"Redskin" is a racial descriptor for the indigenous peoples of the Americas and one of the color metaphors for race used in North America and Europe since European colonization of the Western Hemisphere. The term is controversial and considered by some to be offensive.

Historic use[link]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the term "redskin" came from the reddish skin color of some Native Americans, as in the terms red Indian and red man. The OED cites instances of its usage in English dating back to the 17th century andcites a use of red in reference to skin color from 1587. Multiple theories fight for prominence as to the true historical origin of the word. One theory, mentioned above, is that the term was meant as merely a physical indicator, similar to the words "white" and "black" for Caucasians and Africans, respectively. Another theory holds that it was first used by Native Americans during the 1800s as a way of distinguishing themselves from the ever-growing white population. An often mentioned third but not proven^{[1] [2]}origin involves the bloody skins (red-skins) of Native people as "prizes," in which they would be scalped after battle and their skins bought and sold in local towns.^[3] To date there is no historical documentation or evidence to support this theory. Yet another theory is that the term "Red Indian" originated to describe the Beothuk people of Newfoundland who painted their bodies with red ochre, and was then generalized to North American indigenous people in general.^{[citation needed]}

Current use[link]

The term is arguably most prominent in the name of the Washington Redskins, a National Football League football team. The team was founded in 1932 and was originally known as the Boston Braves, for their landlords, the baseball team called the Boston Braves. In 1933 the name was changed to the synonymous Boston Redskins when they left Braves Field for Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox. Some accounts state that the name "Redskins" was chosen to honor the team's coach, William "Lone Star" Dietz, who began coaching in 1933, and whose mother was allegedly Sioux. In 1937 the team moved and joining Capitol Hill as the second football team of Washington, D.C., becoming the Washington Redskins.^[4]

In recent years the name has become controversial, with some Native American groups and their supporters arguing that since they view the word "redskin" as an offensive racial slur that it is inappropriate for a NFL team to continue to use it, regardless of whether any offense is intended. In contrast to amateur teams governed by the NCAA or other organizations, which can level sanctions against member schools, the professional Washington Redskins franchise and nickname are subject only to the other clubs in the NFL and, presumably, approval or disapproval as expressed through ticket and merchandise receipts, or lack thereof, from the public. As there has apparently been no adverse market reaction, there has been little or no incentive to change the name.

An attempt to revoke the trademark registration of the Washington Redskins team name failed when an initial revocation of the trademark was reversed in the 2005 court case of Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo. Harjo's case inspired many other Native American civil rights groups to pursue the topic, and subsequent lawsuits followed. One complaint filed stated: “The term ‘redskin’ was and is a pejorative, derogatory, denigrating, offensive, scandalous, contemptuous, disreputable, disparaging and racist designation for a Native American person.” Despite these attempts, "redskin" continues to be used as an NFL name.

Critics of the use of "redskin" have been more successful outside the NFL. In 2000 James S. Rickards High School changed its name from the Rickards Redskins to Rickards Raiders due to perceived racial implications of the word. The following year, under threats of litigation from the Native American Bar Association, Consolidated School District 158 in Huntley, Illinois changed the team name "Huntley Redskins" to "Huntley Red Raiders."

In California, a bill presented by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg to ban the use of the name Redskins as a public school mascot was vetoed more than once. There were many opponents of the bill, including students from schools with the Redskin mascot - most prominently Tulare Union High School in Tulare, and Chowchilla Union High School in Chowchilla; as well as members of the Tachi-Yokut tribe who stated that schools having "Redskin" as a team name promoted a sense of pride among their people.

In April 2001 the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights called for an end to the use of Native American images and team names by non-Native schools, stating, "These references, whether mascots and their performances, logos, or names, are disrespectful and offensive to American Indians and others and are particularly inappropriate and insensitive in light of the long history of forced assimilation that American Indian people have endured in this country." The commission declared that "the stereotyping of any racial, ethnic, religious or other group, when promoted by our public educational institutions, teaches all students that stereotyping of minority groups is acceptable, which is a dangerous lesson in a diverse society," and noted that "false portrayals encourage biases and prejudices that have a negative effect on contemporary Indian people."^[5]

The American Counseling Association adopted a resolution December 2, 2001 opposing the use of stereotypical Native American images as sports symbols and mascots.^[6]

The American Psychological Association adopted a Resolution August 21, 2005, recommending the immediate retirement of American Indian mascots, symbols, images, and personalities by schools, colleges, universities, athletic teams, and organizations. The APA stated that "racism and racial discrimination are attitudes and behavior that are learned and that threaten human development" and resolved to "denounce racism in all its forms, and take proactive steps to prevent the occurrence of intolerant or racist acts."^[7]

References[link]

See also[link]

• Native American mascot controversy

External links[link]

• "I am a Red-Skin": The Adoption of a Native American Expression (1769–1826) (Ives Goddard, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution)
• Redskins Are Denied Trademarks, Washington Post, April 3, 1999
• Suzan Shown Harjo (2005-06-17). "Dirty Word Games". Indian Country Today. http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/28165049.html. 
• Redskin: Linguistic Controversy, Ryan M. Dinkgrave, February 4, 2004

Redskin can refer to:

• Redskin (slang), a controversial term referring to Native Americans
• Redskin (subculture), a socialist or communist skinhead
• Redskin (film), a 1929 film
• Washington Redskins, United States football team
• The Redskins, a 1980s English left-wing soul/punk band
• Redskins (confectionery), a red-coloured chewy candy bar manufactured by Nestlé

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often used as a euphemism and may use informal lexicon to identify with one's peers.

Defining slang[link]

Few linguists have endeavoured to clearly define what constitutes as slang.^[1] Attempting to remedy this, Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter argue that an expression should be considered "true slang" if it meets at least two of the following criteria:

• It lowers, if temporarily, "the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing"; in other words, it's likely to be considered in those contexts a "glaring misuse of register."
• Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people who are familiar with it and use the term.
• "It's a taboo term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater responsibility."
• It replaces "a well-known conventional synonym". This is done primarily to avoid discomfort caused by conventional phrases or by further elaboration.^[1]

Slang is different from jargon, which is the technical vocabulary of a particular profession, and which meets only the second of the criteria given above. Jargon, like many examples of slang, may be used to exclude non–group members from the conversation, but in general has the function of allowing its users to talk precisely about technical issues in any given field.^{[citation needed]}

Extent and origins of slang[link]

Slang can be regional (that is, used only in a particular territory), but slang terms are often particular instead to a certain subculture, such as music or video gaming. Nevertheless, slang expressions can spread outside their original areas to become commonly used, like "cool" and "jive." While some words eventually lose their status as slang (the word "mob", for example, began as a shortening of Latin mobile vulgus^[2]), others continue to be considered as such by most speakers. When slang spreads beyond the group or subculture that originally used it, its original users often replace it with other, less-recognised terms to maintain group identity.

One use of slang is to circumvent social taboos, as mainstream language tends to shy away from evoking certain realities. For this reason, slang vocabularies are particularly rich in certain domains, such as violence, crime, drugs, and sex. Alternatively, slang can grow out of mere familiarity with the things described. Among Californian wine connoisseurs (and other groups), for example, Cabernet Sauvignon is often known as "Cab Sav," Chardonnay as "Chard" and so on;^[3] this means that naming the different wines expends less superfluous effort; it also helps to indicate the user's familiarity with wine.

Even within a single language community, slang, and the extent to which it is used, tends to vary widely across social, ethnic, economic, and geographic strata. Slang may fall into disuse over time; sometimes, however, it grows more and more common until it becomes the dominant way of saying something, at which time it usually comes to be regarded as mainstream, acceptable language (e.g. the Spanish word caballo or the English word ain't), although in the case of taboo words there may not be an expression which is considered mainstream or acceptable. Numerous slang terms pass into informal mainstream speech, and sometimes into formal speech, though this may involve a change in meaning or usage.

Slang very often involves the creation of novel meanings for existing words. It is common for such novel meanings to diverge significantly from the standard meaning. Thus, "cool" and "hot" can both mean "very good," "impressive," or "good-looking".

Slang terms are often known only within a clique or ingroup. For example, Leet ("Leetspeak" or "1337") was originally popular only among certain Internet subcultures, such as crackers and online video gamers. During the 1990s, and into the early 21st century, however, Leet became increasingly more commonplace on the Internet, and it has spread outside Internet-based communication and into spoken languages.^[4] Other types of slang include SMS language used on mobile phones, and "chatspeak," (e.g., "LOL", an acronym meaning "laughing out loud" or "laugh out loud" or ROFL, "rolling on the floor laughing"), which is widely used in instant messaging on the Internet.

Distinction between slang and colloquialisms[link]

Some linguists make a distinction between slangisms (slang words) and colloquialisms. According to Ghil'ad Zuckermann, "slang refers to informal (and often transient) lexical items used by a specific social group, for instance teenagers, soldiers, prisoners and thieves. Slang is not the same as colloquial (speech), which is informal, relaxed speech used on occasion by any speaker; this might include contractions such as 'you’re,' as well as colloquialisms. A colloquialism is a lexical item used in informal speech; whilst the broadest sense of the term ‘colloquialism’ might include slangism, its narrow sense does not. Slangisms are often used in colloquial speech but not all colloquialisms are slangisms. One method of distinguishing between a slangism and a colloquialism is to ask whether most native speakers know the word (and use it); if they do, it is a colloquialism. However, the problem is that this is not a discrete, quantised system but a continuum. Although the majority of slangisms are ephemeral and often supplanted by new ones, some gain non-slang colloquial status (e.g. English silly – cf. German selig ‘blessed’, Middle High German sælde ‘bliss, luck’ and Zelda, a Jewish female first name) and even formal status (e.g. English mob)."^[5]

Etymology[link]

The origin of the word slang is uncertain. It has a connection with Thieves' cant, and the earliest attested use (1756) refers to the vocabulary of "low or disreputable" people. Beyond that, however, its origin is unclear. A Scandinavian origin has been proposed (compare, for example, Norwegian slengenamn, which means "nickname"), but is discounted by the Oxford English Dictionary based on "date and early associations".^[6]

See also[link]

• A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew
• Register
• Diner lingo
• Urban Dictionary

People

• G. Vernon Bennett, Pomona, California, school superintendent, orders "anti-slang week," 1915

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up slang in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Slang

• The Online Slang Dictionary - American and English terms, features other statistical information
• SlangSite.com - Non-explicit American terms
• Urban Dictionary - Contributions by users
• American slang - with part of speech and sample sentences
• British slang - with definition, part of speech and usage examples

Adam Carriker

Carriker during the 2011 training camp.
No. 94     Washington Redskins
Defensive end
Personal information
Date of birth: (1984-05-06) May 6, 1984 (age 28)
Place of birth: Hastings, Nebraska
Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Weight: 311 lb (141 kg)
Career information
College: Nebraska
NFL Draft: 2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13
Debuted in 2007 for the St. Louis Rams
Career history
St. Louis Rams (2007–2009) Washington Redskins (2010–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year (2006) First-Team All-Big 12 (2005, 2006) Rams Rookie of the Year (2007)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2011
Tackles 124 Sacks 9.0 INTs 0 Stats at NFL.com

Adam Eugene Carriker, (born on May 6, 1984), is a professional American football defensive end for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Nebraska.

Early years[link]

Carriker attended Kennewick High School, where he played quarterback and defensive end. He was a three-year starter at quarterback and team captain for three years. In his only season at defensive end (his senior season), he recorded 25 tackles, 15 sacks, and four forced fumbles in a winless season. Regardless, he was named to Second-team All-Big 9 Honors. Carriker visited Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State before finally deciding to commit to Nebraska. Additionally, Carriker was a three-time All-Conference selection in baseball and ran track for one year.

College career[link]

Carriker redshirted in 2002. In his 2003 freshman season he played extensively in passing situations before injuring his ankle against Utah State. Against the University of Colorado he had three quarterback hurries and ended a CU drive in the third quarter with a nine-yard sack of quarterback Joel Klatt. He finished the year with three tackles and three quarterback hurries. He played in his first bowl game, the 2003 Alamo Bowl after the regular season. In his 2004 sophomore year Carriker was hampered for the second straight season by an ankle injury. He played in 10 games with eight starts in the 2004 campaign, and finished with 36 tackles, including seven tackles for loss and three sacks for 18 yards. Carriker added seven quarterback hurries during his sophomore season.

As a junior in 2005 Carriker started all 12 games at the base end spot, and finished with 9.5 sacks for 84 yards and 17 tackles for loss for 96 yards. His 9½ sacks tied for the Big 12 Conference lead and ranked 19th nationally. He also led Nebraska with 21 quarterback hurries, 10 more than any other Husker defender. Carriker’s 43 total tackles ranked seventh on the team and tied for the most among defensive linemen. He began his junior season by notching two of the Huskers’ school-record tying 11 sacks in the team’s 25-7 win over Maine. Carriker capped 2005 with one tackle in the Alamo Bowl victory over the University of Michigan. Adam was voted 2005 Nebraska Defensive MVP.

As a senior in 2006 Adam Carriker completed a dominant career in the 2006 season Cotton Bowl Classic against Auburn University. In 2006, Carriker earned Nebraska’s Defensive MVP honor for the second straight season, and was honored as the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year by the league’s coaches. Carriker finished the season with a team-leading seven sacks and ranked second on the team with 16 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. His 52 total tackles led all Nebraska defensive linemen, and he also paced the Blackshirt defense with 12 quarterback hurries, while registering his first career interception. In addition to his selection as Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year, Carriker was a First-team All-Big 12 pick by the Big 12 Coaches and the Associated Press. He was also a Third-team All-America selection by Rivals.com.

The strong senior season put Carriker’s name in a prominent position in the NU record books. He finished with 41 career tackles for loss to rank fifth in the program’s history. Carriker has 20½ career sacks to rank sixth on the Cornhusker charts. Carriker graduated with a degree in business administration.

College statistics[link]

Professional career[link]

Pre-draft[link]

(* represents NFL Combine; **represents Nebraska Pro Day- March 7, 2007) ^[1]

• Bench press: 440 lbs
• Squat: 600 lbs
• Power clean: 370 lbs

St. Louis Rams[link]

On July 26, 2007, Carriker signed a five-year $14.5 million contract, with guarantees of $9.5 million.^[2] Carriker started all 16 games of his rookie season at defensive tackle instead of his college position, defensive end. Carriker, who bulked up from the 296 pounds he weighed at the NFL combine, weighed in the 305-pound range during the 2007 season.

He was voted the Rams Rookie of the Year called the Carroll Rosenbloom Memorial Award, finishing with 2 sacks, 30 tackles, and a safety. Carriker missed the entire 2009 NFL season due to injury.

Washington Redskins[link]

Carriker was traded to the Washington Redskins on April 20, 2010. In exchange, the teams swapped fifth and seventh-round draft picks in 2010.^[3] After initial shock, Carriker was pleased about his trade and the chance to revitalize his career.^[4]

In Washington, Carriker earned the starting left defensive end position for the Redskins in a 3-4 defensive scheme. With the Rams he was a "3-technique" defensive tackle in a 4-3 defensive scheme which did not work out and led to his trade to the Redskins. "In St. Louis, we tried to make him a 3-technique and up-the-field rusher," said defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. "For a guy who ran the 40 in 4.7 and was 6-6, 315 pounds, you'd think he could do that. But that's not what he wants to do. He wants to play with strength and power, and he does a pretty good job of it. He feels so much more comfortable in this."^[5] Carriker's 315 pounds is ideal, and he reported at the beginning of the 2010 season that he bench pressed 500 pounds, which helps him in his new position.^[6]

Early in the 2010 season the change drew positive reviews, said Rich Campbell of Fredricksburg.com, "I’m buying Carriker as an impact 3-4 end right now. He’s strong enough to set the edge on running plays, and he’s even generating a pass rush on occasion. Carriker stopped Houston RB Arian Foster for a 2-yard loss in the second quarter after he made a quick step inside the pulling left guard. He also beat a double team on the first play of the second half to stop Foster for a gain of one. Carriker isn’t dominant—but he is flashing."^[7]

On March 13, 2012, Carriker re-signed with the Redskins for four years on a $20 million contract with $7 million guaranteed.^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
• St. Louis Rams bio
• Washington Redskins Bio