"uppity"

[Jonathan Lighter]

The following went to Jim alone instead of to everyone. Why does this happen?:


> From feminist writer Vicki Leon, via Amazon.com:
>
> _Uppity Women of Ancient Times_ (1995)
>
> _Uppity Women on Medieval Times_ (2007)
>
> _Uppity Women of the Renaissance_ (1999)
>
> _Uppity Women of the New World_ (2005)
>
> _Uppity Women of Shakespearean Times_  (2000)
>
> _Uppity Women of Ancient Greece_ (1989)
>
> There are similar titles by different writers.
>
> I assume that the women alluded to were feisty, not snobbish, and that
> Leon is praising, not disparaging, them.
>
> JL
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 7:59 PM, James A. Landau
> <JJJRLandau at netscape.com> <JJJRLandau at netscape.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at netscape.com>"
>>              <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>
>> Subject:      "uppity"
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:21:58 zone minus 0500  Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> writes:
>>
>>>Unless I missed it, nobody has commented on the recent flap over Rush Limbaugh's use of "uppity" to >describe Michelle Obama. Glenn Beck has since defended Limbaugh on the grounds that "uppity" is just a
>>>synonym for "snobbish".
>>
>> When I saw the headline on Netscape News, my first thought was "I should hope so.  I'd hate to discover she's an Aunt Thomasina."
>>
>> One can claim "uppity" is a "racist" word, but I think not.  What happens is that "uppity" has such a specific meaning that it rarely occurs outside a race-relations context, which means that the text surrounding the word can easily be racist, but not the word itself.
>>
>> "Uppity" can most easily be defined by naming its antonym: "Uncle Tom/Aunt Thomasina".
>>
>> A brief excursion into the socio-political realm.  In the heyday of Segregation (note the capital "S"), Segregationists by-and-large were not so much black-haters as people desirious that "[blacks] know their place".  An "uppity [black]" was a black who objected to being "kept in his place".  Well, times change, and while racism unfortunately still exists, the old "stay in their place" paradigm no longer exists.  As a spectacular example, the supporters of Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court included a large number of white right-wing [1] bigots.  But "keeping Thomas in his place"?  Not hardly.
>>
>> [I would like to thank my friend Jackie Gomberg MD (not to be confused with my friend Jackie Goldberg MD) for suggests a useful shorthand phrase: "white-wingers".)
>>
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>
>> How did "Brie and chardonnay" morph into "Brie and chablis"?  Very simple.  The second one rhymes.
>>
>>    - Jim Landau
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>



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