this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2023
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I just got up from conversation with a couple of older black men, that I said "well I got to go back to work and start cracking the whip." And it occurred to me then that it was probably a really insensitive stupid thing to say.

Sadly, it hadn't occurred to me until it's already said.

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[โ€“] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (5 children)

When I was younger, I thought the term "cracker" referred to white people being pale like a cracker that you'd eat. I did not realize until later that it was referring to whipping.

[โ€“] pastabatman@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

I'm 38 and I did not know this.

[โ€“] BellaDonna@mujico.org 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Whip cracker is actually probably false etymology, like a retcon of the origin that is popular, but actually not true.

[โ€“] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ok but "Cracker Barrel" still refers to the customers, right?

[โ€“] hightrix@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No. It refers to the answer a man gives when asked about their bathroom experience.

โ€œDid you use your Cracker Barrel?โ€

Yeah, after I posted that, I did some searches and found lots of possible origins. I just remember being told the whip crack thing by a black friend of mine.

[โ€“] ULS@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago

So you're telling me Saltines aren't part of my American heritage?

[โ€“] chaos@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh, fuck. This would have been nice to know sooner.

To be fair, in Florida at least it referred primarily to the whips used to drive cattle, not anything slavery related.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_cracker

[โ€“] Thisfox@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago

Huh. Never heard of that before. But then, am Aussie and don't know much yank idiom.