What would you think of a coffee shop in Michigan named Beaners?

I think it’s cute.

Well I could be convinced that whoever is responsible for naming the place was ignorant of the word’s slanderous usage. Michigan is a long way from Texas.

May I now google the word?

It seems like a fine name for a coffee shop. Does Beaner mean something offensive over there?

It’s a slanderous reference to Mexicans referring to the significance of beans as the primary staple in their diet. Any resident of a state bordering Mexico was certainly familiar with the slur in the 60s thru the 80s.

I don’t care if the name is a racist slur or the entire establishment is racist, sexist, or homophobic. I would go in there and get some coffee. I’m not mexican, but I wouldn’t care if it was a racist slur against whites like myself either. I’m only inconveniencing myself by not going in there to buy some coffee. It isn’t like they’re preventing me from living out my life. They’re not even preventing me from going in to buy some coffee. If they denied me service because of my ethnicity, I would be alright with that too.

Ahh. I did wonder since @Buttonstc asked the question. In that case, perhaps not such a great name. Pity, because it works for a coffee shop.

I’ve never heard it used as a slanderous term and I’m married to a Mexican. I’ll have to ask him if he knows it when he wakes up. What popped in my head was bean counter, which was a term for accountants I thought.

Funny enough, Michigan is the first place I heard people call anyone south of the American border a Mexican. Didn’t matter if you were from Colombia, Ecuador, pick one, they used Mexican. I was already 19 years old. At the time I just thought that person was being ignorant about work geography (this was a close friend of mine). Later, I heard the same usage in NC and TN and realized it’s more of a pejorative, or at minimum not very respectful. My husband and I don’t pay any mind regarding the usage of the word Mexican to mean all Latin Americans, because again it’s ignorant.

I still doubt the shop was trying to make fun of Mexicans, I think they likely had no idea. Like when I was in Japan and saw a store named Pinga.

@JLeslie, what is a Pinga? I’ve heard the term “beaner” before but never actually said the word out loud. I thought of it when I saw the question. I mean…coffee comes from beans. I can’t imagine coffee drinkers as rabid anti Mexican. We just want our coffee. Anybody standing in the way of that risks a limb. And with the climate in the states being so litigious, I can’t imagine deliberately being provocative with one’s livelihood.
I wonder if any Mexicans are offended or if they just want their coffee too….

It’s as good as a swimsuit store called “Wetback’s”

@JLeslie – if it helps, my idiotic mother in law is from Illinois and calls all brown people either “Mexicans” or “Arabs”.

At first it seems like a cool name for a coffee shop. But after looking the name up in the dictionary, it can be seen as racist. So maybe don’t use it.

Cool Beans is a better name I think.

There is a coffee shop here in Madison called Cool Beans.

There was one down here called The Beanery. So, place rather than person. Much better.

Especially then you consider that Latin America is one of the only places those sacred coffee beans grow, “Beaner’s” is a pretty obviously bad name.

@Seek What solidified my first take (ignorance) about people using Mexican as a catch all for anyone from Latin America or who looks indigenous to the Americas, was my same friend once called and during our chat she told me she spent time with people from Brazil the night before (through work, they were just visiting the US) and she told me I could have practiced my Spanish. I asked her if they speak Spanish for sure, and she emphasized they were Brazilian. I responded by saying I know, but not all Brazilians speak Spanish. A couple of more back and forths and it became apparent she didn’t know Brazil speaks Portuguese. She was already working for a local ABC news affiliate as a news reporter at the time of that conversation. This friend of mine has a dad who is an engineer, her family came here in her grandparents generation, she isn’t racist, she embraces people from other countries, just surrounded enough by people who are stupid I guess that as a young person she was using language that she had heard all the time and didn’t think anything of it.

@Jak Pinga is a slang term for Penis. It’s usually used with the phrase, “suck my dick,” which is said chupa me pinga in Spanish.

Although, Americans walk around using schmuck and putz all the time now and technically they both mean penis too. Those are just commonly used differently now.

Isn’t Boston called Bean town?
Doesn’t George Lopez use the term in virtually all is stand up? And isn’t he practically a Mexican idol?

I’m just guessing here, but I’d bet any stink being raised is from someone other than a Mexican.

@LuckyGuy What does Lopez say about beans? I’ve watched his sitcom and stand up and I can’t think of it.

Believe me, when I call someone a schmuck, I totally mean penis.

What about Magic Beans?

@Seek LOL. Yeah, but your more sophisticated linguistically than most people.

I cannot say as I have not tasted their coffee.

Typo: you’re not your.

@JLeslie Carlos Mencia Beaner man
I saw this on Comedy Central
(Rats! It won’t link properly.) Just search “Carlos Mencia Castro district” You’ll find several.
There were too many George Lopez routines to search. If I recall he was saying how they stood in front of Home Depot. They think that is how you spelled “Department of Labor”.

Lol. Dept. of Labor. That’s hysterical. Ok, I’ll search. Thanks.

Michigan, believe it or not, has a pretty fair population of expat Mexicans. It’s a very agricultural state, and a lot of Mexican (and other Hispanic) workers follow the crops.

I would not expect that the name was meant slanderously or mean-spiritedly. But it’s a way to poke fun at the stereotype, at the slur itself, and make a pun on where coffee comes from.

But I don’t drink coffee, live in Michigan any more, or know the place in question, so I’m only guessing.

Carlos Mencia is almost universally disliked and his career is basically over. He’s on the comedy club circuit again.

The few Mexicans I met when I lived in MI didn’t speak Spanish. This was 25 years ago. I think their families came up not only for ag, but to work in the auto factories back in the 60’s and 70’s. They didn’t pass down the language well. I know Texans who are obviously Mexican, or whose families somewhere back in time spoke Spanish most likely, and they don’t speak Spanish, and some don’t even want to acknowledge they are Mexican, they persist when the topic comes up in saying they are American. They are American, that’s not the point. I think that more a message about the people who live near them than anything. Probably, they dealt with some anti-Hispanic stuff, or just wanted to fit in as much as possible. Or, were just insecure about their heritage. Or, their mothers were Americans who only spoke English. People rarely learn their father’s language.

Well, here’s the story behind it. Years ago a few friends decided to open a coffee shop and Beaners sounded like a natural. You know, coffee comes from beans, etc.

Apparently the coffee and service was so good that they opened more shops and even franchised. So they had quite a good reputation in Michigan.

And then in 2007, they voluntarily took the initiative (at no small expense) to change the name to Biggby Coffee.

When I first heard about that, I thought somebody was pulling my leg (I’m a fairly recent transplant here ) I really thought they were joking.

But apparently the company got enough feedback about it being considered derogatory against Latinos. But nobody was pressuring them to get rid of the name, just mentioning it’s slang usage. And naturally , the owners had been totally unaware when they first decided upon what to name the store. (I mean, this is a long ways off from Texas)

I really don’t know what to think about it. As Lucky Guy pointed out, it’s highly doubtful that there were significant amounts of Mexicans bringing it up.

I mean, how far does political correctness have to go these days?

Anyhow, GAs for everybody and I appreciate the straightforward feedback so I’m not the only one who thought it was kind of a cute name and no harm was intended.

It must have cost them millions at least to change the name what with the signage, paper supplies, etc etc. plus giving up a well known name with a good reputation and trying to make people aware that it’s not a different company or a merger. It’s still the same company with the exact same quality product as before but just a different name. That’s not an easy task.

Personally speaking, I don’t think Biggbys is a particularly creative name, has nothing whatsoever to do with coffee and is basically totally forgettable. I forget it on a regular basis just like I did prior to writing this Q. I had to Google Beaners name change. That’s how memorable it is NOT.

BTW, it’s called Biggbys because their logo is a BIG BEE. (The letter bee, not the insect)

What a “Meh…” name imho.

Anybody think Biggbys is just a super-duper name for a coffee company? Just curious…

:D

@Buttonstc I’m offended by the new name. Since my prostate surgery I am no longer big.

Thanks for giving us the background.

@Earthbound_Misfit

I’m not quite sure what you meant by “Ahh, I wondered about that since it was @Buttonstc who asked the question.”

Care to translate the Ahh for me? Why is it especially significant because I’m the one who asked the Q. ?

Just curious.

@Seek

A swimsuit store called “wetbacks” cute. Gave me quite a chuckle :)

I also thought it was a cute name until I was reminded about the history of the word.

I’m familiar with its meaning having grown up with a large Mexican population in Las Vegas in the 70s and 80s. This is the first I’ve heard beaner in years (decades).

I suppose it would depend on if the coffee was any good…

No need to get paranoid @Buttonstc. My question wasn’t about why you personally asked the question. It related to why the question was asked. There have been a number of questions about the use of racially-charged words recently and I had wondered whether this was the case with the word “Beaners”. The term “beaners” means nothing in Australia.

Ha ha. OK I understand. And yes, my Q was kind of in the same vein as the others like it.

And language differences across the pond and here are interesting as to how certain phrases and words are perceived.

I imagine there are a limited number of Latinos in Kiwi country so no wonder it means nothing there.

But, truth be told, altho I was aware of the slang term (primarily from the comedy of George Lopez ) I’ve never actually heard anyone using it in everyday life so that had me wondering how offensive it actually is. Or maybe I’m in a bubble of some sort. But I have yet to actually hear it coming out of anyone’s mouth EVER.

Speaking of charged language, Aussies aren’t Kiwis. Calling an Aussie a Kiwi is like calling a Canadian a Yank. Kiwis are from New Zealand. Aussies are from Australia. Get that wrong and you really are on dangerous ground!~

I have not yet read the other answers, will do so after posting. I live in a border state, in Southern California. The term “beaners” is an offensive slur to anyone from Mexico, or of Mexican descent. It is almost, but not quite, as bad as the “N” word is towards African Americans. It’s not a good name for a business.