"That's the 'N' word!" - Linus Tech Tips admits getting confused between a slur for racially-charged word in recent podcast

A recent Linus Tech Tips stream left his co-host Luke incredibly confused. The two were talking about comedy and things people found funny in the 2000s, and the YouTuber admitted to using “the hard R” word quite a few times back then, a practice he does not emulate any longer. However, his co-host looked shocked and horrified about this. The two would discuss it briefly, only to find out which word Linus meant.

It turned out that Linus Tech Tips thought the “Hard R,” as it has been referred to for many years, was an ableist word, not a racially-charged slur. It was likely a relief to many of the content creator’s fans that it was a harmless misinterpretation, though he no longer uses the ableist taunt.

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Linus Tech Tips confuses the “Hard R” word for an ableist slur that begins with R

Watch: The initial clip that caused confusion

During “The Wan Show” on the Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel, he revealed that he was looking back at old shows from the early 2000s, where people casually used slurs during that time, and mentioned using “the Hard R.”

“. . . The casual sort of gay humor, casual use of ‘The Hard R’. It’s jarring! It’s jarring now!”

Luke seemed shocked by this revelation of media at that time using that word so casually, considering he knew what that phrase meant. Linus Tech Tips highlighted an episode of American Dad that used “the Hard R.”

“Like, okay, it was an episode of American Dad. And it was just like, it wasn’t for shock value, it was just like, it was just used. And I mean, here’s the thing. That was in 2003 or something, 2002! Like, I’m not gonna deny that I dropped my fair share of Hard Rs back then because the term ‘Hard R’ didn’t even exist!”

Taken out of context, it makes the Tech YouTuber giant sound like someone using racist slurs throughout his youth. However, another video clarifies which word he thought that terminology was used for.

Watch: The follow-up clip that contains context.

Someone gave further context to the above clip in another clip shared on the LiveStreamFails subReddit. Luke tried to explain to him that when referring to a “Hard R,” it means the “N-Word.” His chat was also on fire, trying to explain that he was wrong.

“No! That’s the N Word! What are you guys talking about? Am I mistaken? No, like, the one for mental disability!”

Luke confirmed that people use “Hard R” in a very different way compared to how Linus Tech Tips referred to it as. It became clear to Linus that he was misusing it, and he confirmed he was certainly not using the N-Word, but instead, he referred to using an ableist slur in his youth.

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Reddit reacts to Linus Tech Tip’s confusion on slurs

Quite a few Redditors found this a hilarious moment, and one reply even stated that they were getting the same thing confused. Regardless, several users on the forum thought it was a hilarious and awkward moment.

Some Redditors would still find themselves confused, even though at least one reply confirmed that there’s a difference. One word is called the “R-Word,” and the other is the “N-Word,” then it’s confirmed that a “Hard R” was used in that instance.

Not everyone understood that these two terms were starkly different (Image via LiveStreamFails/Reddit)

Nonetheless, quite a few people found it quite funny. One person said the context made the “American Dad” comment make significantly more sense, but people were dying of laughter at this Linus Tech Tips clip.

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Many of Linus Tech Tips fans were relieved that he wasn’t casually using racial slurs, at the very least. Without the context of the second clip, it did potentially paint the tech YouTuber in a very negative light. Thankfully, he doesn’t appear to use that ableist word.