nigger in the woodpile

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Rukhabot (talk | contribs) as of 19:36, 15 September 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

First attested in the 1840s.[1] This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

nigger in the woodpile (plural niggers in the woodpile or niggers in woodpiles)

  1. (offensive, ethnic slur) A hidden motive, influence or factor; a concealed (potential) snag; something suspicious.
    • 1858 December 20, "The Huntington and Whitley Case", The Legislative Sentinel, Vol. I, No. 14, page 137.
      Democra s[sic] placed no nigger in the woodpile—the imputation came with a bad grace from the gentleman from Kosciusko.
    Synonym: nigger in the fence

Translations

Translations

References

  1. ^ "nigger, n. and adj.", Phrases, P2b, Oxford English Dictionary Online (3rd ed. 2003), OUP.
  2. ^ Arturo Cuyás with Antonio Llano (1942) Appleton's New Spanish-English and Spanish-English Dictionary, 3rd edition, New York, New York: D. Appleton-Century, pages 307 (Pt. 1), 254 (Pt. 2)
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=nigger_in_the_woodpile&oldid=54146661"