[Cygna]

An African-American friend has assured me that the word ‘picnic’ has racist origins in the phrase ‘pick a nigger,’ a euphemism for a lynching. However, my own research has only found French origins for the word. I don’t know what to think – is this a rumor, or is there real evidence for this?

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Name : Cygna, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Boulder, State : CO, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Yariv]

To suggest that the word ‘picnic’ has racist origins is absurd. I hope your friend is just winding you up, and not being serious! It really upsets me when people look for racism in everything. There is plenty of racism in the world already, without people inventing more in the most innocent of situations. It’s difficult enough (but necessary) to make sure you don’t say something which might be mistaken for an offensive remark as it is! Even if it were true that ‘picnic’ was racist (which it isn’t), nobody in the world KNOWS it, so why make it into a issue? You can’t make every single person aware of all the words in English with (often obscure) racist links, so surely it’s far better to look at what people mean than the words they use. I have now got an image in my head of one member of the KKK announcing that he wants to ‘have a picnic’, and the rest of them going off to make cakes and sandwiches…!

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[Steve27624]

This is another Internet Urban Legend and most false. Picnic comes from the French ‘pique-nique’. Pique is relaxed style of eating. Nique is a rhyming ending, with no meaning, frequently done for fun words (i.e. Hoity Toity). Pique-nique means the same in French as English – an out door meal. The first written reference in English was in the ealy 1700’s used to describe outdoor events in Germany. So the word has no racial implications other than it bears a spelling resemblance to ‘picaninny.’

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[John L.]

Dr. Johnson’s dictionary has it as a word of Swedish origin and meaning an assembly in which each individual member brings his own contribution. So unless the KKK was active in Rennaissance Sweden, it looks like your friend has an urban legend etymology.

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[Cheyenne]

It’s possible you may have misheard the word. There is the word ‘pickanniny’, which is a derogatory term for a black child. I first became aware of that word when reading Alex Haley’s ‘Roots’ over 16 years ago, but have not heard of it since.

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Name : Cheyenne, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 32, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : airport shuttle driver, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 

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