back to article Racist Reg hacks slammed for 'vitriolic hatred'

Our recent piece of silliness entitled So, what's the velocity of a sheep in a vacuum? was generally well received by you, our beloved readers. Sadly, though, it didn't go down quite as well in one small corner of west Wales: I found the manner, tone and contents of your article offensive and I suspect in breach of the Uk …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sheep Shaggers

    Good bloody grief. Piss off you boring tosser. No sense of humour at all. Tell you what, if El Reg wants to talk about sheep shaggers, us Aberdeen fans are more than proud of the fact, so next time there's talk of sheep, spare a thought for the Dons and leave the boring welsh to moan amongst themselves.

    "We're only sheep-shagging bastards!" (TM)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    this welsh man laughed

    so there!

    besides i dont see ne kiwi's or ozzies complaining and they got way more sheep than wales.

    I suppose you also find baa baa blacksheep an opressisve hymn, doubly racist in your eyes no doubt.

    if you aint worked it out the english just give us shit cus they are jealous, get over it you hyper sensitive tit.

  3. Mat

    Nice try but...

    It's iechyd da - not lechyd da. I know the Reg tries hard and changes the banner on St. David's day - but sadly your welsh credentials have taken a knock.

    The flame is well over the top but I didn't find the article funny either. Ooh, sheep shagging and Wales. Hilarious. You must be up for that Perrier award thing.

    Mind you, it was probably enough to make an Englishman laugh...

    M

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh dear

    A Welshman walks into a pub with a sheep on his shoulder. The landlord asks, "Where the f#@k did you get that. "In Wales" the sheep replied, "There's thousands of 'em over there"

  5. Les

    Baaa!

    I'm Welsh, albeit resident in England for an arbitrary time period. I laughed.

  6. Stephen May

    Someone need to get a sense of humour

    I think Mr. Bevan could do well to take a leaf out of the book of an ex-colleague of mine who was from Wales. When confronted by the inevitable 'sheep shagger' comments, his only reply was 'We shag them and you eat them!' See, Mr Bevan, that is what is technically known as a JOKE, as is the original article.

  7. Nick Pettefar

    Too Easy a Target?

    I do think the Welsh and Wales do get a bit of a raw deal from actual and would be comedians. They are a bit of an easy target and I guess it does somewhat rankle with some of them. Is it our only remaining "legal" racial target remaining? Have we given up with the Scots and Irish? Perhaps the Cornish should be next?

    Nick - no Welsh blood but a touch of sense perhaps.

  8. jimmy phelan

    Bee-gorrah and bee-gosh

    next they'll be saying associating an Irish man with a pint is racist!! Some people really need to remove the stick from where the sun dont shine

    Now, im off to pick some potatoes and drink some whiskey and beat my wife!

  9. Sceptical Bastard

    Croeso Cymru

    WTF is complainant D Bevan on about? To me, the piece made only affectionate mention of Wales.

    If Mr Bevan wants to make the mental jump between Wales, sheep and bestiality then it is in his own head: nowhere did El Reg suggest that Welshmen like to shag sheep. Nor did the article imply that the Welsh have red hair - being acused of tending to ginger would be legitimate grounds for complaint.

    As a quarter-Welsh myself (and from personal experience), the fact is that in the north of their country, the Welsh insist on using their gutteral 'language' to annoy English speakers. What's more, they burn down our holiday cottages. In the south, they slouch about on street corners blaming us English for destroying their mining industry (which, to be fair, our Tory government did). So the Welsh can hardly complain if they are widely perceived as belligerant, touchy, and chippy. As, indeed, Mr Bevan's letter confirms them to be.

    Next up: complaints from EU grapefruit-growers.

    PS: what is the Welsh word for 'wanker'?

  10. John Bayly

    Somehow I think...

    ... that D Bevan doesn't get out much

  11. Alan

    sheep of light

    I would have thought this disclaimer from the original article

    "Clearly, the difference in these two results means that a compromise standard is required. The El Reg Ssx uses the classic Cheviot as its sheep of choice, with a wooldrag of 50. Wm is in this case 0, since everyone knows that Welshmen do not in fact have intimate relations with sheep and any reference to the same is just a cheap attempt to drum up laughs."

    was enough to head of any outrage unless some one is, like a closet republican, protesting to much about sheep innuendo.

  12. Rich Silver badge

    Actually....

    My girlfriend is Welsh (when she wants to be!) and she thought it was funny.

    Actually, she's from Cardiff, which I gather is not "real Welsh" - apparently the "real Welsh" discriminate against and generally dislike people from Cardiff more so than they do the English; you know the tricks - talking perfectly good English until an Englishman walks in and then suddenly deciding that Welsh is the language of the moment and refusing to speak anything else!

    ...or is that just my imagination and racial prejudice coming through? :-)

  13. Richard

    Angry Welshman

    Clearly your angry welshman could not see past the thick redness of anger in his eyes (possibly due to the hint of truth that he may well be a wooly creature comforter) to read the following sentance in said offending article -

    The El Reg Ssx uses the classic Cheviot as its sheep of choice, with a wooldrag of 50. Wm is in this case 0, since everyone knows that Welshmen do not in fact have intimate relations with sheep and any reference to the same is just a cheap attempt to drum up laughs.

    truth hurts I guess

  14. Nev

    Shouting "racist" for no reason...

    ... makes society more lethargic when acts of REAL incidents of racism occur.

    What a plank.

  15. M

    Ah...

    ...there some of them unhumour welsh git!

    Get a life!

  16. BigTim

    OK D.Bevan was over the top but compounding the article with

    with further ignorant jibes has made the Reg writer look the stupid one

    Who was "Owen Glyndwr"? Why does he have an Olde Englishe titled beer named after him and what on earth is "Lechyd da" supposed to mean?

    I suppose the basis of most predjudice is ignorance.

    Cymru am byth.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Quite obviously some people lack sense of humour

    So should all proud owners of airbags and funbags (and their significant halfs who have vested interests in the matter) from another well known small country complain against el Register under both the race relations act and sexual discrimination act?

    Having lived there for twenty odd years somehow I would expect not to. For a multitude of reasons like:

    A) Their sense of humour has not been amputated at birth.

    B) The air/funbags in the original car incident which coined in the phrase belonged to a beginner serbian style "turbo-folk" starlet. There it is a tool of the trade. You can't deliver entertainment primarily oriented to drunk international trucker audience without having the appropriate tools for that.

    C) The actual average cup size in the aforementioned air/funbag country is actually 1-2 sizes less than the UK. So besides race relations and sexual discrimnation, defamation is also quite fitting. If your sense of humour has been amputated at birth that is. If it has not - you laugh :-)

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Next time...

    When dealing with small country members, you should drop the vitriol and go for the most appropriate tone: Pity.

  19. Steve Martin

    Baaaaaaaaaa!

    'Nuf said

  20. Khyle Westmoreland

    Well I don't know about your friends...

    But everyone I've showed it to in Wales found it just as funny as all the English people I've showed it to! Methinks you need to get to know a livelier bunch of people ;-)

  21. Chrome

    Here we go...

    ... with comments like Mr Bevans' causing the Welsh to look like a bunch of humourless, whining windbags with nothing better to do than conduct Ned Flanders-esque trolls through the media looking for words like 'sheep'

    I'm Welsh and thought the article was great... I didn't even think it discriminated against vacuums

    If El Reg succumbs to this type of 'Political Correctness' (an oxymoronic statement) I'm gonna stop reading

    Oh by the way it's iechyd da, not lechyd da you racist, barely-coherent bunch of Wales-haters!!! :-)

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nonsense

    All that ranting about the article is no more than a pathetic rant of "politically correct wanking".

  23. Max Hawkins

    Ha ha

    Bloody hell D. Bevan. That article had nothing racist in it. Are you sure you aren't just making it up because you are bored? And what gives you the right to demand apoligies eh?

    And to the Register, great article, and nice response to this nutcase.

    Oh, and I forgot, I am Welsh, and this article was great.

    Max

  24. chuckufarley Silver badge

    IMHO, The Vultures are not racists...

    IMHO, The Vultures are not racists. They seem to hate everyone equally, at least until we die. Then they feast on our rotting equally. No fuss, no muss...No harm, no foul...

  25. Chad H.

    Maybe

    You talk about converting the size of Wales in the opening paragraphs to imperial measurements, maybe she inferred from that you were talking about a French-inspired Metric Wales, and not the classic British Imperial Wales. Maybe thats what set her off, I mean the idea of a non-British wales would set of a lot of people.

  26. Matt

    As an Englishman living abroad

    As an ex-pat I'm often teased about my Englishness. I've also been teased by Welshmen too.

    It really isn't a problem, I think you have to allow room for good natured humour, even if some people are offended. In reality it's a difficult line to draw when this becomes unacceptable but I'd say El Reg are no where near that line now.

    If UK law makes jokes like this illegal then I think the UK is in more trouble than I ever imagined.

    Incidentally, yes I would joke with a West Indian, or anyone else, about stereotypes etc. It seems the Jamaicans, at least, are happy with this looking at a recent Jamaican advert with the "total gridlock" line. In fact there was also the noodle mining advert that was apparently OK for the Welsh.

    It seems to be that it's part of becoming an adult to learn to laugh and put aside childish insecurities. This doesn't grant people the right to abuse one another but it gives space for people to get along.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Get a life

    How was the article racist ? The whole article was in jest, and the only bit that could be claimed as racist was about men chasing sheep (no mention of sex), which had the sentence

    "since everyone knows that Welshmen do not in fact have intimate relations with sheep and any reference to the same is just a cheap attempt to drum up laughs."

    A few words to Mr. Bevan:

    Cau dy geg ac dos i chwarae efo dy nain

  28. Seeker

    Welsh aren't a race

    They are the same race as the rest of us.... human.

  29. eWill

    Hey Vultures, get over it...

    Hey Register, most of the time you guys hit the spot, but this time i think you've got it wrong..

    The OP made a point ,you may not like it , but the article did take the micky out of the welsh and that bloke did not find it funny. So sense of humour failure maybe but "FotW"?

    If you make a joke at a minoritys expense expect some response from that minority. Be big enough to say "OK we're sorry" not hold the complaint up for the world to ridcule as "FotW"

    The "flame" he sent you is hardley worth the title , it seems thought through, lacks grammatical errors (unlike this post) and express's a legitamate concern."Vitriolic" is over the top for what was an attempt at humour , but by giving this FotW status you just draw your attention to what is a very old joke about sheep and welshmen.

    <Cough>Anyway , everyone knows its the Kiwi's that are the real sheep botherer's these days.</Cough>

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What?

    I read that article and found it very funny. So funny in fact I sent it on to my mother (Who's Welsh), my boss (Also Welsh) and many other people who may, or may not, have also been Welsh or sent it on to others who were.

    None of them were offended. At all. Not even slightly. Some didn't find the concept of sheep in vacuums and their velocity funny, but then again they were generally fans of the Mighty Boosh and as such have no sense of humour!

    Anyone offended by that article really needs to have a quick reality check and deal with whatever deep-seated insecurities they have .... and there's plenty of merriment and mirth thrown around about all of the Countries that make up the UK.

    Any comments posted after the article should not be held against the Reg as they are only allowing us the freedom of speech which is pretty much central to the ideals of Democracy.

    Now fuck off back to Valleys you annoying Taffy bastard. (And yes, thats something I do say to my boss quite a bit...and he finds it very funny, stop being so over-sensitive)

  31. Ian

    WTF? Welsh? Sheep ?

    I'd hate to think that the El Reg were singling out Mr D Bevans fellow country men as the ONLY lovers of our fluffy little sexy friends? Have you no respect for the Scots? Aberdonians would like to disagree with you!

    I found the manner, tone and contents of your article offensive and I suspect in breach of the Uk race relations act.

    "Under the Race Relations Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origin. All racial groups are protected from discrimination."

    I fear that Mr D Bevans could be right, not only were the Welsh singled out for being sheep lovers... but they discriminated against the Scots by NOT including them in the article!

    Bevans, take your political correct bullsh!t and stick it up your hairy @rse! It's people like you that are ruining this fine country. We'll, you and accountants, not that I'm singling them out or anything... fook it, add lawyers to the list too.

    If you cant laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? (well, the English, but thats another story)

    no guesses where I'm from :P

  32. Paul Darcy

    Get a life

    Its a laugh. Bet you would have laughed it up if it was about an English bloke or a scot or any other apart from the good proud welsh. I found it funny. Racism is getting used as the word for anything the individual doesn't like, to fight the many with. Soon there will be a race finder general and he will be burning folk at the stake for using the t**fy word or the N***r word. people get a grip we are better than we used to be on accepting other cultures and races. Hell, the benny hill show was so bad but made millions laugh every week but now its practically banned. I demand an apology.... for what been welsh and having no sense of humour????

  33. Adrian Jones

    @BigTim

    Owen Glyndwr was a Welsh prince. (The last "real" one? I can't remember.) He's featured in Henry IV.

    The "Sons of Glyndwr" were a Welsh terrorist group who burned holiday cottages to discourage English holiday makers from visiting Wales. (Hence the old joke, "Come home to a real fire, buy a cottage in Wales")

    The Sons of Glyndwr have mostly disappeared now, although some of them might have moved to Cornwall...

  34. Phil Hare

    Obviously not a regular...

    ...as any regular Reg reader will know that Vulture Central is one of the few IT sites to consistently tip its hat to St. David's day.

    Mr Bevan, I know quite a few Welsh people and they constantly extract the proverbial from the English; happily the average person, English, Welsh or otherwise, is secure enough in their own nationality to take this kind of humour with the pinch of salt required, whilst carefully edging away from scary nationalist types who tend to foam at the mouth and shout at the TV a lot.

  35. Mike Banahan

    Defaid am byth

    .. is what a friend of mine from Amlwch claimed was the motto of those with over-developed ovine tendencies.

  36. Jay Roller

    What about the sheep?

    I fail to see any evidence of racism in the article (although I am detecting a serious sense-of-humour failure from the complainant). What worries me, however, is the article seems to support the notion of placing sheep in a vacuum. My Dyson doesn't have a bag, and the hose is quite narrow - I don't think any amount of suction is going to help. Also, does the drag factor differ between a cylinder and an upright? And will it damage the wool? I would imagine that at the very least, it's going to cause a bad fleece day...

  37. Ron Eve

    @Next time...

    "When dealing with small country members, you should drop the vitriol and go for the most appropriate tone: Pity."

    I'm a cnut remember.... :-)

    (oh wait. I'm only half Welsh)

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What ISN'T funny....

    Is the barstewards they gave us for neighbours.

    Welsh exile

  39. Chris Collins

    West Wales = English

    If he's from West Wales likely as not he's from Pembrokeshire. Notice how they refused to change the name to a Welsh one.

    Anyone with a predominantly ovine agricultural industry is referred to as sheep shaggers. The English tend to shag goats, as in the article a few weeks ago.

    I'm Welsh, I approve of this joke. You weasely English cunts.

  40. Dax Farrer

    The right to take offensive

    .. and the right to be offensive

  41. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Absolutley..

    That article was deeply offensive...

    to sheep!

    As usual, I had to keep myself from laughing outloud in the office with that article.

  42. Graham Wood

    Troll: (n) someone who intentionally posts messages to cause controversy

    Maybe I'm just too naive, but I find it difficult to believe that anyone can really be /that/ touchy.

  43. tim chubb

    welsh for wanker....

    pretty sure its wanker

  44. Cyberspice

    Re: Actually...

    Bore da!

    It is very true that the northerners don't consider those in the south east of Wales as actually Welsh. But you know what the southerners say? The northerners are the piles of Wales. If the come down and go back up again that's fine. But if they come down and stay down they're a pain the arse.

    My parents live in Wales and I have Welsh ancestry and I laugh at being called a sheep shagger...

    Hwyl fawr

  45. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Don't blame Mr Bevan

    If he's from West Wales he's probably just bitter that the M4 and fast rail service to London ends at Swansea - thus preventing his rapid escape from the Land of His Fathers.

    I was one of the lucky Taffys to live near Cardiff and got out more.

    It made me titter.

  46. Mat

    @Adrian Jones

    I think Big Tim's point was that there's no such person as Owen Glyndwyr. He was actually Owain Glyndŵr.

    http://www.100welshheroes.com/en/biography/owainglyndwr

    M

  47. Mike Plunkett

    Disappointed

    Ok, so it's an entirely pointless and pathetic complaint, but it's a bit tame for a FoTW! Where's the hopeless spelling and grammar? The inappropriate use of capitals? The mindless swearing and threats? And he might have at least questioned the IT relevance of the original article...

    Mike

  48. Rob

    Learn to laugh...

    ...at yourself. It's a great sign of maturity as a person, being able to see what's funny, even in your own life. Otherwise you take offense at anyone who is different to yourself. And that IS one small step away from being a racist.

    (...and I myself being from South Africa, we have to laugh at ourselves all the time!)

  49. BigTim

    @Adrian Jones RE: "Owen Glydwr"

    You seem to have missed the point.

    " *Owain* Glyndŵr" was the person you describe.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Glyndwr

    Still no idea why he'd have a beer named after him in Olde Enlgishe language or what "Lechyd da" is supposed to mean.

    I didn't find the original article offensive, D-Bevan was way overracting.

    The stupid jibes afterwards were just that and made the Reg look stupid and ignorant (as do many of the comments that have followed e.g. : "gutteral language").

  50. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    RE: welsh for wanker....

    Can't be wanker... there's no K in the Welsh alphabet (probably wancyr :-) )

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