# Slanguage experts: origin of "like white on rice"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354 "2003-04-08T18:33:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/1 "2003-04-08T18:33:08Z")
“Like white on rice” is one of those phrases that I don’t remember hearing for most of my life, then suddenly hearing over and over again within the space of a few months. People are all over things “like white on rice.” It’s not hard to figure out what it means, of course. White. Rice. No map need be drawn. But I’m curious about its origins. I’m sure it’s been around a while, but I have no idea where it comes from, how long it’s been around, where it originated, etc. I know slang origin questions are often hard to answer, but does anyone know more about where this came from? ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/2 "2003-04-08T20:30:56Z")
Is it not “like white on rye”? Like two different slices of bread? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/3 "2003-04-08T20:32:41Z")
I’ve heard “white on rice”. Mark Jones of ABC/ESPN likes to use to describe a defensive back covering a receiver closely. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/4 "2003-04-08T20:35:10Z")
I’m pretty sure that Muhammad Ali used it in the 1960s. I also think Ali got a lot of his lines from Bundini. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/5 "2003-04-08T20:41:39Z")
Googlefight (the source of all truth) proves me an idiot. [http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1="like+white+on+rye"&q2="like+white+on+rice"&B1=Make+a+fight!&compare=1&langue=us](http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1=%22like+white+on+rye%22&q2=%22like+white+on+rice%22&B1=Make+a+fight%21&compare=1&langue=us) Ignore me please and carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/6 "2003-04-08T20:42:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Is it not “like white on rye”? Google pulls up [5 examples](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22white+on+rye%22&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=ISO-8859-1&client=googlet) of “white on rye,” and [about 3700](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=ISO-8859-1&client=googlet&q=%22white+on+rice%22) examples of “white on rice.” I’m thinking rice is more popular than rye, but it’s interesting to see the variation. (Although one of the rye links mentions that the guy misheard rice, so it’s a pretty minor variation.) It’s also interesting to see that “white on rice” is slang for a Caucasian/Asian romantic relationship… ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/7 "2003-04-08T20:56:36Z")
First time I ever heard it was on an episode of Miami Vice. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/8 "2003-04-08T21:05:11Z")
I first heard the phrase in Whodini’s 1984 dance hit [“The Freaks Come Out at Night”](http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?id=79038): **"Now the party’s jumpin’, the place is packed And when the crowd’s like this, I’m ready to rap But before I could bust a rhyme on the mic Freaks are all over me like white on rice"** ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/9 "2003-04-09T00:25:43Z")
I was born in 1960, grew up in a college town in Mississippi. IIRC I’ve heard it all my life. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/10 "2003-04-09T01:43:51Z")
It came from the south, Muhammed Ali got it rolling publicly, and Larry Holmes barked it out alot. I heard it in gyms in the early 80’s in Philly, where fighters took on a lot of inlfuence from such personalities as Holmes and Ali. I know many wrestlers (WWE) were products of gyms, and they brought it to another popular media. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/11 "2003-04-09T21:29:07Z")
Very old, very wise Cajun people used the phrase when I was a tiny child. I assume it’s been in use at least as long as the phrase “high cotton.” ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/12 "2003-04-09T21:29:07Z")
Very old, very wise Cajun people used the phrase when I was a tiny child. I assume it’s been in use at least as long as the phrase “high cotton.” ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/13 "2003-04-10T00:10:06Z")
One variation (among many) is: “I’ll be on you _like stink on shit_.” ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/14 "2003-04-10T01:49:08Z")
The best of both worlds, courtesy of _Sealab 2021_: “They’ll be on me like stink on rice.” ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slanguage-experts-origin-of-like-white-on-rice/167354/15 "2003-04-10T20:20:08Z")
At first glance, I thought that maybe it was derived from the popular phrase “black on night”, but as the google search “black on night” revealed exactly 13 hits, I think my theory has been shot down.