February 15, 2002
ohhh, the power of a word...my boobala and i were discussing the term "buck naked" this morning. why, you're wondering? well, we had just heard it in some ludacris song on the radio, i think, and i just started thinking about how some people have changed it to "butt naked"...which has always made me chuckle, because i've always thought it was just people mistaking "buck" for "butt" and sometimes you just have to laugh at the ways in which language is just plain butchered by some folk. funny thing is, "butt naked" actually works!
but anyway...THEN i realized..."buck" naked has some really racist under/overtones. during slavery, young black men were often called "bucks," and i've read the same thing about young native american/indian men. and i suppose the "naked" part comes from the racist assumption that these young men of color were savages, running around naked because they didn't know any better, because they were thought of as being more animal than human.
i was like, WOW. i'm reminded of when i learned the origins of the word "picnic" and swore never to use the word again...ummm, even IF "outdoor dining experience" is a little more awkward. ;) maybe substituting "butt naked" isn't a bad idea after all....
11:01 AM
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