But ginger? Where does that come from? Ginger roots are a light brown, like so:
And ginger flowers could be any of a number of colors:
The British have an ugly and well-documented prejudice against red-haired people, which I assume dates back to the days of the Viking raids. The Celts were small and dark, and red-haired children were probably the bastard offspring of Viking rapists and invaders (hence "red-headed stepchild"). But that still doesn't explain the origin of "ginger," because I'm fairly confident ginger doesn't grow in Scandinavia.
Plus, according to Holbein, Henry VIII was red-haired:
And Prince Harry has red hair now. If he ever becomes king, I hope and expect to see much more discussion about "gingerism" and the origin of the term. Anyone have any guesses?
6 comments:
GOod question. Of course, now what I REALLY want to go do is watch the Ginger Kids episode of South Park again.
They use the term in Israel too. In the Fairfax district Lucy was called "gingy" fairly often.
It may have to do with the color of the dried ginger or the color of things like "gingerbread" which can be sort of auburn/orange.
Mary Queen of Scots was a redhead too (and wasn't Elizabeth I?)
-kathleen
Elizabeth I was a redhead, although not sure about Mary Queen of Scots.
And because of Titian, the painter, many times a red hair is also called titian...like Nancy Drew is in some books, while she's blonde in others.
Yes, Elizabeth was famously red-haired! Mary Stuart may have been as well, but the story I remember about her is that she had lost all of her hair by the time she was beheaded -- and when the executioner grabbed what he thought was her hair, her bald head rolled free.
I've always assumed it related to ginger nuts (which are ginger based biscuits and reasonably similar in colour to ginger hair), not least because of nut being slang for head. We also call them "carrot tops" which is at least more accurate. This all refers, of course, to orange-red hair, rather than anything darker.
The prejudice is light-hearted and I suspect arises out of the fact that truly ginger people (who are also very pale and befreckled) stand out from the crowd. I don't buy the viking origins. Firstly, some of the early British tribes were red-haired, secondly because the Anglo-Saxons were the dominant cultural force for 500 years with their blonde and red colouring, and then the Normans (or "Norse-Men") took over (and the name William Rufus gives the clue to their colouring).
Incidentally, I think the prejudice is worse among the Scots, where ironically, red hair has always been more common. I made the mistake of suggesting a well-known Scots author was ginger and he wasn't amused.
I think it's because ginger is sharp and spicy and sometimes a little overpowering. I never thought it was related to the actual color. I know of what I speak - my very sharp-tongued and spicy sister is a redhead!
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