Cracker, sometimes white cracker or cracka, is a derogatory term for white people,1 especially poor rural whites in the southern united states. Folk etymology claims the term originated either from their cracking, or pounding, of corn rather than taking it to mill, or from their use of whips to drive cattle. Cracker barrel 1861 barrel full of sodacrackers for sale was such a common feature of old country stores that the phrase came to be used by 1905 as an adjective, emblematic of downhome ways and views. The word derives from the old english term feowertyne niht, meaning fourteen nights. Origin of fortnight this game was released on july 21, 2017, on all platforms including ps4, nintendo switch, android, xbox one, ios, all windows operating systems, and mac systems as well. The phrase cracker barrel was inspired by the barrels full of soda crackers that were for sale in the countrys country stores. Fortnight definition of fortnight by the free dictionary. Heres our list of our top 100 favorite british slang words and phrases.
Cracker began to be associated with opinionated, ignorant whites who could easily be incited to violence. A term in southeastern united states english to describe poor white trash, derived from the scottish meaning of the verb to crack, which, in this sense. The process of cracking corn was essential to the process of distilling scottish whiskey and later, whiskey in the appalachians. Where did the term come from though, and is it actually as offensive as other racial s. Neither of these terms should be confused with semimonthly, which divides a year into exactly 24 periods, instead of the 26 of fortnightlybiweekly.
Code switch where does the slur cracker come from, anyway. The early scotsirish settlers were mostly presbyterian, baptist and methodist. Find 725 synonyms for cracker and other similar words that you can use instead based on 10 separate contexts from our thesaurus. Where does the term cracker come from, and how disparaging is it. Where did the word cracker for white people come from. Heres a new remastered origin checker for cracking. Because a cracker uses lowlevel hacker skills to do the cracking, the terms cracker and hacker have become synonymous with the latter becoming the predominant term. Sense of computer cracker, crack, cracking, were promoted in the 1980s as an alternative to hacker, by programmers concerned about negative public associations of hack, hacking creative computer coding. It was said to refer to the bull whips used by livestock drovers as they brought herds of animals from frontier farms to coastal towns. It has been taken as an offensive and derogatory term to people of caucasian or european descent and is largely considered a slur in modern usage.
It is sometimes used in a neutral context in reference to a native of florida or georgia see florida cracker and georgia cracker. It is largely the same as driving someone bananas or nuts in this case. The late 19thcentury pairing of crack and jack to form crackerjack topped off a long history for those words. The term cracker was in use during elizabethan times to describe braggarts. We are constantly updating our database with new slang terms, acronyms, and abbreviations. The word derives from the old english term feowertyne niht, meaning fourteen nights some wages and salaries are paid on a fortnightly basis. Me fourten niht fortnight definition is a period of 14 days. The definition of a fortnight is a twoweek period of time. The epithet cracker has been applied in a derogatory way, like redneck, to rural, nonelite white southerners, more specifically to those of south georgia and north florida.
Mar 26, 2018 its a racial slur nowadays because word meanings and usages change and evolve over time. The word cracker has a primary meaning, in addition to its slang meaning. In many urban areas throughout the state, cracker still means bigot. One theory holds that the term derives from the cracking of whips, either by slave foremen in the antebellum south against african slaves, or by rustics against their draft animals. Clarence major, in his dictionary of afroamerican slang, lists two rather interesting ideas about the origin of the term. The term cracker is used as a neutral nickname by inhabitants of georgia and florida. Wikipedia, lexilogos, oxford, cambridge, chambers harrap, wordreference, collins lexibase dictionaries, merriam webster. They will typically be the 4th rando in your squad when youre running an awkward trio with your friends because your dumbass forth had to eat dinner. Folk etymology claims the term originated either from their cracking, or pounding, of corn rather than. No doubt there are many interpretations, such as it possibly being a variant of the english phrase crap on a cracker, referring to anything unexpected, unwanted, or inferior crap on something good a cracker, and therefore meaning surprise at. Claire, a florida historian and anthropologist who studies, er, crackers. In my experience, not as much as i had assumed they would.
Except for the few times that ive heard fair dinkum via. Although originally a classist term, meaning the same as poor white trash, it has evolved through usage to be a derogatory term for someone considered a w. In reference to a native of florida or georgia, however, it is sometimes used in a neutral or positive context and is sometimes used selfdescriptively with pride. You can complete the definition of a fortnight s holiday given by the english cobuild dictionary with other english dictionaries.
Its not the game, fortnite, which is spelled differently, its just 2 weeks. Crackerjack definition is a person or thing of marked excellence. Where does the term cracker come from, and how disparaging. British slang is a fountain of beautiful words that we dont normally use in america. Coal cracker is from 1853 of persons, 1857 of machinery that breaks up mined coal. Everytime the media carries a sensationalist story about hackers committing cybercrimes theres always an uproar among geeks about the. The term is, indeed, a somewhat derogatory term for white people. Crackers definition of crackers by the free dictionary. Im getting one or two calls a fortnight compared with one or two a term two years ago. Fortnights definition of fortnights by the free dictionary.
Cracker conveys history of bigotry that still resonates cnn. Interestingly, there is evidence of a similar practice of timekeeping in celtic culture. It is a farmers who raised only cracked products, such as wheat and corn. Neither of these terms should be confused with semimonthly, which divides a year into exactly 24 periods. Fortnight definition of fortnight by merriamwebster. With a single phrase, rachel jeantel, that friend of trayvon martins, may have lit a fuse in the trial of his accused killer. Cracker was a derogatory term applied to these poor farmers from before the american revolution. There are various theories about the origin of the term cracker. The first is that a cracker was a slang term used by 19th century georgian slaves to refer to the slavemasters. Information and translations of cracker in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Fortnight meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. At last eric returned to britain for a months leave, but this was curtailed after a fortnight. It is a game that is played online with a bunch of other players it is a shooter survival game that was produced by the gaming company epic games. Dictionary grammar blog school scrabble thesaurus translator quiz more resources more from collins.
The cracker term was soon associated with the descendants of these early settlers, especially the cowboys and farmers of georgia and florida. Another version of the origin of cracker comes from the spanish term cuaquero, which means quaker. Cracker means something entirely different in florida. A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days 2 weeks. Today is my first day back at work after a fortnight s holiday and im feeling grouchy. Jul 21, 20 etymologyedit there are multiple explanations of the etymology of cracker, most dating its origin to the 18th century or earlier. Fortnight, unlike sennight, has survived into our own time and is a household word in britain, where its found every day in news reports. Cracker, sometimes white cracker, is a racial slur used against white people, used especially against poor rural whites in the southern united states. It implies a person who lives in the utmost worst conditions and a person who no one really cares about. What does driving me crackers mean in the following content on the other side of the atlantic, coming up pricked up the ears of the creatively dormant lennon, the maddeningly catchy tune firing him up to begin writing songs again. Another theory is that the term refers to whips that crackers used to drive slaves or cattle. The original root of this is the middle english word crack meaning entertaining conversation one may be said to crack a joke. Crackerjack definition of crackerjack by merriamwebster. What is the origin of the term cracker as it refers to.
Today, cracker is often used as a derogatory term for a white person for obvious reasons. What is the origin of the term georgia cracker answers. It preserves the ancient germanic custom of reckoning by nights mentioned by tacitus in germania xi. By 1760 the english, both in colonial america and in great britain were using the word cracker to describe the scotirish settlers in the backcountry of the southern american colonies. Her whole happiness seemed at stake, while the affair was in suspense, and everything secured when it was determined that the lodgings should be taken for another fortnight. Oftentimes, its not so much the word itself thats awesome but the usage of it so. Wikipedia cracker, sometimes white cracker or cracka, is a usually racist disparaging term for white people, especially poor rural whites in the southern united states. English chinese french german hindi italian portuguese spanish. Top 100 most beautiful british slang words and phrases.
That depends on which cracker you are asking about. Definition of fortnight from the collins english dictionary. Claire pointed me to king john, published sometime in the 1590s. What this additional fortnight was to produce to her beyond the pleasure of sometimes seeing henry tilney made but a small part of catherines speculation. However, the term white cracker is not always used selfreferentially and remains a racist term to many in the region. This collection of new zealand slang and colloquialisms was sourced partly from a project i did for 7th. Fortnight definition, the space of fourteen nights and days. There are several hypotheses as to the origin of the term cracker, and all predate the existence of computers. The original root of this is the middle english word crack meaning entertaining. One theory is that it refers to the cracked corn that was a major part of the diet of poor southern whites.
Dec 31, 2006 however, the term white cracker is not always used selfreferentially and remains a racist term to many in the region. Harvey rowed back to arrange with the cook and disko, who owned the stores, and on his return the cocoatins and cracker bags were counted out by the frenchmans wheel. May 22, 2015 the oed explains that fortnight, which dates from the late 900s, is a contracted form of old english feowertyne niht fourteen nights. A cracker is not a slave owner or overseer cracking a whip. Fortnite is always free, always evolving multiplayer game for playstation 4, xbox one, nintendo switch, pcmac and iosandroid. Hard breadbiscuit sense first attested 1739, though hard wafer sense attested 1440. If this were in fact, true, then the term would come directly from the cracking of the slavemasters whip.
The word cracker is commonly understood as a racist slur for whites. The meaning of the word has changed a lot over the last four centuries, said dana ste. But when the nickname is used by outsiders, it is usually with. This term and the gaelic spelling craic are still in use in ireland and scotland. A term in southeastern united states english to describe poor white trash, derived from the scottish meaning of the verb to crack, which, in this sense denotes ostentation. Search a fortnight s holiday and thousands of other words in english cobuild dictionary from reverso. Cracking tools origin checker remastered by the n3rox. Cracker definition in the cambridge english dictionary.
Yet another zombie shooter with pvp option, you may say, and, in fact, it is. Cracker term cracker, sometimes white cracker or cracka, is a term for white people, used especially for poor rural whites in the southern united states. The origin of hacker april 1, 2008 posted by imran ghory in computer security, etymology. View in context youll find a bowl o crackers an milk on your bureau, an i. This word isnt used much in american english, but youll come across it if you travel to england or read a lot of. The definition, example, and related terms listed above have been written and compiled by the slangit team. Some are hilarious, some are rude and some are interesting. This page explains what the slang term cracker means.
Some wages and salaries are paid on a fortnightly basis. Generations of florida and georgia school children were taught that the term cracker originated on the 19th century frontier of georgia, florida and alabama. By about 0 ce, the term had contracted into middle english fourteniht and was progressively shortened and the spelling of night modernized to fortnight in the 17th century ce. How to pronounce, definition by wiktionary dictionary. Cracker, the old standby of anglo insults was first noted in the mid 18th century, making it older than the united states itself. Fortnight definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Information and translations of fortnight in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. In addition to running and shooting, you may have to cooperate with other players, build fortifications, get materials for building, obtain weapons and ammunition, and sometimes even fight the nature. Cracker definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Two of the most popular theories are that the term cracker comes from as far back as the early 1800s and carried to the united states by scottish settlers in the south and appalachia. Here is a dictionary of words and expressions commonly used in new zealand with their equivalent definition. Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples log in dictionary. Cracker can also be used as an offensive term for a white person, particularly one who. The atlanta crackers was a minor league baseball team in the aa league until 1965 when the milwaukee braves moved to atlanta.
It has been suggested that white slave foremen in the antebellum south were called crackers owing to their practice of cracking the. The term cracker barrel was first used in 1916, and it emerged from the country stores of the era. Particularly florida farmers and cowboys, its derived from the term florida cracker or georgia cracker depending on location bc they used bull whips for herding bovine. The way retards spell the game fortnite who typically watch alia victory royale no kills challenge. A cracker is a thin, crisp biscuit which is often eaten with cheese. Crackers article about crackers by the free dictionary. Whats the origin of the phrase christ on a cracker. It is 14 days, which is 2 weeks, which is 1 fortnight.
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