When considering questions of racism the problem of language comes up over & over again. What is acceptable changes over time, what may be well meant may cause outrage or give offence. When you are on the receiving end, or even just a participant in the conversation, it can be a problem to know whether or not to react, even gently or politely, in these circumstances.
There have been so many moving reminiscences recently from people who experienced racism as children in 1960s or 1970s Britain – recollected in what might be called the calmer waters of a C21st multicultural Britain - & middle age; I have read or heard those of Jackie Kay, Gary Younge, Zadie Smith, Baroness Scotland & Andrea Levy. These have inevitably perhaps prompted some of my own reminiscences as a member of a multicultural family.
For example there was the Sunday morning when we were staying at my parents & I had gone out to buy the Sunday papers at the local suburban shopping parade. As I came out of the shop with my two-year-old daughter a well-dressed grandfather was approaching, with his small grandson trailing along behind.
Oh come Tom, said the grandfather excitedly,
come see the little piccaninny – isn’t she beautiful! Say hello!
What’s not to like about that? But, as the OED says,
Now considered offensive when used by a white person of a black child - it seems to convey something between condescension & contempt.
The word appears to stem ultimately from the Portuguese
pequenino, meaning very small, tiny. It is in widespread use in many areas of the world, & the OED lists over 50 variants. Far from being offensive, in circumstances other than the one proscribed, it demonstrates great affection.
In my particular experience I think I was offended by the implication that my daughter was some kind of rare specimen, something to be gawped at in a zoo. And, in the case of
English English, the pronunciation grates; in other countries I have known it is pronounced much more like p
ik'nee, with a falling intonation & equal weight on the syllables. Drawing it out into a drawled
Pick-A-Ninny puts the emphasis on the
ninny, with its connotations of
simpleton or
fool – a very red rag in the debate over race & IQ!
Things got even more interesting when I checked up on
ninny however. In its sense of
simpleton the OED has it as 'etymology uncertain', perhaps from
innocent. But two other separate meanings of the word are listed.
Just two C17th quotations illustrate its obsolete & rare occurrence as a word meaning simply a child, presumed to come from the Spanish niño.
The third meaning - female breast, or breast milk - is described as chiefly U.S. regional (chiefly south.) slang. We are invited to compare it with the French néné.
So, whatever you make of the word ninny, its associations all seem to stem from the natural innocence & charm of baby- or childhood.
Still doesn't make me look much more fondly on the incident however.
pickaninnie, pickoning, piganinny, piccaninny, pickaninny, pickaniny, picanine, picaninni, piccanini, piccaninni, piccaniny, piccinini, pickanene, pickeeninnee, pickeninny, pickeniny, pickerninny, pickininny, pickinnine, picaninny, picanniny, picanini, picaniny, picannini, picinniny, pikinini, pikkanienie, pickinny, piccanny, pickini, pickne, pick'ny, picknie, pickny, piccney, pickney, picnie, picnii, picny, pikni, pikny, pickney, picanny, picanny, pickin, piccin, picken, picanin, picannin, piccanin, piccannin, pickanin, piekanien, pikanin. [With thanks to OED].
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