Niggеr in the wоodpile
expression indicating something suspicious or wrong
The phrase nigger in the woodpile is a figure of speech from the United States and it means something suspicious and wrong.[1] The phrase was commonly used from the late 1800's to early 1900's but stopped being used due to people disliking the word nigger and seeing a negative connotation to the word in the late 1900's to the present day.[2][3] The phrase has been replaced by the phrase elephant in the room in many books due to political correctness.[4]
References
change- ↑ Bruce M. Conforth (16 May 2013). African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics: The Lawrence Gellert Story. Scarecrow Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-8108-8489-2.
- ↑ McWhorter, John (2021-04-30). "Opinion | How the N-Word Became Unsayable". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
- ↑ McWhorter, John (2019-08-27). "The Idea That Whites Can't Refer to the N-Word". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
- ↑ Swann, Greg (2015-05-31). "How the nigger in the woodpile became the elephant in the room". SelfAdoration.com. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
