No Chink In My Armour

Some drooling ignoramus thought it would be fun to rattle my cage by sending two e-mail messages filled with foul language and disparaging my wife as a chink.

I hate that racial epithet as much as the N-word, but some coward lobbing anonymous e-mails with a fake Hotmail address isn't going to raise my blood pressure.

The loser didn't know I'd captured his IP address. Just for fun, I did some quick sleuthing and identified the computer from which the messages were sent; it belonged to the Hong Kong government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

I contacted the IT manager to determine whether this terminal belonged to an employee or that the address had been spoofed.

A reply from the Director cleared things up:

You may [be] aware that we are public libraries and we offer computers for the general public to use. The concerned IP actually belongs to our Internet Services Network domain, which is designated for public use. It is difficult and inappropriate for us to monitor emails sent through public terminals as privacy is one of the major concerns we should uphold.

Fair enough; privacy is important.

As for chink, people who use the word as a slur are worthy of contempt.

The proper English definitions are as follows:

chink1
n. A narrow opening, such as a crack or fissure.

tr.v. chinked, chink·ing, chinks

1. To make narrow openings in.
2. To fill narrow openings in.

[Probably alteration of obsolete chine, from Middle English, crack, from Old English cine.] chinky adj.

chink2
n. A slight, metallic sound, as of coins rattling in a pocket.

intr. & tr.v. chinked, chink·?ing, chinks

To make or cause to make a slight, metallic sound.

The moral of the story is that racist e-mail insults do nothing but confirm the sender is an ignorant bigot.

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