fancy man

[Benjamin Zimmer]

There's some uproar over "Fancy Ford" <http://www.fancyford.com/>, a
website attacking Rep. Harold Ford put up by the National Republican
Senatorial Committee (Ford's running for senate in Tennessee).
Left-leaning bloggers say that the site draws on stereotypical (and
racist) "pimp" imagery to demean Ford. To make their point, they note
the dictionary definition of "fancy man":

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http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2006_03_05_firedoglake_archive.html#114196154904381347
So why use the word fancy?
Well, according to Encarta:
fancy man
noun
1. woman's lover: the lover or boyfriend of a woman, especially a
married woman (dated informal)
2. Same as pimp
(archaic)
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http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2006/03/wow-three-fer.html
Jesse and Atrios say that the "Fancy Ford" site is basically calling
Ford a pimp. They're right -- and before any right-winger
disingenuously tells you that such a slur was the furthest thing from
any Republican's mind, why don't you grab a dictionary and look up
fancy man.
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Now, I agree that this site is reprehensible, but... "fancy man"? Are
Americans even familiar with that archaic slur?

Others say that calling Ford "fancy" is implicitly homophobic, not racist:

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http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/27690#comment-102076
Honestly, if the liberal blogs weren't telling me, I wouldn't know
Ford was black from the pictures on that page. The language seems more
to be implying that he's gay... "fancy," "fabulous" and pampered,
buying flowers.
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Thoughts?


--Ben Zimmer

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