Now I’m with Bernie on the ‘knacker’ thing .It’s use it’s so broad that it can’t be tagged as an insult directed at any one group.Sort of like ‘asshole’ here in the US.It doesn’t mean I want to hear it but I concede the point that the students here were making knacker = traveller.

In my workplace I have had to discipline many an officer for racist,homophobic and sexist remarks made in my hearing.As a transwoman I have enough on my plate as it is but I am unrelenting when it comes to this sort of thing.One morning recently I DID compile a list of words I never wanted to hear in my workspace.Turns out I wasn’t being all Bolshie or activist .I was simply enforcing the federal regs that were already in place. That list probably will get longer as time goes on and people find more things to be offended by.That’s fine….I’ve got tons of abusive terms that don’t make mention of religion,gender,race,sexual orientation,national origin or ethnicity.

The segment in question is a rehash of things uncovered on Bebo. I believe the words used are pulled directly from the Bebo sites. Bebo is fueling the problem and student commentary, verbatim or rephrased, gives the issue more oxygen.

The whole issue of terminology (e.g., knacker and tinker) falls into disputed territory on Wikipedia when researched by students following the episode. In fact, most of the incoming students under my supervision–more than a majority–do not consider the term “knacker” as a reference to a specific group in Irish society. In hallways and in social settings, I hear college students calling each other “knackers” based on clothing choice or personal hygiene.

I wonder if that’s wrong. To my American ears there is no problem with the term being used in a collegial environment. The same students call each other muppets. If I’m to restrict one term, I need to develop an extensive listing of acceptable terms of endearment.

I appreciate this discussion and still remain interested in knowing whether anyone commenting here would consider having their voices recorded in addition to the student voices that sparked this posting.

I was a student of TI (Tipperary Institute) and although I did have some problems with the place, I never saw those terms being used to describe anyone.

I have not listened to the podcast you mentioned, but it does reflect badly on the college if these terms are being used in everyday language, and indeed on podcasts which claim to repesent the college.

Sadly Maman Poulet, its not the only instance of bad talk on live media, as I heard two student types on TCD student radio talking about ‘knackers’ a couple of weeks back and was stunned to hear that too.

And surely it shouldn’t be up to an outsider to challenge your students and their views?

If anything, the audio clip you heard illustrates the lack of PC-conformity inside the student’s studio space. Most of the recorded conversations you hear from podcasting.ie occur in unmonitored space. And since they’re unaccompanied by license to broadcast, there’s little more than community censure to constrain their content.

A short phone call, comment to MobaTalk on the website or text message to the commentator would go a long way.