Don't get why "PG County" is considered disparaging

[Anonymous]

I've heard only judges care. Don't say pg in court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a long-time resident of PG County, my experience is that it is based on colloquial usage from years ago. Many years ago (like 20-30 years ago), people used to use PG derogatively. It wasn't uncommon for people to say "That's so PG" when they meant "That's so ghetto", "That's so trashy" or even worse, "That's so black". This was back in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's and early 2000's there was a concerted effort to refer to the County as Prince George's County to try and get away from the PG/trashy references. It's less of any issue now and I don't hear those types of comments anymore, but there was a reason for it.

That's interesting and makes sense. I read the article and was a bit baffled by the county's response given that Prince George's County can be a bit of a mouthful. Think if we had to say District of Columbia all the time.

actually, it is silly. Would we have felt any better if they said "That's so Prince George's"? It is not the name that is the problem. PG feels good on the mouth, and is a fine name. Changing the name won't change the attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard only judges care. Don't say pg in court.

Thanks for the tip.

[Anonymous]

I was told PG=pretty ghetto, and that offends some that live there.

[Anonymous]

New Jersey isn't going to change it's name because people refer to things as being "SO JERSEY", so PG shouldn't care either.

[Anonymous]

The post from 10:52 pretty much answers it for me and I'll assume is true and accurate.

I didn't really understand it as well and have heard many residents there refer it to PG County. And never knew there was an issue with it until the article came out about the shoe.

But even before the post from 10:52, I figured it was differences between groups. Where some groups from there are proud of the PG County image (where I'm sure Kevin Durant had a say in the name of the shoe), while others want to lose that old image.

I'm going to try to pay attention how the different types of people there refer to it more closely. I'm wondering if there is a difference that I just never noticed before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^
You don't see people freaking out about MOCO!

That's because people don't generally use "MoCo" as an insult (although sometimes they do).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New Jersey isn't going to change it's name because people refer to things as being "SO JERSEY", so PG shouldn't care either.

not a good analogy. PG is not the name, though. Difference between changing your name to please others and asking people to please use the correct name.

But I'm a resident and use them interchangeably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New Jersey isn't going to change it's name because people refer to things as being "SO JERSEY", so PG shouldn't care either.

not a good analogy. PG is not the name, though. Difference between changing your name to please others and asking people to please use the correct name.

But I'm a resident and use them interchangeably.

Neither's "Jersey". Technically, it's "New Jersey".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a long-time resident of PG County, my experience is that it is based on colloquial usage from years ago. Many years ago (like 20-30 years ago), people used to use PG derogatively. It wasn't uncommon for people to say "That's so PG" when they meant "That's so ghetto", "That's so trashy" or even worse, "That's so black". This was back in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's and early 2000's there was a concerted effort to refer to the County as Prince George's County to try and get away from the PG/trashy references. It's less of any issue now and I don't hear those types of comments anymore, but there was a reason for it.

Thank you for this clarification! I saw this in the news the other day and was baffled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New Jersey isn't going to change it's name because people refer to things as being "SO JERSEY", so PG shouldn't care either.

Jersey shore. Some names just stick. Deal with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a long-time resident of PG County, my experience is that it is based on colloquial usage from years ago. Many years ago (like 20-30 years ago), people used to use PG derogatively. It wasn't uncommon for people to say "That's so PG" when they meant "That's so ghetto", "That's so trashy" or even worse, "That's so black". This was back in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's and early 2000's there was a concerted effort to refer to the County as Prince George's County to try and get away from the PG/trashy references. It's less of any issue now and I don't hear those types of comments anymore, but there was a reason for it.

Thank you for this clarification! I saw this in the news the other day and was baffled.

However, here in Montgomery County, I do still hear white people over 50 (or so) say, "people from PG County", meaning: "black people, and we don't want them here". They're saying, "PG County", not "Prince George's County".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a long-time resident of PG County, my experience is that it is based on colloquial usage from years ago. Many years ago (like 20-30 years ago), people used to use PG derogatively. It wasn't uncommon for people to say "That's so PG" when they meant "That's so ghetto", "That's so trashy" or even worse, "That's so black". This was back in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's and early 2000's there was a concerted effort to refer to the County as Prince George's County to try and get away from the PG/trashy references. It's less of any issue now and I don't hear those types of comments anymore, but there was a reason for it.

Thank you for this clarification! I saw this in the news the other day and was baffled.

However, here in Montgomery County, I do still hear white people over 50 (or so) say, "people from PG County", meaning: "black people, and we don't want them here". They're saying, "PG County", not "Prince George's County".

It's the same thing. Would it be more or less offensive if they said "people from Prince George's County"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a long-time resident of PG County, my experience is that it is based on colloquial usage from years ago. Many years ago (like 20-30 years ago), people used to use PG derogatively. It wasn't uncommon for people to say "That's so PG" when they meant "That's so ghetto", "That's so trashy" or even worse, "That's so black". This was back in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's and early 2000's there was a concerted effort to refer to the County as Prince George's County to try and get away from the PG/trashy references. It's less of any issue now and I don't hear those types of comments anymore, but there was a reason for it.

Thank you for this clarification! I saw this in the news the other day and was baffled.

However, here in Montgomery County, I do still hear white people over 50 (or so) say, "people from PG County", meaning: "black people, and we don't want them here". They're saying, "PG County", not "Prince George's County".

It's the same thing. Would it be more or less offensive if they said "people from Prince George's County"?

I am the PP you're responding to. Evidently there are at least some people from Prince George's County who think that it's not the same thing.

And, in fact, after I heard people say this a few times, I started saying "Prince George's County" every time, to make it clear that I was talking about Prince George's County, not "black people, and we don't want them here".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a long-time resident of PG County, my experience is that it is based on colloquial usage from years ago. Many years ago (like 20-30 years ago), people used to use PG derogatively. It wasn't uncommon for people to say "That's so PG" when they meant "That's so ghetto", "That's so trashy" or even worse, "That's so black". This was back in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's and early 2000's there was a concerted effort to refer to the County as Prince George's County to try and get away from the PG/trashy references. It's less of any issue now and I don't hear those types of comments anymore, but there was a reason for it.

Thank you for this clarification! I saw this in the news the other day and was baffled.

However, here in Montgomery County, I do still hear white people over 50 (or so) say, "people from PG County", meaning: "black people, and we don't want them here". They're saying, "PG County", not "Prince George's County".

It's the same thing. Would it be more or less offensive if they said "people from Prince George's County"?

If they said "people from Prince George's County", their listeners wouldn't necessarily understand what they meant. Their listeners might think that they were talking about actual people who live in Prince George's County, which they aren't.