Quote:
Originally posted by hyatla
My friend, a black linguist, once told me he hates the word "picnic". It's a word originated from "picking a ******" and beat him for fun at family outings. Of course, few people realize the true story behind this word anyway, so it's ok to use it.
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Perhaps your friend should pick a new hobby
"This is a misconception that has been around for a while. The word picnic
was borrowed from French, where it appears as early as the 17th century. The
two parts of it mean "take" and "a small bit." There is nothing in the least
offensive about the origins of the word.
Tom Field
On 9/18/02 10:13 PM, "Ask A Linguist" <> wrote:
>
> From: W Cantrell <>
>
> My company is having a picnic and a co-worker commented that the word
> "picnic" is offensive to "African Americans" due to the origin of the
> word. I have never heard this before. Is this true?
"