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blackout (n.)
also black-out, 1908 in the theatrical sense of a darkened stage, from black + out. Figurative sense of "loss of memory" is 1934 (verb and noun); as a dousing of lights as an air raid precaution, it is recorded from 1935. Verbal phrase black out, in reference to printed or written matter deemed objectionable and covered in black ink, is attested from 1888.
Online Etymology Dictionary
it is to racists.Had a power outage here last night, and finidng myself suddenly transported to the 17th or 18th century, found myself musing on things including whether the term 'blackout' was racist? Is it as in 'blacks come out when the lights go out?'
Lots of words containing Black are racist in their nature with the english language. Almost all have a negative connotation. Why are they calling it a blackout? Its not like everyone turns Black. its a powerout.Had a power outage here last night, and finidng myself suddenly transported to the 17th or 18th century, found myself musing on things including whether the term 'blackout' was racist? Is it as in 'blacks come out when the lights go out?'
Lots of words containing Black are racist in their nature with the english language. Almost all have a negative connotation. Why are they calling it a blackout? Its not like everyone turns Black. its a powerout.Had a power outage here last night, and finidng myself suddenly transported to the 17th or 18th century, found myself musing on things including whether the term 'blackout' was racist? Is it as in 'blacks come out when the lights go out?'
Had a power outage here last night, and finidng myself suddenly transported to the 17th or 18th century, found myself musing on things including whether the term 'blackout' was racist? Is it as in 'blacks come out when the lights go out?'
Lots of words containing Black are racist in their nature with the english language. Almost all have a negative connotation. Why are they calling it a blackout? Its not like everyone turns Black. its a powerout.Had a power outage here last night, and finidng myself suddenly transported to the 17th or 18th century, found myself musing on things including whether the term 'blackout' was racist? Is it as in 'blacks come out when the lights go out?'
No. It is a black out because during WWII air raids, they used black curtains to block out the light from the approaching bombers. They literally blacked out the lights by covering windows and doorways with black fabric.
But thats not what happens during a power outage. No one puts up Black fabric to block light from bombers.Lots of words containing Black are racist in their nature with the english language. Almost all have a negative connotation. Why are they calling it a blackout? Its not like everyone turns Black. its a powerout.Had a power outage here last night, and finidng myself suddenly transported to the 17th or 18th century, found myself musing on things including whether the term 'blackout' was racist? Is it as in 'blacks come out when the lights go out?'
No. It is a black out because during WWII air raids, they used black curtains to block out the light from the approaching bombers. They literally blacked out the lights by covering windows and doorways with black fabric.
Yes, but the term started in world war 2, and is still in use. It has as much to do with black people as the word niggardly does.But thats not what happens during a power outage. No one puts up Black fabric to block light from bombers.Lots of words containing Black are racist in their nature with the english language. Almost all have a negative connotation. Why are they calling it a blackout? Its not like everyone turns Black. its a powerout.Had a power outage here last night, and finidng myself suddenly transported to the 17th or 18th century, found myself musing on things including whether the term 'blackout' was racist? Is it as in 'blacks come out when the lights go out?'
No. It is a black out because during WWII air raids, they used black curtains to block out the light from the approaching bombers. They literally blacked out the lights by covering windows and doorways with black fabric.
You forgot blackball. blacklist, "black as sin", blackmail, black monday, black day, black eye, black sheep, black look. black mark, black mood, blackface.
Interesting article.
A rose by any other name The consequences of subtyping African-Americans from Blacks
Black is a color. White is a color. Black people are not really Black. White people are not really white. We are all really different
shades of the same color whatever you want to call 'skin color' peoples minds are just twisted right now. You cant even address the english
language with out seeing racism in innocent phrases
Of course they have a connection with Black people. When that same term is used to describe someone the subconscious does not do a switch. Read the posted article I linked.You forgot blackball. blacklist, "black as sin", blackmail, black monday, black day, black eye, black sheep, black look. black mark, black mood, blackface.
Interesting article.
A rose by any other name The consequences of subtyping African-Americans from Blacks
The majority of these terms have nothing to do with black people.
Blackballing is a rejection in a traditional form of secret ballot, where a white ball or ballot constitutes a vote in support and a black ball signifies opposition.[1] This system is typically used where a club's rules provide that one or two objections, rather than an at-least-50% share of votes, are sufficient to defeat a proposition. Since the seventeenth century, these rules have commonly applied to elections to membership of many gentlemen's clubs and similar institutions such as Freemasonry and fraternities.
A blacklist (or black list) is a list or register of entities or people who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle.
blackmail Sixteenth-century Scottish farmers paid their rent, or mail, to English absentee landlords in the form of white mail, silver money, or black mail, rent in the form of livestock or produce. The term black mail took on a bad connotation only when greedy landlords forced cashless tenants to pay much more in goods than they would have paid in silver. Later, when freebooters along the border demanded payment for free passage and "protection," the poor farmers called this illegal extortion blackmail, too.
In finance, Black Monday refers to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. The crash began in Hong Kong and spread west to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 508 points to 1738.74 (22.61%).[1] In Australia and New Zealand the 1987 crash is also referred to as Black Tuesday because of the timezone difference.
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Black sheep' is rather an odd phrase to choose to epitomise worthlessness. Why sheep? Badgers, dolphins, pandas and penguins, which are all primarily black, are considered cute. First thoughts might suggest that it came about because of the linking of black things with bad things, which is a long standing allusion in English texts - black mood, black looks or (where I come from) the Black Country. It may also be because shepherds disliked black sheep as their fleeces weren't suitable for dying and so were worth less than those of white sheep.
In fact, it is more likely to have derived from a bit of misinterpretation by the writers of early English Bibles. Myles Coverdale's 1535 Bible, which was the first complete bible printed in English, renders Genesis 30:32 as:
‘All blacke shepe amonge the lambes’ which Coverdale had translated from a German source text.
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Blackface is the only term that has any connection to black people.
Of course they have a connection with Black people. When that same term is used to describe someone the subconscious does not do a switch. Read the posted article I linked.You forgot blackball. blacklist, "black as sin", blackmail, black monday, black day, black eye, black sheep, black look. black mark, black mood, blackface.
Interesting article.
A rose by any other name The consequences of subtyping African-Americans from Blacks
The majority of these terms have nothing to do with black people.
Blackballing is a rejection in a traditional form of secret ballot, where a white ball or ballot constitutes a vote in support and a black ball signifies opposition.[1] This system is typically used where a club's rules provide that one or two objections, rather than an at-least-50% share of votes, are sufficient to defeat a proposition. Since the seventeenth century, these rules have commonly applied to elections to membership of many gentlemen's clubs and similar institutions such as Freemasonry and fraternities.
A blacklist (or black list) is a list or register of entities or people who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle.
blackmail Sixteenth-century Scottish farmers paid their rent, or mail, to English absentee landlords in the form of white mail, silver money, or black mail, rent in the form of livestock or produce. The term black mail took on a bad connotation only when greedy landlords forced cashless tenants to pay much more in goods than they would have paid in silver. Later, when freebooters along the border demanded payment for free passage and "protection," the poor farmers called this illegal extortion blackmail, too.
In finance, Black Monday refers to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. The crash began in Hong Kong and spread west to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 508 points to 1738.74 (22.61%).[1] In Australia and New Zealand the 1987 crash is also referred to as Black Tuesday because of the timezone difference.
---------------------------
Black sheep' is rather an odd phrase to choose to epitomise worthlessness. Why sheep? Badgers, dolphins, pandas and penguins, which are all primarily black, are considered cute. First thoughts might suggest that it came about because of the linking of black things with bad things, which is a long standing allusion in English texts - black mood, black looks or (where I come from) the Black Country. It may also be because shepherds disliked black sheep as their fleeces weren't suitable for dying and so were worth less than those of white sheep.
In fact, it is more likely to have derived from a bit of misinterpretation by the writers of early English Bibles. Myles Coverdale's 1535 Bible, which was the first complete bible printed in English, renders Genesis 30:32 as:
‘All blacke shepe amonge the lambes’ which Coverdale had translated from a German source text.
-----------------------------
Blackface is the only term that has any connection to black people.
Black is a color. White is a color. Black people are not really Black. White people are not really white. We are all really different
shades of the same color whatever you want to call 'skin color' peoples minds are just twisted right now. You cant even address the english
language with out seeing racism in innocent phrases
Thats because people that used the English language were gung ho about racism. There is no reason for so many of the words to have a negative connotiation. When you look at the opposite, white is primarily perceived as virtuous, clean, pure. I remember as a kid looking up the word Black in the dictionary and I was shocked at the negative meaning. They since have changed it.
