Why is a lighter skin tone called "fair"?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

I think that's unfair.

[dipsydoodle]

1. Isn't it with regard your propensity

to burn as opposed to tan in the sun ? Those with red hair usually have "fair" skin.

[slackmaster]

2. There are lots of words in common use in English to describe skin tones, mostly flattering

Fair is only sort of good.

[elocs]

3. Did you know your post is on the 2nd page of a Google search of your question?

I searched your question just as you asked it and there it was.

[LanternWaste]

4. of a light hue; not dark...

(Dictionary.com)
12. of a light hue; not dark: fair skin.

[Touchdown]

5. Because it's milquetoast. Middle of the road. Bland.

And because the fair hair is parted down the middlin'.;)

[Richardo]

6. For the same reason darker skin is called 'dangerous'.

:)

[laureloak]

22. Twisted.

[juajen]

23. I have never heard dark skin called dangerous.

How else would you describe it? You could use crayons to describe it, but not sure everyone knows the colors in the rainbow, let alone in a large box of crayons, which describe colors that are in between primary colors.

[Richardo]

24. A bit of humor - allow me to explain:

It's kind of the flip side of Commie Pinko's implication in his OP that light skin is called 'fair' because this benign, favorable term was applied by the light-skinned people themselves. Many light-skinned people seem to harbor unreasoning fear and/or animosity toward darker skinned people. Hence they might apply the term 'dangerous' to these people.

This supposition is seemingly supported by many real world situations where darker-skinned people are attacked, exploited, occupied or repressed by the lighter-skinned people.

[slampoet]

7. Fair- because they ain't "good" and lord knows they ain't "Poor"

[Iggo]

17. Dayum!

:fistbump:

[Skip Intro]

36. wtf?

:eyes:

[EstimatedProphet]

8. Because white people define fairness.

[Touchdown]

13. Or at least Mayonaise.

:hide:

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EstimatedProphet]

26. Or you don't get that it's a joke.

[Jennicut]

9. dupe

[blondeatlast]

10. Personally, I'd describe B@L sans makeup as "hazy."

And it's hard to get much lighter than I am.

[Jennicut]

11. Well, I have been called paler then a ghost so...

Personally, I would love to have darker skin. All you do when you are paler is burn. Your skin in general is more sensitive and you usually have drier skin, and every little tag on your clothes feels scratchy. My 4 year old is very pale, even more then me. I won't let her go outside without 50 spf sunblock on. And she gets very itchy from her clothes. I guess there is always a fake tan from a bottle but then you get that John Boner look.
It is not more desirable to me.

[Warpy]

14. Burn & peel Irish here

and I feel like a vampire, the way I have to avoid the sun. There is absolutely no advantage to pale skin. It SUCKS.

[Gold Metal Flake]

25. Burn & peel Scot here

After a life spent on two very sunny coasts the damage to my face is now visible. I expect I'll be having bits removed in another 10 years. My olive-toned spouse tans in her sleep.

[Jennicut]

33. Ironically I am mostly Italian with some German mixed in.

But my Mom was born a light skinned blonde. I have light skin and brown hair. Got the light skin from my Mom, the dark hair from my Dad.
I literally get hives from being in the sun and my Grandfather, my Mom's father, was allergic to it as well.

[a la izquierda]

42. I burn, peel and eventually turn brown...

I'm Irish, Italian and Spanish.

My husband burns badly, peels and in two months will "tan." He's Irish, English, French and Dutch. Our kids are going to fry.

[MineralMan]

12. "Fair" is a very old word in English, and has many meanings.

Each usage of the word is pretty much separate from the others. It's like a lot of very old words.

It's almost always a mistake to try to assign a single meaning to most common four-letter English words.

Look at "beat," for example. It has many, many meanings, just like "fair" does. Some of them are almost unknown by most people, unless they're in a special-interest group.

One of the meanings of "fair" is "smooth." It can be used as a verb or an adjective with that meaning. Unless you're a boat or aircraft builder, though, you probably haven't encountered that meaning.

When you have a question about words in English, especially simple ones, it's a great idea to look the word up in one of the better online dictionaries, or in the Oxford English Dictionary. You'll be amazed.

[Karenina]

15. Thank you!

To randomly assign "values* to such words out of context is a linguistic mistake. CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING!

[MineralMan]

16. Yup. Fair actually derives from an Old German word, "fagar"

which just means "beautiful."

And actually, its most common use in English as an adjective used to describe something's appearance still has the same meaning. "She's very fair and young." has nothing to do with skin color. It just mean's she's beautiful.

When the weather's "fair," it means that it's lovely, not pale.

The "fair" meaning of "pale" is derived from the earlier meaning, in a society that considered pale skin to be attractive. It's a pretty narrow meaning for the word.

[Riftaxe]

18. Perhaps because that is one of the definitions of fair?

Who knew words had meanings?

:shrug:

[MineralMan]

20. See below for 30+ meanings of "fair."

[MineralMan]

19. Here's a fairly complete list of the meanings of "fair."

Fair 1

Definition: Free from spots, specks, dirt, or imperfection; unblemished; clean; pure.
Fair 2

Definition: Pleasing to the eye; handsome; beautiful.

Fair 3

Definition: Without a dark hue; light; clear; as, a fair skin.

Fair 4

Definition: Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; favorable; said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.; as, a fair sky; a fair day.

Fair 5

Definition: Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unincumbered; open; direct; said of a road, passage, etc.; as, a fair mark; in fair sight; a fair view.

Fair 6

Definition: Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; fowing; said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.

Fair 7

Definition: Characterized by frankness, honesty, impartiality, or candor; open; upright; free from suspicion or bias; equitable; just; said of persons, character, or conduct; as, a fair man; fair dealing; a fair statement.

Fair 8

Definition: Pleasing; favorable; inspiring hope and confidence; said of words, promises, etc.

Fair 9

Definition: Distinct; legible; as, fair handwriting.

Fair 10

Definition: Free from any marked characteristic; average; middling; as, a fair specimen.

Fair 11

Definition: Clearly; openly; frankly; civilly; honestly; favorably; auspiciously; agreeably.

Fair 12

Definition: Fairness, beauty.

Fair 13

Definition: A fair woman; a sweetheart.

Fair 14

Definition: Good fortune; good luck.

Fair 15

Definition: To make fair or beautiful.

Fair 16

Definition: A gathering of buyers and sellers, assembled at a particular place with their merchandise at a stated or regular season, or by special appointment, for trade.

Fair 17

Definition: A festival, and sale of fancy articles. erc., usually for some charitable object; as, a Grand Army fair.

fair 18

Definition: a traveling show; having sideshows and rides and games of skill etc.

fair 19

Definition: a sale of miscellany; often for charity; "the church bazaar"

fair 20

Definition: a competitive exhibition of farm products; "she won a blue ribbon for her baking at the county fair"

fair 21

Definition: gathering of producers to promote business; "world fair"; "trade fair"; "book fair"

fair 22

Definition: join so that the external surfaces blend smoothly

fair 23

Definition: very pleasing to the eye; "my bonny lass"; "there''s a bonny bay beyond"; "a comely face"; "young fair maidens"

fair 24

Definition: visually appealing; "our fair city"

fair 25

Definition: (used of hair or skin) pale or light-colored; "a fair complexion";

fair 26

Definition: free of clouds or rain; "today will be fair and warm"

fair 27

Definition: (of a baseball) hit between the foul lines; "he hit a fair ball over the third base bag"

fair 28

Definition: free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; or conforming with established standards or rules; "a fair referee"; "fair deal"; "on a fair footing"; "a fair fight"; "by fair means or foul"

fair 29

Definition: (of a manuscript) having few alterations or corrections; "fair copy"; "a clean manuscript"

fair 30

Definition: not excessive or extreme; "a fairish income"; "reasonable prices"

fair 31

Definition: of no exceptional quality or ability; "a novel of average merit"; "only a fair performance of the sonata"; "in fair health"; "the caliber of the students has gone from mediocre to above average"; "the performance was middling at best"

fair 32

Definition: showing lack of favoritism; "the cold neutrality of an impartial judge"

fair 33

Definition: more than adequate in quality; "fair work"

fair 34

Definition: in a fair evenhanded manner; "deal fairly with one another"

fair 35

Definition: in conformity with the rules or laws and without fraud or cheating; "they played fairly"

[trotsky]

40. Wow.

Very cool. Never really sat down to think about just how many definitions "fair" has, yet we use so many of them without thinking and automatically know what is meant. Makes me grateful again to be a native English speaker - I can't imagine trying to keep all that straight learning it in a class!

[MineralMan]

43. It's interesting, isn't it. What a challenge for a person for whom

English isn't a first language.

[Romulox]

27. Why do they call the brown rice "wild"?

-Dave Chappelle

[Recursion]

28. From proto-Germanic *fagraz, "beautiful"

Yes, words have baggage.

[MineralMan]

29. Another thought occurred to me. Since the root in old German

basically means "beautiful," I have an idea how it also got the pale or light meaning when it came to skin color.

A few hundred years ago, a very many people had scars from smallpox, which was very common. A young woman with no smallpox scars would be beautiful, in comparison with those who had had smallpox. Unblemished is also a meaning of "fair."

Odds are that wealthy young women might be free of those scars, and also have pale skin from minimal sun exposure. It may be that the word fair also became synonymous with pale skin, as well as unblemished skin, and beauty.

Fair also has the meaning of "smooth," which also relates to a non-scarred appearance.

I'm just playing a word experiment, but it makes some sense.

[bettyellen]

30. all very positive qualities but u won't find a word for dark w positive alt meanings i bet

so actually yeah, it;s a reflection of our European white centric past.

[MineralMan]

31. Ebony, shaded, deep-hued, shady.

You want some more?

Sable, tan, chestnut...

In any case, I think the negative association for dark actually comes from nighttime, a pretty fearsome thing for people when language was being formed. Light, on the other hand, was a good thing, since one could see any dangers that were around.

If you consider the development of English, there were few people of color anywhere to be found in Chaucer's day. There was plenty of darkness, though, relieved when the sun rose in the morning.

[bettyellen]

38. those words are totaly neutral representing objects as pigment, unlike the postive ideas

I pointed out that the word fair represents. unlike dark or black, for starters. look up the alt definaitons of those two and call me on the morning.
and we both know that;s the tip of that iceberg. and as much of a stretch as it is to bring up tow versions of the word shady- it;s current urban usage toward people actually IS quite negative. it means a person is untrustworthy, likely sleazy- so thanks for prvoing my point.

[Richardo]

39. Much akin to 'dexterous' meaning 'skillful' and 'sinister' meaning 'evil'

The righties were making up the definitions while we lefties were trying to figure out how to use the scissors.

[bettyellen]

41. exactly, anyone who pretends to believe there's not judgment revealed in the alt meaning of words

is kidding themselves. the poster i responded to could see the many of the words for fail were connected to a large extent but just didn;t want to make the leap to say the thought of the dy was fair= white= beautiful + good. but dark indeed has alt meaning of frightening and evil. i thought this was pretty much common knowledge! especially among the Chaucer set.

[NutmegYankee]

32. History of the word. Think "Fair Maiden".

It comes from German, and originally meant beautiful. In the middle ages, part of beauty was having a very pale skin tone, as that represented high class or Nobility (as in you didn't work in the fields).

[Canuckistanian]

34. The Anglo-Saxons who first used the word never had experience with dark-skinned people

So they couldn't have coined the term to make a distinction between white and black people, let alone a hidden "value judgment".

[Odin2005]

35. that was it's original meaning, the meaning of "just/equitable" came later.

[bettyellen]

45. so people lined good qualities with light skin tones, and sinister ones with dark colors

im wondering if or how it matters which came first, but english speakers did indeed make those connections

[PassingFair]

37. Whatever it means, I go beyond it. nt

[WinkyDink]

44. You've not heard the term "fair-haired"?