Why is the word "tr*nny" so popular here?

[analoggue]

Being a trans EE student in the states, it really hurts every time I'm thoroughly enjoying one of dave's vids and out of nowhere such a hateful and vitriolic word gets thrown around so casually. As a word for transistor, I've never heard it used in the US, but is everyone aware of how awful it feels to be called something so dehumanizing? I'd like to believe that most people are well-intentioned and don't realize what kind of hurt it causes, and it seems so obvious to me, but is it purposeful? Don't mean to stir up drama but no other EE channel on youtube talks like that, and it really bothers me.

[CopperCone]

its also used for car transmission.

who cares. its like complaining the enola gay's name should be changed since it delivered hot nuclear death. or renaming the fat man

[hamster_nz]

It's an unfortunate name space collision - 'tranny' is a just a 'pet name' for transistor radio, and also transistors, a bit like "teevee" for television. Definitely no malice intended. I don't think anybody puts one and one together.

IMO I think it is something to do with Australia - all long words have to get shortened to minimize the chances of swallowing a gnat or a spider or maybe a kangaroo.

[metrologist]

Knowing the LGBTI community very well myself...

Oh Oh... you've excluded a few groups there...

[imidis]

I've never heard it used as an offensive word, but yeah it's been used for years to refer to transmissions for decades in north america.

[Mr. Scram]

Being a trans EE student in the states, it really hurts every time I'm thoroughly enjoying one of dave's vids and out of nowhere such a hateful and vitriolic word gets thrown around so casually. As a word for transistor, I've never heard it used in the US, but is everyone aware of how awful it feels to be called something so dehumanizing? I'd like to believe that most people are well-intentioned and don't realize what kind of hurt it causes, and it seems so obvious to me, but is it purposeful? Don't mean to stir up drama but no other EE channel on youtube talks like that, and it really bothers me.

Why does it hurt? The two things have nothing to do with each other.  I don't think gay women feel very offended when people talk about earthen and clay embankments that protect the lands from flooding, as they're not addressed. If the things were to be connected, the story of the boy who plugs a dyke with his finger suddenly has many new and unsettling dimensions.

Obviously, common usage can remind you of unpleasant associations, and I imagine that can be though at times. Maybe seeing words used in a different context can help you normalize the word into something much more regular.

[ez24]

I've never heard it used as an offensive word, but yeah it's been used for years to refer to transmissions for decades in north america.

If someone said to me "I like my tranny", I would think they are talking about their car.  I never paid attention to anyone calling a transistor "tranny".

[xrunner]

Don't mean to stir up drama but no other EE channel on youtube talks like that, and it really bothers me.

In the context it was used it's certainly not offensive because it refers to a transistor. 

[marshallh]

Yeah, I remember when I was in college too.


Welcome to the forum btw.

[BradC]

I have these discussions with my Wife and her family quite a bit. She's from Scotland, and in the UK a number of the words we use out here are seen as taboo (such as Paki in reference to the Pakistanis, or niggerhead in reference to a small vertical outcrop of reef).
I try not to use those words casually around the family, but they understand sometimes when you're in the heat of the moment they are going to come out. <shrug>

As for tranny. My grandfather used it to refer to the pocket transistor radio he carried around to listen to the footy in his later years.

Words only hurt if you let them.

[johnboxall]

As a word for transistor, I've never heard it used in the US, but is everyone aware of how awful it feels to be called something so dehumanizing?

Truly sorry to hear that. If you need a laugh - my name is John.

In the USA that means a toilet or customer of a prostitute. Life goes on.

[JoeO]

Being a trans EE student in the states, it really hurts every time I'm thoroughly enjoying one of dave's vids and out of nowhere such a hateful and vitriolic word gets thrown around so casually. As a word for transistor, I've never heard it used in the US, but is everyone aware of how awful it feels to be called something so dehumanizing? I'd like to believe that most people are well-intentioned and don't realize what kind of hurt it causes, and it seems so obvious to me, but is it purposeful? Don't mean to stir up drama but no other EE channel on youtube talks like that, and it really bothers me.

You need to toughen yourself up.  The world is a hard place to get along in and you seem to be overly sensitive.

Maybe you should avoid this forum if little things like this are triggers to you.

[lowimpedance]

^ Indeed , try putting the context of the usage back in and accept there is no unsavory connotation.
As well as a the other stated shortened associations it also can refer to a transformer of the electrical type, usually the 'mains' variety.

Don't let it bother you so much.

[Halcyon]

Knowing the LGBTI community very well myself...

Oh Oh... you've excluded a few groups there...

LGBTI... QXYZ...

[CalMachine]

Words are nothing more than just noises your mouth makes to convey meaning and intent.  What was conveyed, other than that particular noise, that hurt your feelings?

[chriswebb]

Don't mean to stir up drama but no other EE channel on youtube talks like that, and it really bothers me.

Then why did you bring it up? The context of the words is more important than the specific words themselves. You need to be mindful that it is entirely your choice to be offended by others. People cannot make that choice for you. And when the context doesn't justify your offense, then you need to you re-evaluate your thinking because the problem is solely yours.

To quote Stephen Fry: "It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so *bleep* what."


Taking that quote into account and knowing that precisely 0% offense was intended by the use of the word "tranny," I think you need to be honest with yourself and us about why you are really posting.

[Psi]

Be offended by the intention not the word. Words are meaningless unless we give them meaning and different people give words various meanings.

[CatalinaWOW]

Even more on context.  This site originates in Australia.  The speaker is Australian.  He speaks Australian.  Which is a different language from British or American or any of the other dialects of English.

There are any number of words which are inoffensive in one or more of these dialects that are offensive in another.  So in addition to the usage for something totally unrelated to your sexual history it is another language.  Gives you an opportunity to show the understanding of another culture that you would appreciate having relative to your own situation.

Finally, I have friends in the LGBT community who actually take pride in owning the pejorative descriptions.  I assume that you are not ashamed of your sexuality.  Why would you by hurt by something that describes how you are?  Among the words that apply to me are giant, redneck, conservative, geek and brainiac.  That is an incomplete list of words that are used pejoratively by many.
Even when they are applied with an intention to hurt I don't find them offensive because I know who and what I am and am not ashamed of it.

[Falcon69]

I don't find anything wrong with calling a transistor a 'Tranny' or a car transmission a 'Tranny', or anything else that starts with 'tran'.  It's just short for it. Like Bob is short for Robert, or 'TV' short for Television.   

On another note, I can see this thread getting locked soon.

[sleemanj]

[Falcon69]

<------ Serious Troll

[Mr. Scram]

The fact that it's a first post and OP was here only 7 minutes afterwards raises suspicions. I could be wrong, but we just had free scope guy too.

[HalFET]

I don't find anything wrong with calling a transistor a 'Tranny' or a car transmission a 'Tranny', or anything else that starts with 'tran'.  It's just short for it. Like Bob is short for Robert, or 'TV' short for Television.   

On another note, I can see this thread getting locked soon.

We had a professor who used words like this for every component    Tranny, Schottky became Schotty (with the necessary Scotty jokes attached - e.g. this one won't fix your reactor/reactance), ground was a pitchfork, dropped the s from switch when a pitchfork was near to it, etc.

PC level of those lectures was sub zero, but they were a lot of fun since it absolutely wasn't prepared.

[JPortici]

tranny -> transistor
tranny -> transformer

you know, words can have different meanings

somebody dig up the article of that guy that proposes to abolish the "master-slave" concept in chip communication

[daqq]

Could someone please publish a list of English words that we can use without offending anyone at all? It should be a simple task considering that there are so few of them these days...

somebody dig up the article of that guy that proposes to abolish the "master-slave" concept in chip communication

Not that exactly, but similar:
https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/22667