How the fresh fuck is this even a thing still? Even back in the 90's I heard dudes making gags about "Uncle Ben Hot Rods". You know. RICE IT UP!

GET IT? They're shitty race cars made by a shitty race who only makes cheap stuff!

🤮

I'm not bothered by it, but it is tacky.

When I was growing up, the term wasn't necessarily directed specifically towards Asian people, but Asian manufactured cars themselves. IE a Honda with a body kit and a loud muffler would be referred to as a "Rice Grinder" by some. It doesn't register in this context to me as racist, but definitely culturally insensitive and stupid.

I'm okay with the move to not use it.

I was going to make this post myself, thank you 😍

As an east Asian that eats rice every day, I must say that I don't consider this term racist at all. The meanings of words shift over time. For example, nice used to mean "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless," but now it means "kind, thoughtful." Gay used to mean "lighthearted, joyous," then a slang for homosexuals, and ultimately became the term with which many homosexuals choose to describe themselves. Rice may have been a racist term, but now what it means is "to extensively customize one's desktop system to one's liking, especially Linux systems." It no longer is racist.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_change

Oh, shit, I never thought of that. Thanks for pointing it out

I disagree.

Ricers, in the 80s, as a term that referred to Japanese cars (Honda, Toyota) who burned rice instead of gas. This is bad. Full stop.

From there, rice, in the 90s-00s, referred to the Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancement: typically bolted onto Honda and Toyota, it moved from that to any cosmetic car customization 10s.

Now we are in 20s, and rice refers to customizations that represent one’s personal choices regarding cosmetic enhancements.

Is that a bad thing?

Why should a word be locked in on a definition from 40 yrs ago? Why should it be stuck in the past?

Why not reclaim a word? Customizing a desktop is a labor of love. It takes a decent amount of time, and is deeply personal, representing one’s own taste.