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This may seem kind of stupid but I am kind of stupid, is there a list somewhere of phrases that are stupid or insensitive racially or gender biased? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I just got up from conversation with a couple of older black men, that I said "well I got to go back to work and start cracking the whip." And it occurred to me then that it was probably a really insensitive stupid thing to say.

Sadly, it hadn't occurred to me until it's already said.

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[-] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 34 points 10 months ago

When I was younger, I thought the term "cracker" referred to white people being pale like a cracker that you'd eat. I did not realize until later that it was referring to whipping.

[-] pastabatman@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

I'm 38 and I did not know this.

[-] BellaDonna@mujico.org 16 points 10 months ago

Whip cracker is actually probably false etymology, like a retcon of the origin that is popular, but actually not true.

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 2 points 10 months ago

Ok but "Cracker Barrel" still refers to the customers, right?

[-] hightrix@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

No. It refers to the answer a man gives when asked about their bathroom experience.

“Did you use your Cracker Barrel?”

[-] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Yeah, after I posted that, I did some searches and found lots of possible origins. I just remember being told the whip crack thing by a black friend of mine.

[-] ULS@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago

So you're telling me Saltines aren't part of my American heritage?

[-] chaos@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Oh, fuck. This would have been nice to know sooner.

[-] vagrantprodigy@lemmy.whynotdrs.org 7 points 10 months ago

To be fair, in Florida at least it referred primarily to the whips used to drive cattle, not anything slavery related.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_cracker

[-] Thisfox@sopuli.xyz 5 points 10 months ago

Huh. Never heard of that before. But then, am Aussie and don't know much yank idiom.

this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2023

161 points (89.7% liked)

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