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[–] 8 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

If you rearrange some of the letters in ginger you get the hate crime version of the name from the US South.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    Hmm.... That didn't seem right to me, so I looked it up

    The “knock, knock, ginger” is linked to a 1967 Childhood in Poetry book by John Mackay Shaw. Behold these glorious verses:

    Ginger, Ginger broke a winder, Hit the winda—crack! The baker came out to give ‘im a clout, And landed on his back.

    However, we’ve also seen the game called knock down ginger.

    This may actually be more accurate, as “knock down” is a term dating to the late 18th century. It refers to knocking on a door by pulling the door knock striker.

    Plus, ginger was a common term then as it meant to “ginger up” (move smartly). So, knock the door, leg it in timely fashion.

    https://professionalmoron.com/2022/04/18/history-of-knock-knock-ginger/

    That feels a bit more like it to me, though surprised it's not even a century old, I figured it was Victorian

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  • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Yeah a poem about whipping gingers on the back. From 1967.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago

    Redheads still have it rough, but it's gotten a lot better over the years. In the US we still use "redheaded stepchild" to mean someone or something clearly unwanted and mistreated. Especially in the form of "to beat like a redheaded stepchild"

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