very minor note on "lady"

[Wilson Gray]

On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 8:07 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thus, "auntie," as directed by whites toward older black women, seems to
> have originated as a neutral, even affable, usage. (I almost said "polite,"
> but let's not get carried away.)
>

My WAG is that "aunt, uncle" were probably rgarded as sarcasm, when
applied to black women. I agree that, in the older usage, it was
clearly meant to be deferential. But "Aunt Jemima" and uncles "Ben"
and "Remus" were definitely in the serving class.


--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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