Talk:Leb

message: This article has been turned into a lot of political bleating. "Don't shit in the well." --Jquarry 22:26, 13 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I am australian yet had never heard the term leb until the 2005 Sydney race riots. Was the term leb something that only emerged with that incident? Even the Australian words article listed only lebo (something I had heard used - even by at least one Lebanese person) but not leb. If this article sprung up only because of one incident where the term leb was used maybe it is a little premature to be giving the term a definition as if it is a common, accepted, and enduring sentiment. I also disagree about it being ascribed to all Australians when apparently the situation applies only to a small region of Sydney. Not all of Aust. Precinct13 01:29, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Its current in Sydney slang derrived, as you point out, from lebo.  I suspect the reason for the new version of the word is the hard b sound at the end of leb (compare "fuck"'s hard k, etc) which increases the slur.  Lebo has a bit of the -o diminuitive.  The article should probably be moved to "lebo" with a redirect and an indication of "leb" as a synonym. Fifelfoo 01:52, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

text: Both Leb and Lebo have been part of the vernacular for a number of years, although the former probably limited to Sydney. --Jquarry 02:42, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Is the word really this offensive? Many Australians regardless of ethnicity use it, I've only heard of it being a slur until these 2005 Sydney race riots and even then it was probably used as a more formal way of saying "wog".--Greasysteve13 03:52, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah I've never really known lebo to be all that offensive (though I don't use it myself) and it seems mainly used by the Lebanese themselves. Its use in these riots as such a derogatory term seems to be a new thing. Like how the word wog has been used in these riots, long after the terms became rather common and not too offensive words and decades after mainstream shows like Wogs Out Of Work came out. Overall the article is ascribing too much racial sentiment to the word which heretofore was pretty common and not too offensive. However my biggest objection is to the following bit of conjecture and speculalion from the article: "However, in Australian conceptions of race and ethnicity the slur leb makes a claim that all Lebanese are Muslims, and that being Islamic is something shameful." That statement seems to be a bit of a stretch. Precinct13 05:31, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

text: I just did a quick google on "leb " in Aust sites and it does seem to be a pretty standard shortening with no special or particular racist or derogatory meanings. Eg there are a few grocery retailers who list such products as "leb bread" or "leb cucumbers". Other sites feature apparently lebanese people calling themselves "leb". However there are very few hits: most sites seem to be totally unrelated and feature LEB as some unrelated acronym. It doesn't seem too different from "Vic" from Victoria/n. Ppl from other states sometimes do use "Vic" in a derogatory sense to criticise Victoria/ns, but that does not mean the term itself is, or is always derog., and it is used officialy in Victoria all the time. Precinct13 05:46, 14 December 2005 (UTC)