Does anyone have insight into the origin of the phrase "red-headed stepchild"?

pdummitt

Hello Pam. Welcome to the Board.

I've never heard that expression before. What does it mean?

Welcome aBoard, Pam! Hmm--our previous discussion didn't get as far as I'd thought it had:
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=27664; nor did the link included in it.
I've always thought it had to do with the obviousness of having a different parentage. There is a song which I'm not remembering much of right now including the title, but I believe it was about a red-headed child, and Papa had been absent for a while; I do remember one line clearly: "...And the milkman had red hair".

Why don't you try going to Information and Announcements and looking in Max's Useful Language Links? I'm sure there are some word and phrase origin sites listed there.

I remember being told by a WWII vet that in some European country where he had spent some time a red-haired child was always given away by its parents, someone else had to raise it. But it could be grandparents or other family members, and he didn't notice red-haired adults being treated poorly.

A sincere welcome to another foodie on this board. Now, if Pam had only served in the Navy, she would be the perfect addition!

foodie?

foodie. Noun. Colloquial. A lover of food and of a wide variety of foods, a food enthusiast, a diner with refined tastes, a student of cookbooks, a frequenter of restaurants, a preparer of excellent dishes. Synonyms: epicure, gastronome, gourmet.

ah. and you picked that up from cooking in her profile? very impressive.

welcome, Pam!

Nobody does a better job than Jackie of welcoming newbies to this board, but I am inspired by her example and attempt to approximate it, in my own, more-limited way.

This got chewed up and spit out on the wordorigins board. The standard opinion seemed to be that it was of US Black origin. I never bought that idea myself, but.

http://p066.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm14.showMessage?topicID=477.topic