the term is not universal.
That said, this is a bad move whether the term is offensive or not. By finding a more benign use for "pork chop", they would have reduced its power to hurt. By treating it instead as a forbidden utterance, they've conferred more power unto it.