The English word "picaninny", meaning "little kid", is derived from a Portuguese creole word for "pequenino" (from "pequeno").
Portuguese creole is spoken on islands near Africa, such as Cabo Verde (Cape Verde).
it’s not a very common word.. or, rather, it may have been at one time. it’s one of those ‘older’ words that ‘youngins’ (ie: newer generations) don’t use anymore.
3 comments:
Posted by Aisha (4/18/2006):
Haha I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that word before
Posted by Josie (4/18/2006):
it’s not a very common word.. or, rather, it may have been at one time. it’s one of those ‘older’ words that ‘youngins’ (ie: newer generations) don’t use anymore.
Posted by Chris (https://plus.google.com/117963141929088940365) (6/17/2014):
For good reason. It was often applied to young black children, often in pictures in which the kids holding pieces of watermelon (cringe).
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