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Nov 1, 2020 · Before you accidentally hurl an insult without even realizing, read up on these 20 offensive words and phrases. And for more expressions you should never utter, check out the Common Phrases That You Didn't Know Have Racist Origins .
- 20th Century Slang Terms No One Uses Anymore
So please hop in our time machine as we take you through the...
- 20 Slang Terms From The 1990S No One Uses Anymore
There's one surefire way to find out if somebody came of age...
- 20th Century Slang Terms No One Uses Anymore
Jun 16, 2020 · Many common phrases often found in American English actually have racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive origins.
Jul 8, 2020 · The use of the words white and black to describe people’s skin (and yellow and red, which are offensive, and brown, which is often now used in a positive way to include Latinx people) developed independently from the use of colour words in idioms.
Oct 3, 2022 · Common Idioms and Expressions that are Unknowingly Offensive. (10/3/22) The offensive origins of some commonly used phrases or idioms are often unknown to many of us. Check out the chart below to learn the history of 12 examples.
- Tipping Point
- Long Time, No See
- Mumbo Jumbo
- Sold Down The River
- No Can Do
- Indian Giver
- Cakewalk
This common phrase describes the critical point when a change that had been a possibility becomes inevitable. When it was popularized, according to Merriam-Webster, it was applied to one phenomenon in particular: white flight. In the 1950s, as white people abandoned urban areas for the suburbs in huge numbers, journalists began using the phrase tip...
The saying long time, no see can be traced back to the 19th century. In a Boston Sunday Globe article from 1894, the words are applied to a Native American speaker. The broken English phrase was also used to evoke white people’s stereotypical ideas of Native American speech in William F. Drannan’s 1899 book Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the...
Before it was synonymous with jargon or other confusing language, the phrase mumbo jumbo originated with religious ceremonies in West Africa. In the Mandinka language, the word Maamajomboo described a masked dancer who participated in ceremonies. Former Royal African Company clerk Francis Moore transcribed the name as mumbo jumbo in his 1738 book T...
Before the phrase sold down the rivermeant betrayal, it originated as a literal slave-trading practice. Enslaved people from more northerly regions were sold to cotton plantations in the Deep South via the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. For enslaved people, the threat of being “sold down the river” implied separation from family and a guaranteed life...
Similar to long time, no see, no can do originated as a jabat non-native English speakers. According to the OED, this example was likely directed at Chinese immigrants in the early 20th century. Today, many people who use the phrase as general slang for “I can’t do that” are unaware of its cruel origins.
Merriam-Webster defines an Indian giver as “a person who gives something to another and then takes it back.” One of the first appearances was in Thomas Hutchinson’s History of the Colony of Massachuset’s Bay in the mid 18th century. In a note, it says “An Indian gift is a proverbial expression, signifying a present for which an equivalent return is...
In the antebellum South, some enslaved Black Americans spent Sundays dressing up and performing dances in the spirit of mocking the white upper classes. The enslavers didn’t know they were the butt of the joke, and even encouraged these performances and rewarded the best dancers with cake, hence the name. Possibly because this was viewed as a leisu...
Jul 6, 2020 · CNN — The words and phrases permeate nearly every aspect of our society. “Master bedrooms” in our homes. “Blacklists” and “whitelists” in computing. The idiom “sold down the river” in our...
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Jul 24, 2020 · Here’s a look at some of the most unexpected yet commonly used words and phrases with offensive or racist backgrounds to consider eliminating in daily life in the pursuit of more equitable...
