# Hey That's Mighty White of You **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2000, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843 "2000-10-22T01:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/21 "2000-10-22T21:00:34Z")
Oh, well. A day at the library, and I withdraw my suggestion that is might be English in origin. **tom** , as usual, nails it. It is racist in origin, but it does mean what starfish said-“thanks for nothing.” And, to clear up the Mark Twain usage, he(Twain) uses a phrase in _Sketches New and Old_, published in 1865. Supposedly, a correspondent from California sent him a poem in which he refers to a preacher thusly-“The parson was among the whitest men I ever see”. If you read the poem, the context is that he was a straight-up, square-dealing type of guy. Not like those of a different color. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2000, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/22 "2000-10-23T03:46:51Z")
Bravo to you, **Sam,** for your dedication and effort. I raise my glass to your good name. ---
**Author:** ![writefetus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9de053/32.png) [@writefetus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/writefetus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2000, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/23 "2000-10-23T13:15:04Z")
I grew up listening to thousands of hours of old radio shows( e.g. Allens Alley, Suspense, Lights Out , Jack Benny, Edger Bergen and Charlie McCarthy,Amos and Andy,The Shadow, Little Orphan Annie, Fibber Magee and Molly,The Lone Ranger,The Goldbergs,Gangbusters and so on) and I cannot recall having heard a comment like this. On what show(s) did you hear it? I know that broadly drawn racial (or racist) caricature were the norm, but I would be intrested to know the specific show. thanks ---
**Author:** ![BDBoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@BDBoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDBoop)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/24 "2012-07-07T16:16:17Z")
It’s never too late to contribute. 🙂 [http://thecompass.com/wgbhalumni-original/reunion/archiv17.htm](http://thecompass.com/wgbhalumni-original/reunion/archiv17.htm) > [@](#): > > - “Mighty noble of you, White…” goes with “…Mighty white of you, Noble.” For a while, Paul Noble and Stew White exchanged congratulations several times daily with this two-part salutation. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/25 "2012-07-07T17:03:48Z")
> **[White Zombie (band)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Zombie_(band))** > > White Zombie was an American heavy metal band that formed in 1985. Based in New York City, they started out as a noise rock band, releasing three EPs and one studio album in that style before changing to a heavy metal-oriented sound that broke them into the mainstream. The albums La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One (1992) and Astro-Creep: 2000 (1995) established them as an influential act in groove metal and industrial metal, respectively. Their best-known songs include "Thunder Kiss '65", "... ---
**Author:** ![BDBoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@BDBoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDBoop)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/26 "2012-07-07T17:05:58Z")
No more posting for you. Your post count is presently sheer perfection. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/27 "2012-07-07T17:31:00Z")
> [@alansmithee](#): > > I recall my oldest sister using this phrase quite often for a while when we were young, until my mother heard her and put a stop to it. Seems my sister, in her rural Indiana naivete, thought the word was “wide”. Thankfully she learned the truth before she unintentionally said it to someone who would understandably not appreciate it. 'Scuse me while I kiss this guy… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/28 "2012-07-08T00:53:10Z")
[QUOTE=;829515] In the book and movie _The Eiger Sanction_ a very racist character says this to Clint Eastwood’s character, who is seeing a black woman at the time. Clint decks him. [/QUOTE] And interestingly enough, Clint uses it (or rather Dirty Harry does) in The Enforcer. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/29 "2012-07-08T01:50:19Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 'Scuse me while I kiss this guy… 🙂 You can’t take this guy from me! > [@BDBoop](#): > > No more posting for you. Your post count is presently sheer perfection. Yeah, that’s not going to be confusing when this gets zombified the 2nd time. (Maserschmidt hit 1,776.) ---
**Author:** ![BDBoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@BDBoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDBoop)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843/30 "2012-07-08T02:11:37Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > You can’t take this guy from me!Yeah, that’s not going to be confusing when this gets zombified the 2nd time. (Maserschmidt hit 1,776.) True. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-thats-mighty-white-of-you/37843.md?page=1)