UM, I'M NOT SURE YOU WANT TO INTERPRET THAT WORD THAT WAY

Yesterday, on ABC News, an African-American man was trotted out by George Zimmerman's spin team; the man says he's Zimmerman's friend and tells us that Zimmerman didn't say "coons" on the 911 tape, he said "goons."

... in fact, I spoke with my teenage daughter yesterday, and the word in question, I mean, it's the difference between a "c" and a "g," from what I understand, and "goon" is apparently a term of endearment in the high schools these days.





Well, I'm over at Urban Dictionary and I'm not seeing any definition for "goon" that suggests anything of the sort. Now, admittedly, the definitions are all a few years old. But Zimmerman is way too old to be hep to the latest lingo.

And there is this definition (and there's at least one other definition besides this one that's similar and that references Florida):

this word has many definitions, but in Florida & many hoods across tha country, a goon is a real nigga: ready 2 ride or die 4 his/hers, takes care of their fam, not scared of tha law or any other nigga, makin his/her own money legally or not, never snitches always follows tha street code.

The definition makes a reference to the 2007 song "Goons Lurkin" by the Florida rapper Plies (video here).

So if Zimmerman really did say "fucking goons," there's every reason to think he was calling Trayvon Martin a thug. Would it be so strange if, out of his obsession with real and imagined street criminals, he learned slang (if slightly dated slang) that refers to the people he fears/is obsessed with?

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But I don't buy that, because, even though it's not 100% clear whether he utters a racial slur, it's quite clear that the first sound of the word in question is a "c" sound:





So this is ridiculous -- although I bet it's quite effective in creating reasonable doubt among potential Zimmerman jurors.