For those who wish to check out stories like this for themselves, one of the very best sites is www.snopes.com. I can't tell you how many "stories" I've been able to disprove by checking them out there first. Martha Katz-Hyman On 6/23/07, Anita Wills <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Well, no wonder there was no citations, or places to find the truth. > Thank you for clearing this up. > > Anita > > > > > -- cagney <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Anita, > > According to The Word Detective (http://word-detective.com), in a > column > published in newspapers on 11/05/98: > > "This horrifying story is, as I'm sure you suspect, not even remotely > true. > 'Picnic' first appeared in English in 1748, apparently borrowed > directly > from the French 'piquenique,' which combined 'piquer' (pick) with the > obsolete French word 'nique' (trifle). The first picnics were what we > would > call pot-luck dinners. Only in the mid-19th century did 'picnic' come > to > mean a meal eaten outdoors. There is not, and never was, a secret > racist > history to 'picnic.'" > > Thank goodness that it is only an urban legend! > > Jean Spradlin-Miller > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Anita Wills" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2007 2:18 PM > Subject: Re: Violent holidays (was Re: Juneteenth) > > > >I heard many years ago that pic nic, was a derogatory term for > African > >Americans. I did not research this term, but understood that it > referred to > >finding and killing a black person, and then having a Pic nic. Maybe > >someone else knows exactly what the historical significance is of > this > >word. > > > > Anita > > > _____________________________________________________________ > Click for dental plans with huge savings, top service and coverage > > http://track.netzero.net/s/lc?u=http://tagline.untd.us/fc/Ioyw6ijleEEJst85edgNCRwCGRXoLSbcafeC2LQ55G94JqFfRvFswb/ >