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There was a very long thread following that first post I screenshotted (?) above.   I have just re-read the thread.

If anybody knows how I can link to it on this thread, please let me know.

It's very interesting (but also pretty appalling).

Edited by Sue
On 22/01/2025 at 19:11, Dulwichway said:

Love this place! maybe try a proper one then?

We tried both vegan and then the usual.. neither was nice.

I've had nice soups here before so will just stick to that. Probably just a bad choice on the day...

As I said the waiting staff are always lovely. 

Hi Vasilis

When I googled Arapina it came up with chocolate cake.  I am NOT an apologist for Arapina, I have never been there and probably never will.  But I wanted to ask ......some words in English for instance "coconut" are absolutely fine when you are in the greengrocers but not when used against a person.  Could it not be that Arapina is fine , or appropriate even, for a cake shop??

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Hello,

we’re not talking about a word being used metaphorically, it is literary the translation of the n* word. The cake took its name after the slur, not the other way around.
The word is outdated in Greece and not used anymore, so I’m completely shocked that someone thought it’s a good idea to name their bakery after the slur. 

 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Peckhampam said:

Hi Vasilis

When I googled Arapina it came up with chocolate cake.  I am NOT an apologist for Arapina, I have never been there and probably never will.  But I wanted to ask ......some words in English for instance "coconut" are absolutely fine when you are in the greengrocers but not when used against a person.  Could it not be that Arapina is fine , or appropriate even, for a cake shop??

The thread I linked to above explains  the background, and that the cake was apparently named AFTER the shop was named.

Arapina is a racist slur  in Greek, and was not originally the name for a cake (let alone a chocolate cake, if that is what the cake in question is. If that is indeed  the case, my reaction is unprintable but starts with WTF 😮)

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Google Translate seems to suggest that arapina is translateable to "negress" in English, which is a bit different in English to the N-word. But I don't speak Greek so don’t know if that's a good translation or what the cultural nuances are, and shouldn't stick my oar in beyond that. 

As an aside, the "choco kiss" (schokoküss) that's a bit like a Tunnock's tea cake used to be called a "negro's kiss" in lots of different European countries. It seems like it's been mostly renamed, which seems sensible...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate-coated_marshmallow_treatsl

I can't think offhand of any similar stuff in English but I might just be uninformed.

40 minutes ago, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

Google Translate seems to suggest that arapina is translateable to "negress" in English, which is a bit different in English to the N-word. But I don't speak Greek so don’t know if that's a good translation or what the cultural nuances are, and shouldn't stick my oar in beyond that. 

As an aside, the "choco kiss" (schokoküss) that's a bit like a Tunnock's tea cake used to be called a "negro's kiss" in lots of different European countries. It seems like it's been mostly renamed, which seems sensible...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate-coated_marshmallow_treatsl

I can't think offhand of any similar stuff in English but I might just be uninformed.

The person who started the previous thread I linked to said they were Greek, so I presume would be well aware of cultural nuances.

The absolute kindest thing I can think of is that whoever started the shop (and I believe there are several shops) was not aware of the meaning of the name.

But surely you would not just pluck a name for a new business out of the air? Surely you would make sure it did not have any possible negative connotations, in any language?

Has anybody actually asked the shop about this? 

As regards this "vegan hot chocolate", I'm bemused.

The chocolate powder itself was surely just cocoa and sugar? It doesn't normally have any animal related products in it, does it?

So it must have been the milk which made it "vegan", so probably either oat milk or soya milk?

I regularly make hot chocolate with oat milk, and occasionally have it when  out.

It has never occurred to me to call it "vegan" (I'm not a vegan), and I've never seen it described as "vegan". When I'm out I just ask for hot chocolate with oat milk.

It obviously doesn't taste the same as when made with cow's milk, but I prefer the taste.

I don't particularly like drinks made with soya milk, which in any case curdles in certain hot drinks, but  most places give you a choice of milk?

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