Widows and orphans
Posted by Word Camel on December 22, 2004
In Reply to: Daughter documents posted by Henry on December 22, 2004
: : : : From www.wordorigins.org:
: : : : A grandfather clause is one that allows someone who previously had the right to do something to continue doing it even though the law
: : : : forbids it to others. For example, when I turned nineteen, the state of New Jersey allowed me to drink alcohol. Later than year, they raised
: : : : the drinking age to twenty-one, but since I was already of legal drinking age, I was grandfathered and could continue to legally consume
: : : : alcoholic beverages. But why grandfather?
: : : : The term comes from discriminatory practices of certain Southern states against blacks. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, some
: : : : Southern states had laws requiring payment of a poll tax or taking of a literacy test before one could vote. The poor and illiterate were
: : : : denied the right to vote. This was race-neutral except for clauses in the state constitutions that exempted someone from poll taxes or
: : : : literacy tests if their grandfather had had the right to vote. This meant that virtually all whites, whose grandfathers could vote before the
: : : : imposition of these laws, were allowed to vote, while most blacks were denied the right to vote. Over the years, the term has lost the racial
: : : : stigma and no longer connotes racial bias.
: : : : The term grandfather clause dates to 1900. The verb form, to grandfather, is more recent, dating to 1972
: : : Merriam Webster agrees with you. But I'm still not convinced. I thought it was a work-related phrase. Allowing an older craftsman, for example, to continue working without having to meet new licensing requirements, etc.
: : I understand its origin as Jim Crow-related, not work-related.
: Management strategies often give rise to a series of documents. The later ones are often called daughter documents - they are descended from the first documents plus there is the attraction of alliteration.
As long as we're in a family sort of way... In typesetting, a "widow" is a sentence that finishes a paragraph runs over to the next page or column. An "orphan" is similar except that it's generally a word that appears on a new line at the end of a paragraph, making the whole think look odd. Orphans and be eliminated with clever kerning but Widows often require rewriting.
- Sick in transit Lewis 23/December/04