4 ms·

> peanut gallery I didn't know this until recently -- https://www.rwjbh.org/why-rwjbarnabas-health-/ending-racism/say-this-not-that/ https://www.rwjbh.org/why-

> peanut gallery I didn't know this until recently -- https://www.rwjbh.org/why-rwjbarnabas-health-/ending-racism/say-this-not-that/ https://www.rwjbh.org/why-rwjbarnabas-health-/ending-racism/...

munk-a 4y ago
I was completely unaware as well - edited.
- tristor 4y ago
  The article the other poster linked is making a category error, an unfortunately common one, of confusing something which has classist origins or connotations with being racist. The term "peanut gallery" originated from vaudeville theater, and comes from the fact that unruly viewers who were not happy with the performance would throw their concessions at the performers, mostly roasted peanuts as these were the cheapest concessions. The attendees of early vaudeville were primarily immigrants, who would now be considered white, but were not at the time (scottish, irish, italian, and german immigrants). There's nothing particularly racist about the term, never has been, and still isn't as it's used in modern parlance. Whether or not it's acceptable to use phrases with classist or class-based origins in your speech and writing is an exercise I leave up to you.
  - pwillia7 4y ago
    psh -- pleb. :P I did share a bad article I didn't read. I will do some more research on peanut gallery specifically. In either case, I probably still won't use it since it has this connotation to some people.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
spiralx 4y ago
That page also claims that "picnic" has a racist origin based on lynching, despite being derived from a French word from the 1690s: https://www.etymonline.com/word/picnic https://www.etymonline.com/word/picnic Their entries on "long time no see" and "no can do" seem pretty spurious as well, which undermines the whole page's validity. It's a shame TBH, those are really strange unforced errors to have included.
- pwillia7 4y ago
  Oops -- I did the classic google, copy/paste, no read. Looks like I picked a bad source. Sorry!
emmelaich 4y ago
That list is a bit absurd. Very USA-centric. And completely wrong in the case of picnic (pique-nique)

> peanut gallery I didn't know this until recently -- https://www.rwjbh.org/why-rwjbarnabas-health-/ending-racism/say-this-not-that/ https://www.rwjbh.org/why-rwjbarnabas-health-/ending-racism/...

munk-a 4y ago

I was completely unaware as well - edited.

tristor 4y ago
The article the other poster linked is making a category error, an unfortunately common one, of confusing something which has classist origins or connotations with being racist. The term "peanut gallery" originated from vaudeville theater, and comes from the fact that unruly viewers who were not happy with the performance would throw their concessions at the performers, mostly roasted peanuts as these were the cheapest concessions. The attendees of early vaudeville were primarily immigrants, who would now be considered white, but were not at the time (scottish, irish, italian, and german immigrants). There's nothing particularly racist about the term, never has been, and still isn't as it's used in modern parlance. Whether or not it's acceptable to use phrases with classist or class-based origins in your speech and writing is an exercise I leave up to you.
- pwillia7 4y ago
  psh -- pleb. :P I did share a bad article I didn't read. I will do some more research on peanut gallery specifically. In either case, I probably still won't use it since it has this connotation to some people.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

spiralx 4y ago

That page also claims that "picnic" has a racist origin based on lynching, despite being derived from a French word from the 1690s: https://www.etymonline.com/word/picnic https://www.etymonline.com/word/picnic Their entries on "long time no see" and "no can do" seem pretty spurious as well, which undermines the whole page's validity. It's a shame TBH, those are really strange unforced errors to have included.

pwillia7 4y ago
Oops -- I did the classic google, copy/paste, no read. Looks like I picked a bad source. Sorry!

emmelaich 4y ago

That list is a bit absurd. Very USA-centric. And completely wrong in the case of picnic (pique-nique)