Subject:
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Re: WTB Train Parts
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 3 Aug 1999 14:48:18 GMT
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Viewed:
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476 times
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IIRC, from my undergraduate folklore and linguistics classes at UC Berkeley,
the phrase "mighty white" originated in the southern states before the War
Between The States, and carried the DENOTATION (exact meaning) of "honorable
in business dealings" - the sort of thing you would give positive feedback for
on eBay. The phrase was most likely to be uttered by one caucasian male to a
non-caucasian person of either sex, but could also be stated between caucasians
when one of the persons was receiving an unexpected favor from the other.
The main CONNOTATION that was a corollary to the phrase in that place and time
was that non-caucasians did not usually act in an honorable way. A secondary
connotation was that of "Christian" behavior, i.e. being kind to others.
IMHO, that first corollary is and was wrong.
I can't cite sources at this moment, but I could research if required.
Paul Sinasohn
Editor, Academic Computers Magazine
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: WTB Train Parts
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| Larry, I think this may be a misunderstanding based on differences in meanings of phrases. Either one of us doesn't know the true definition or the definition has changed in different locales. When one is generosity is described as "being mighty (...) (25 years ago, 1-Aug-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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