Nigger in the Woodpile

[Bob Fitzke]

No, but I once coined the phrase "Caucasian in the coalbin" to use in
the same kind of context in a letter to the editor of the local paper.
Thought it would be rejected. It was printed.

Bob

"Chase, Jeffrey" wrote:
>
> Fred,
>
> For what it's worth, everyone in my family is white.  I have certainly heard
> the generation older than myself (the ones who would be around 60 years old)
> use it before.
>
> Of course, I don't know how one would DOCUMENT that...
>
> Regards,
> Jeff
>
> Jeffrey E. Chase
> Wang Government Services
> "Have red pencil.  Will travel."
> Opinions expressed in this e-mail are solely those of the author, and not
> meant to imply endorsement by Getronics, Wang Government Services, or the
> United States Government.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Fred Shapiro [SMTP:fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU]
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 2:51 PM
> > To:   ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject:      Nigger in the Woodpile
> >
> > Another list serv is having a thread about the expression "nigger in the
> > woodpile."  One participant is arguing stridently that one of the meanings
> > of this phrase, an unacknowledged black forebear of a white child, is used
> > only by blacks and is not used by whites.  DARE and the Random House
> > Historical Dictionary of American Slang do not indicate such a restriction
> > of usage.  Can anyone on this list shed any light on the question?
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
> > Associate Librarian for Public Services     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
> >   and Lecturer in Legal Research            Yale University Press,
> > Yale Law School                             forthcoming
> > e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------