Things you were shockingly old when you learned

is there a separate "things i've mispronounced for so long [and at this point i'm blaming a good portion of society for witnessing me using it and not correcting me on this]" thread?

Not specifically, I don’t think, but take your pick of general pronunciation threads!

https://i.imgur.com/gfDV5Hh.jpg

That you can bite both ends off a Twix and use it as a straw to drink tea/coffee/hot chocolate.

Ginger Rogers was called Ginger because...

One of Rogers's young cousins, Helen, had a hard time pronouncing "Virginia", shortening it to "Badinda"; the nickname soon became "Ginga".[

... and not because she had red hair... which never made much sense anyway because she was blonde.

"Ginger" as a term for redheads isn't very common in North America.

At least until that South Park episode aired.

Yeah, my brother (born 1955) and nephews (born late 80s) all had red hair, and it was frequently commented on, but never with that word.

wonder why that would be, would have thought the language would have diverged after the word ginger was adopted. Though of course immigration came from a load of other places, not just the United Kingdom.
Is there a term adopted from another language that took dominance or anything.
Wonder what the common parlance was before the spice became common.
& carrot top depends on a piece of political propaganda since earlier versions of that vegetable come in different colours anyway.

Ginger is also fairly common nickname for Virginia

how to fold a fitted sheet (though maybe not shocking)

I know two people called Ginger and they are both nicknames for Virginia. Only one of them is a redhead.

I don't think I'd heard "ginger" as a pejorative until "24 Hour Party People."

is ginger as a descriptive automatically perogative.
just thinking chestnut for brunette doesn't seem to have the same connotation.
THough usage doesn't necessarily follow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_against_people_with_red_hair

Our Amber has always identified as ginger since she was born (btw, we had chosen her name before)

She's 23 now

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/11/25/1385384333335/e4dd6e16-d96f-4ebf-a5c6-78fe01d49592-620x513.jpeg?width=465&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=d33a3b2e63c0803f6d1fbce1642da4be

USA map shows a lot of red heads in central south appalachia as %, perhaps explaining virginia note above.

Lot of people of UK/Irish extraction down that way.

the proper term is hillbillies

University Challenge is based on the US TV show College Bowl.

Oh yeah there were two Virginias in my family in the same generation (yes half my family is from Tennessee why do you ask) and iirc neither was a readhead and they were called "Ginger" or "Ginny" as children.

So is there a popular US idiom for redhead that has a different derivation. Or is it mainly redhead.

"Red" seems a pretty popular nickname in the US!

True. I had a high school teacher named Red but by that time he was grey/sandy white so I didn't realize for many years that it was a nickname.

wait'll I tell you about "bluey"

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YWo9Nn_uIfE/hqdefault.jpg

The term verso means left hand page in printing, it is the name of a leftist publishing house that has done some really good stuff. I assume that is the derivation.
also assume that the word is the contrast to the leading right hand page because of the direction we read in which is called the Recto.

So is there a popular US idiom for redhead that has a different derivation. Or is it mainly redhead.

― Stevolende, Saturday, January 22, 2022 6:18 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Carrot top seemed like a common thing to call redheads prior to this guy's ascendance to fame:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cgAAAOSwa8Jfxbig/s-l225.jpg

I did wonder if the name would have crossed teh Atlantic if the colouration of the veg was down to support for William of Orange and before that carrots came in other colours as frequently. Purple and white and I think a couple of others.
BUt may have my monarchic chronology out. Since George III is after that.the Recto

& added beta carotene is always positive. Like helps you see in the dark if you believe WWII propaganda and stuff.

Like thinking that if America as a colony is still part of a hegemonic entity under Royal rule it is in continual conversation with remote geographical regions like those where taht monarch is located. Enough to have the same language be in a similar state to those remote regions and language not in a continual process of evolution, partially influenced by stronger personalities within the local area & so on. Which is probably untrue.
& language change probably not something dictated by single points in history. It evolves and doesn't stop evolving and attempts to stop that evolution I think tend to be artificial and unsuccessful.

But still would have though a thing like ginger would have been an obvious referent within the English speaking world once it was discovered and popularised . Which is why i was wondering if a word in a different language may have eclipsed it as something people were referring to red physical characteristics of people. Like.

The colouration of carrots was not down to support for William of Orange. I think the use of ginger for redheads dates from after the USA became independent of the UK?

ginger isn't even orange/red it ought be noted

Maureen Tucker and Virginia Baker were true trailblazers for female drummers back in the 60s, that much I do know.

what are ginger cats called in america?

Marmalade?

william of orange cats

Orange cats.

Among redheaded guys born in the the first half of the 20th Century in the US, I hear the nickname Rusty.

That a lot of online communities are pretty toxic. This one seems ok tho.

Rusty and Red are so nice. I hate the UK sometimes.

Carrot top less so

I do remember hearing the negative “…like a red-headed stepchild” growing up in slang regarding personal or societal rejection. I suspect that has more roots than mere dislike of gingerness as a trait itself. Does that slang exist in uk?

I don't know, tbh, the thing about the UK/Ireland is that there are probably more red-headed people here than anywhere else in the world, and that's got to be a factor somehow. It's like there's enough of them around to annoy people.

Got this from twitter, but I, too, never considered the meaning of the "This little piggy" rhyme as being about anything other than the piggy going shopping, or not, or having dinner, etc.

I always assumed 'red headed stepchild' meant it was an obvious sign that the kid was the product of adultery due to the uncommonness of the the trait

I seem to recall people where i grew up calling redheads.... "red"

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/scratchpad/images/0/02/600full-fraggle-rock-screenshot.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141211024155

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/scratchpad/images/0/02/600full-fraggle-rock-screenshot.jpg

I always assumed 'red headed stepchild' meant it was an obvious sign that the kid was the product of adultery due to the uncommonness of the the trait

― joygoat, Sunday, 23 January 2022 23:52 (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

There was an advert, well back in the day. A happy family in the house, one daughter with long red hair. The milkman passes by, he has short ginger hair. The father looks at them both, then the mother and goes ‘hmmm…’. Father and mother both laugh, and get on with I dunno, breakfast maybe.

At the time, I was like oh vaguely accusing your wife of adultery is a funny thing to do, is it?

Ironically enough, advertisers in the UK absolutely love red haired people - children and women almost exclusively mind you - I imagine because they stand out?

Yeah - all the "ginger" taunting seems to be reserved to blokes..