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  #1  
Old 07-23-2003, 04:23 PM
LADY_1908 LADY_1908 is offline
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Question Urban Legend or Not?

I'm sure many of you have seen the "story" about the origins of the word "Picnic".

I ask you...Do YOU think that there is some veracity to this story or is it an urban legend?

The reason I'm asking is because a few folks were up in arms about the use of the term "Greek Picnic" here in Philly....as a matter of fact one DeeJay went on a rant about how the organizers wouldn't use the word picnic if they knew what it meant.

Last edited by LADY_1908; 07-23-2003 at 04:55 PM.
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  #2  
Old 07-23-2003, 04:33 PM
Eclipse Eclipse is offline
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Total urban legend. I looked it up sometime ago, and saw that it is a derivative of a French word.
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  #3  
Old 07-23-2003, 07:41 PM
Munchkin03 Munchkin03 is offline
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I've gotten that email before. Thank goodness for Snopes.com!

http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/picnic.htm
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Old 07-24-2003, 12:28 AM
Paradise359 Paradise359 is offline
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Eclipse is right. Just this past semester I was in an African American Studies class & the professor was all about picnic meant 'pick-a-nigger'. Turns out it is a derivative of a French word piquenique. Which basically means to eat outside. So feel free to say picnic & please educate others so people won't be laughing at us as 'ignorant blacks' behind our backs!


Knowledge is power!

Last edited by Paradise359; 07-24-2003 at 12:31 AM.
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  #5  
Old 07-24-2003, 01:41 PM
OthelloStreet OthelloStreet is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Paradise359
Eclipse is right. Just this past semester I was in an African American Studies class & the professor was all about picnic meant 'pick-a-nigger'. Turns out it is a derivative of a French word piquenique. Which basically means to eat outside. So feel free to say picnic & please educate others so people won't be laughing at us as 'ignorant blacks' behind our backs!


Knowledge is power!
I think it may have been possible that "picnic" was slang or a code used for "pick-a-nigger" because supposedley lynchings that were not part of state executions were supposed to be illegal in this country in the 1870's or 1880's.
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  #6  
Old 07-24-2003, 01:46 PM
Honeykiss1974 Honeykiss1974 is offline
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Unhappy Sadly...

most lynching were attended like it was a public event. I bet some folks treated it as such (bringing a basket of lunch with them) so maybe that to could be where ther term's assoiation came from as well.
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  #7  
Old 07-24-2003, 02:19 PM
Eclipse Eclipse is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by OthelloStreet
I think it may have been possible that "picnic" was slang or a code used for "pick-a-nigger" because supposedley lynchings that were not part of state executions were supposed to be illegal in this country in the 1870's or 1880's.
It may be that some folks tried to reorder the meaning of the word picnic back in the day, but the fact remains, the original use of the word, and the most common use of the word today is "eating outside". Thanks Paradise for giving the exact specs. I didn't feel like looking it up again!
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  #8  
Old 07-24-2003, 03:01 PM
enlightenment06 enlightenment06 is offline
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Interesting. I too looked up the word through Merriam-Webster's and it said the origin is unknown.

What about "pickaninny"?
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Old 07-24-2003, 03:28 PM
Dancerella1908 Dancerella1908 is offline
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This topic is right on time. Recently people @ my church had a discussion about using the word picnic for the church flyers. Some argued that it was a negative stereotype against blacks the majority disagreed and said that the word picnic didn't originate from that.
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Old 07-24-2003, 03:49 PM
Paradise359 Paradise359 is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by enlightenment06
Interesting. I too looked up the word through Merriam-Webster's and it said the origin is unknown.

What about "pickaninny"?

This is actually a West Indian word that was used as an affectionate term for little children. Of course it came stateside & was meant as an offensive term for black children. So like picnic it's meaning became skewed. But picnic is really not as offensive as we would like it to be.
To give the states credit for the origin of picnic is cute, but it's an internationally known word used among those who speak english to mean an outdoor eating experience. As a matter of fact I had never even heard of the word picnic being racist & it's not that way any other place besides some places in the States (I'm an international student). Does anybody know when this legend started & why?

Also webster has the origin of the word and so does oxford, both giving the etymology(origin) as French as "piquenique" and German as "Picknick".

Webster Online- http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

Last edited by Paradise359; 07-24-2003 at 03:52 PM.
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