red-headed stepchild

[Jonathan Lighter]

Maybe one influence on the expression was the very well-known song "Joe Bowers," with its climactic revelation that "the baby had RED HA'R !"

Of course it was an illegitimate baby, but even so....

JL

Evan Morris <words1 at WORD-DETECTIVE.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Evan Morris
Subject: Re: red-headed stepchild
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One theory seems to be that a child displaying a characteristic reminiscent
of the departed parent (such as red hair) would inspire resentment in the
step-parent.

--
Evan Morris
words1 at word-detective.com
www.word-detective.com



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Sam Clements
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 9:46 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: red-headed stepchild


I can find a 1910 cite in Newspaperarchive that uses this metaphor about the
South.

Is there anything earlier? I can understand that a stepchild might be
treated poorly, but why the red-headed? Were red heads thought less of in
history?

samclem
Doing research on a Straightdope subject


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