Tonight, watching an episode of Vice News, I learned about the expression “slants.” In a section of the program, they were talking about an Asian-American band, The Slants, who has been fighting with the Supreme Court to have a right to their band’s name. The court says that it cannot legitimize a racist pejorative term. However, the band says, this term is used and who better than them can denounce it by making it paradoxical? More here.

I was not aware of the term. I am learning this culture as I live in different parts of the US but there are always expressions and realities that escape my awareness.

In any case, I am taken aback by vulgarity in human relationships. I looked at the etymology of this word/adjective:

slant (v.)

1520s, “to strike obliquely” (against something), alteration of slenten “slip sideways” (c. 1300), perhaps via a Scandinavian source (compare Swedish slinta “to slip,” Norwegian slenta “to fall on one side”), from Proto-Germanic *slintanan. Intransitive sense of “to slope, to lie obliquely” is first recorded 1690s; transitive sense of “to give a sloping direction to” is from 1805. Related: Slanted; slanting. As an adverb from late 15c.; as an adjective from 1610s. Slant rhyme attested from 1944.

In the sense of a shape of eyelids, I learned on another etymology site, the word is used in Europe also to describe Europeans who have slants such as Scandinavians, Germans, Polish and a few others.

For power and money, humans disrespect themselves by disrespecting others. Wake up!