[Ads-l] Slight Antedating of "Black on Black"

[Ben Zimmer]

The snippet appears to refer to Murray Schisgal's 1964 play "Luv," which
doesn't seem relevant to this sense of "black on black." I see that Walter
Kerr's review of the play in the New York Herald Tribune says that Schisgal
was "out for people who wear black on black while lovingly congratulating
themselves upon the profundity of their losses," referring to black
clothing.

On Mon, Jun 1, 2026 at 9:20 PM Pete Morris <mr_peter_morris at outlook.com>
wrote:

>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Show/1PYSAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Black+on+black+violence%22&dq=%22Black+on+black+violence%22&printsec=frontcover
>
> << This situation could have been developed in any vein from
> burlesque-skit to
> black - on - black violence . Bill Naughton ( whose play Alfie earlier
> this season
> was a study of an unredeemed , woman - chasing cockney heel) >>
>
> The reference to Alfie dates this to probably 1963.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfie_(play)
>
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From "Shapiro, Fred" <00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date 01/06/2026 14:24:31
> Subject Slight Antedating of "Black on Black"
>
> >black on black (OED 1968 [16 Mar.])
> >
> >1968 Philadelphia Tribune 9 Mar. 7/3 (ProQuest)
> >
> >The violence of black man stabbing black man, mugging black man, stomping
> black man, raping black woman.  Black on black.
> >
> >Fred Shapiro
> >
>

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