My dad used to have an old dictionary
The Collins Pocket Gem, as I remember, which was given to him by an old aunt when he was a lad in the 1940s. It had all sorts of things in it which I found amusing, including a section at the back on 'miscellaneous weights and measures' (did you know, for example, that in fisherman-speak a hundred herrings is actually 132 herrings?)

But it also included many words which were seen as acceptable at the time, and which have now either fallen into disuse, or been deemed unacceptable in modern society. Take for example, 'mulatto - the offspring of a white person and a negro'.

But the one which made me laugh most was:

sambo, n, the offspring of a negro and a mulatto hence, humorously, negro.

Humorously?

FFS.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 22 Nov 2007, 16:09, 8 replies)

ah!
I noticed an ancient looking pocket gem on a colleges desk just yesterday. A quick perusal taught me that the Vulva hadn't been invented yet, but I didn't think to check 'sambo'
( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Thu 22 Nov 2007, 16:21, closed)

Have a look
in the back for the weights and measures section. If you ever wanted to know how many firkins were in a folio or bushels of dry wheat to the acre that's the place to check.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 22 Nov 2007, 16:25, closed)

For years
my nickname was 'Sambo' until I found out it was a racist term and then stopped people from using it.
(THIRTY-TWO - Sputnik -, Thu 22 Nov 2007, 17:43, closed)

Pedantic, moi?
Assuming that I remember correctly, a "mulatto" is someone who has a white father and a black mother. The term dates from British colonial times, when this sort of thing was somewhat frowned upon, because it basically meant that the invaders had gone off with local women.

On the other hand, have lots of fun with Wikipedia at: snipurl.com/whatcolour
(purplegod counting down for Christmas!, Thu 22 Nov 2007, 19:14, closed)

Mulato
Is also a Spanish word, meaning a child with one black parent and one white parent. They still use it in Spain today.

Which lead my Spanish class onto a big topic about whether we could say half caste (We thought not) and whether mixed race was the right term (we thought not as it could mean any race).

We decided to use mulato from thence on, but as a adjective not a noun, like a colour.
I mean what else do you use? He is half black half white is a bit long winded..mixed race isn't right...half caste not right...

What I don't get is why in the US they say "african-american". WHy not just say black, it makes it a lot easier.
Black, white, asian, indian, hispanic.
That's all you need.
(RooRooRasputin Lover of the Russian Queen, Thu 22 Nov 2007, 22:48, closed)

Nirvana
are Rascist then ! yet another reason to hate them with all my soul.
(kitescreech still here, Sat 24 Nov 2007, 9:36, closed)

At
a previous workplace they had a dictionary from the fifties.

My favourite definition was that of the word "Brothel". This was defined as "A house of ill fame", which I think is great. One of those definitions that you only understand if you know what's being talked about, thus making it completely redundant.
(MrC. Having the most boring username on b3ta since 2004, Mon 26 Nov 2007, 12:52, closed)

this is completely off topiC
but if you look at the collective terms for groups of animals some of them are quite amusing

I'm almost sure a large group of whales is called a flange of whales
(electrogirl no one thinks about the implications of a clown su, Wed 28 Nov 2007, 14:26, closed)