WORDS-L Archives

Archiver > WORDS > 1998-10 > 0907356367


From: Dan Mick <>
Subject: Re: Black Sheep
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:26:07 -0700 (PDT)


> >I'm sure there's a popular association with "black" == "bad",
> >and it's not just anti-African and anti-Indian racism...black has
> >often been associated with evil. Probably that's the root of the
> >"frightening other sheep" thing too. The language is full of
> >such associations.
> \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
>
> I really don't think so in this case. I think that the few black sheep
> really stood out in the crowd of white beasts and sheep are such stupid
> animals anything frightens them.

Even if it wasn't the origin of the phrase, I'd bet a lot of money
that's the cognitive association that gave it power, popularity,
and persistence.

This thread: