Can anyone confirm that Nitty Gritty is actually offensive?

Question

What are the origins?

Answer 1

Nitty-gritty

Meaning

The heart of the matter; the basic essentials.

Origin

It is reported that this term is a derogatory reference to the English slave trade of the 18th century. The suggestion is that it originated as a term for the unimportant debris left at the bottom of ships after the slaves had been removed and that the meaning of the term was extended to include the slaves themselves. That report became widely known following newspaper reports of an 'equality and diversity' course for Bristol Council employees in 2005. Had the firm that was conducting the training known that their claims were to reach so wide a public they may have chosen to check the facts first.

Any language that is thought to be racist is subject to close scrutiny, especially in the USA, hence the euphemistic 'N-word'. Reports that a harmless word like picnic originated as the name of a lynching party only have to be voiced to be taken seriously and become part of folk-etymology. Likewise now with nitty-gritty. Add to this the touchiness left by anyone who has any sort of association with the slave trade, however remote. That includes the councils of English sea-ports previously used for slave-trading, for example, Bristol and Liverpool. Just this week (11 July 2006) comes the suggestion that Penny Lane in Liverpool should be renamed to remove the association with the slave-trader James Penny. This has been dismissed as ludicrous by many in Liverpool, but the very fact of the suggestion indicates the level of embarrassment still felt.

There is no evidence to support the suggestion that nitty-gritty has any connection with slavery. It did originate as a Black American English expression, but that's as near as it gets to slavery. It isn't even recorded in print until the 1950s, long after slave ships had disappeared, and those references make no mention of slavery. The training company that is said to have made the suggestion has made no comment and it is clear they have no evidence to support the allegation.

Where it does come from isn't known. It is one of the many phrases that use rhyming reduplication, for example, namby-pamby, fiddle-faddle, teeny-weeny etc, etc.

It has been suggested that it refers to head lice or their detritus. That at least has some connection with the phrase and its meaning but again isn't supported by any hard evidence.

Answer 2

Nitty Gritty Origin

Answer 3

Meaning Of Nitty Gritty

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Can anyone confirm that Nitty Gritty is actually offensive?
What are the origins?

Answer 5

Nitty gritty is not offensive to me. It means the bare, un-biased facts surrounding a particular subject.

It has no sexual connotation when used as originally intended.

Answer 6

It is not. It just means the detail.

This is ridiculous, if we are going to be politically correct about everything in colloquial or vernacular English then you aren't going to be left with much to say.

Try looking up hunky-dory which everyone takes to mean OK.

No more calling anyone a dork either, at least not if the etymology I was told is correct. You'll have to stop saying son-of-a-gun too since that implies bastard.

English is a living language and if anyone gives me a hard time over what things used to mean they are likely to get a stern response.

Answer 7

i've just found a site containing explinations of sayings..

nitty gritty is thought to be what is left at the bottom of a slave ship after the salves are removed and could even mean the slaves themselves..
this is contested tho as the saying cannot be found in the written form until the 50's

here's something i didn't know tho. penny lane in liverpool, made famous by the beatles, is named after an 18th century liverpudlian slave trader and there have been calls to have it renamed

Answer 8

I was reading the news on the net and some councillor in the UK got in big trouble for using it as in "lets get down to the nitty gritty". Apparently its a shipping term from the days of slavery.


The guy above me nailed it to the wall. Give him the points well done Sir

Answer 9

Getting down to the real nitty gritty may be construed as vulgar, however "The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band" is not in any way vulgar or nasty.

Answer 10

Where it does come from isn't known. It has been suggested that it refers to head lice or their detritus. That at least has some connection with the phrase and its meaning but again isn't supported by any hard evidence. It could well be offensive, but like most sayings, there isn't any real evidence of what it originally meant.