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Lexicon Valley

Is "Knocked Up" Racist?

Lexicon Valley

Lexicon Valley

Society & Culture, Education

4.8611 Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There’s a rumor going around social networks that “knocked up” traces back to American slave trading. Is there any evidence for that etymology? Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lexicon Valley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 251: "Is 'Knocked Up' Racist?" With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, I'm Ryan Eggled from TV shows like New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, and of course, leave it to Beaver. You're on that? I was the Beaver. Didn't know. And I'm Adam Rose, an actor on TV, blue cardigan guy on your social medias, and Avid Speedwalker. We're the hosts of Small Stupid Stuff, an important new podcast from Studio 71. Ryan and I talk about the big issues, the heavy questions, pressing topics.

0:21.9

Like coffee date etiquette?

0:23.4

Best time to eat cereal.

0:24.9

And of course, whether you put your toilet paper over or under or around.

0:29.5

I don't know what around is.

0:30.9

I don't either, but I'm definitely an over man.

0:32.7

Yeah.

0:33.1

Every episode, we're joined by a celebrity guest who gives us their hottest takes on the stupidest,

0:38.7

smallest stuff.

0:39.6

Jocco Sims, Michelle Carrey, Alex Breckenridge, Pete Haversberger, Amber Childers.

0:46.6

Our goal is to solve the world's problems by finally figuring out the truth about crap that doesn't

0:51.8

matter.

0:52.3

So listen to Small Stupid Stuff on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:57.8

And watch us on YouTube, new episodes every Tuesday.

1:00.9

Stop.

1:04.4

From BookSmart Studios, this is Lexicon Valley, a podcast about language i'm john mcorder and i want to start

1:15.3

with something ripped from the headlines so to speak and then as per what might be one of my

1:21.8

patterns i want to extend it i want to pull the camera back and discuss something that i am now and then asked about it may seem a little weird where i'm going to pull the camera back and discuss something that I am now and then asked about.

1:29.3

It may seem a little weird where I'm going to start, but I need to start here. I think I need to help provide a service here as a linguist, and this time, yeah, a black one.

1:41.4

There's something getting around in the Twitterverse and beyond. And no, I'm not

1:48.2

talking about the problems with Mr. Musk, et cetera. It's more specific. A claim has been made

1:54.8

about the term, if I may, knocked up. The idea is that knocked up is a term that we should start avoiding,

...

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