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Comment by tenken | Hacker News Reader

When did widespread usage of the derogatory term "ricing" start?

"Modding" a car or a PC has always been a thing. Which is what I would call either item when altering it's aesthetics.

I like the post, but I was surprised with this use as well, I thought it was an anachronism at this point in any context. I remember it being used to refer to "rice rockets" or modded cars in the late 90s, early 2000s, but it fell out of use in any circles I'm in by then, but it must have survived in some community. It'll probably be hard to get an honest answer without doing your own research since it's been (I think reasonably) labeled as derogatory here, as those using it may not be aware/think of it as such.

I hear the term “ricer” fairly often when someone refers to a two-door honda with a comical spoiler and fat fenders, for example. Definitely has overlap with the rally car body aesthetic. It’s simultaneously a derogatory term and a badge of honor worn by the ricer subculture.

I did not know the etymology or literal meaning of the term, though. I appended my vocabulary list after reading this.

Japanese cars were referred to as Rice Burners, and the term "Riced up" came up alongside for modded cars, maybe this became widespread around the start of the Fast and Furious franchise

From the 1960s racist British motorcyclists according to this: https://linguaholic.com/linguablog/ricer-car-meaning/

So many ads!

I hadn't heard of this until someone linked me to a thread on /g/ years back. I honestly think the crossover between desktop screenshot threads and that board is quite large, so I'm not surprised that their lingo has caught on. I really wish there was some alternative term that captured the sentiment of superfluous customization without the racial connotations.

It's odd to think thar 4chan's brand of philosophy might be influencing Linux quite a bit.

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