Talk:buck naked

Reverse

I think that buck naked came first, with butt naked as a bowdlerization, or eggcorn, of this. but i dont have Herman Cain to back this up.(mercurywoodrose)99.101.137.13 21:16, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

heres eggcorn database confirming my supposition: [1]99.101.137.13 21:24, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

RFV discussion: February–May 2013

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buck naked

RFV-sense "Naked but for a waist band with knife sheath, arm bands, footwear, weapons in hand, etc." - -sche (discuss) 05:12, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

WT:BJAODN (unless it's real of course). Mglovesfun (talk) 22:06, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

RFV-failed. - -sche (discuss) 21:42, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

Racist Etymology

According to https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/19/butt/ (by way of https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/101053/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-buck-naked) the use of “buck naked” is tied to calling Black slaves “bucks”. Consider changing the etymology section here. Damenleeturks (talk) 00:40, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

Except neither is very definitive. The WSU one says the phrase "conjures up stereotypical images", but doesn't actually say that it originated from such usage. The StackExchange one admits that it's just speculation.

It's definitely true that both male Indians and male slaves were called bucks. It's also true that many American Indians (at least the men) didn't bother with clothes except in cold weather, and slaves were often displayed naked when sold so the buyer could see what they were getting. That doesn't mean "buck naked" originated from either. I'm always skeptical of etymologies based on good-sounding stories. Chuck Entz (talk) 01:43, 7 September 2020 (UTC)