I was in a supermarket the other day and a friend drew my attention towards a jar of Kaffir Lime Leaves. This caught me by surprise because I had no idea that such a product existed. It wasn’t so much the product that caught me by surprise, it was the name, KAFFIR! and I couldn’t help but take a photo of it.
I am from Southern Africa and KAFFIR was a derogatory term used to describe black southern Africans during the Apartheid era (much in the same way as the 'N' word). The term is still regarded as being highly offensive and stirs a few emotions in many a people when it is used.
You learn something new every day.
Note – I took this photo with my phone hence the poor quality. At least you get to see what I was going on about.
Hi Gerri....that shows the diversity of languages, different words mean different things depending on which part of the world you are......imagine selling that lime in SA.
ReplyDeleteI have seen Oxford Companion recomends using the name makrud lime to avoid causing offense.
Gerri:
ReplyDeleteI love your photo blog. It's much better than just showing the photo!
Great job! It's like reading a story! Keep it up!
@ Holiday and Travel Matters,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I guess that is the beauty of the world we live in – you learn something new everyday. Words, gestures, hand signals and so on that we may see as being okay may offend someone or a society somewhere half way across the world.
Selling that lime in SA would not go down very well with a lot of people and they would have to use the name you mentioned.
@ Terence (The Happiest Blog on Earth)
I am glad you like the blog. I do wish I had more time to work on it though. Hope to see you around again in the future.