Are phrases that include the words "pork barrel" offensive to you?

[ecstatic]

i.e. pork barrel spending/ politics

I just learned what the origin of this phrase was, on C-Span, maybe a week or so ago.

"Pork barrel" came into use as a political term in the post-Civil War era. It comes from the plantation practice of distributing rations of salt pork to slaves from wooden barrels. When used to describe a bill, it implies the legislation is loaded with special projects for Members of Congress to distribute to their constituents back home as an act of largesse, courtesy of the federal taxpayer.

[angee_is_mad]

1. Interesting, but not offensive

to me. That is something similar to chitterlings.

Black folks took scraps and turn it into a delicacy.

[Brewman_Jax]

2. I don't see how it's offensive

use of the pork barrel is/was a fact of life, both in its literal and figurative uses. In pre-Civil War times, it helped the slaves survive.

:shrug:

[Kerrytravelers]

3. I had never heard of the orgins before.

There are so many phrases that have orgins such as this, it would be very hard to know them all and remove them from the national lexicon (not that you were implying this is what we should do.)

[Logansquare]

4. That etymology is *highly* dubious

As a lover of words, I hate hearing media airheads repeat heresay word and slang origins that they picked up from some other news outlet, who picked it up from some other news outlet...etc. You can google "pork barrel slaves" and get hundreds of hits with the same explanation, and not one of them provides any references to printed works that would verify it.

According to Oxford English dictionary, the first use of the term "pork barrel" to describe regional favoritism in government spending was in 1909. Since this was a generation after the end of slavery, it is unlikely that it refers to plantation practices.

Also, it's not difficult to find factual accounts of the conditions imposed on slaves. A field laborer could expect a piece of actual pork, maybe, on Christmas. The rest of the time it was hominy and lard, and other cheap, unnutritious foods. This hardly is a good analogy for a government official pouring federal tax money into his own area, which is what "pork barrel" means.

One online source that I really like because they say "probably" when they can't find an exact source: http://www.etymonline.com

[HamdenRice]

5. Pork barrels weren't just for slaves ...

It was just the way salt pork was packed, shipped and distributed. Poor whites would also have used pork barrels in their general stores or for a large family in their homes. In fact even today here in NY, salt pork is a favorite ingredient in Caribean neighborhoods, and most grocery stores have a plastic barrel of salt or brined pork or fish.

It's very difficult for me to believe that pork barrels refer only to slave provisions.

[Logansquare]

6. Well reasoned, Hamden

I've noticed that "pork" seems to have been used as slang for "money" in earlier contexts.
In most of 19th century America, salted pork and cured bacon were staples for whites, and probably would have been for slaves if they had an owner who was inclined to feed them properly.

We still say that a worker earning wages is "bringing home the bacon." I think I'll create a false origin for that term, something that will spread through the media like wildfire. "In medieval Scotland, when a knight won a jousting tournament, the king would reward him with a slab of bacon, which at the time was more precious than gold. Thus the term 'bringing home the bacon."