Offensive Origins Archives

Rumor holds that Jimmies, the chocolate sprinkles used on confections, are so named as a reference to Jim Crow.

Does use of the word 'buck' as a slang term for 'dollar' derive from a reference to black male slaves?

Did the word 'handicap' originate with the disabled's having to beg for a living?

Husband loses false teeth after prankingly swapping them with his wife's.

When a strange woman asked a shopper to call her 'mother,' he never thought he'd end up paying for her groceries.

Were 'crowbars' devices used to perform menial labor assigned to blacks?

Neither the concept nor the word 'picnic' originated with crowds gathering to witness extrajudicial racial hangings.

Offensive Origins