More Info on Black SheepSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
pp-semi|small=yesotherusesIn the English language , black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family. The term has typically been given negative implications, implying waywardness.cite book |url= http://books.google.com/? id=9re1vfFh04sC& pg=PA64& lpg=PA64& dq=american+heritage+dictionary+%22black+sheep%22 |title=American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms |accessdate=2007-11-13 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=9780395727744 |author1=Ammer, Christine |year=1997 It derived from the atypical and unwanted presence of other black individuals in flocks of white sheep.
The idiom is also found in other languages, e.g., French language|French , Serbian language|Serbian , Bulgarian language|Bulgarian , Hebrew language|Hebrew , Portuguese language|Portuguese , Bosnian language|Bosnian , Greek language|Greek , Turkish language|Turkish , Dutch language|Dutch , Afrikaans , Swedish language|Swedish , Danish language|Danish , Spanish language|Spanish , Czech language|Czech , Slovak language|Slovak , Romanian language|Romanian and Polish language|Polish . The same concept is illustrated in some other languages by the phrase "white crow": for example belaya vorona (????? ??????) in Russian language|Russian and kalag-e sefid (???? ????) in Persian language|Persian .
Idiomatic usage
The term originated from the occasional black sheep which are born into a flock of white sheep due to a Genetics|genetic process of recessive trait s. Black wool was considered commercially undesirable because it could not be dyed. In 18th and 19th century England, the black color of the sheep was seen as the mark of the devil.cite book |last=Sykes |first=Christopher Simon |title=Black Sheep |publisher= Viking Press |location=New York |year=1983 |page=11 |isbn=0670172766 In modern usage, the expression has lost some of its negative connotations, though the term is usually given to the member of a group who has certain characteristics or lack thereof deemed undesirable by that group.cite book |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |year=1992 |url= http://www.answers.com/topic/black-sheep |accessdate=2008-03-24
A variant form, "the red sheep of the family", was used by Jessica Mitford to describe herself, a communist in a family of aristocratic fascist s. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/16/061016crbo_books1? currentPage=all "Red Sheep: How Jessica Mitford found her voice" by Thomas Mallon 16 Oct 2007 The New Yorker|New Yorker .
Biological origin
In sheep, a white fleece is not albinism but a Dominance (genetics)|dominant gene that actively switches color production off, thus obscuring any other color that may be presentcn|date=February 2012. As a result, a black fleece in most sheep is recessive , so if a white ram and a white ewe are each heterozygous for black, in about 25% of cases they will produce a black lamb. In fact in most white sheep breeds only a few white sheep are heterozygous for black, so black lambs are usually much rarer than this. Some breeds of sheep (such as the Hebridean (sheep)|Hebridean , Ouessant (sheep)|Ouessant and Black Welsh Mountain sheep|Black Welsh Mountain ) are normally black.
Other uses
In psychology , the black sheep effect refers to the tendency of a group to treat or evaluate members of one's own group who behave in a way such as to jeopardize the group's image, more harshly than similarly unlikable members of another group, while considering the former group as a whole to be superior to, or better or more deserving than the latter. http://www.psychology-lexicon.com/cms/glossary/glossary-b/black-sheep-effect.html Black sheep effect Psychology Lexicon. Retrieved on January 4, 2008.
Glossary of sheep husbandry : see entry for "black wool".
References
reflist
External links
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/66250.html Exploration of the etymology of the phrase "black sheep of the family"
cite journal
|last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors=José M. Marques, Vincent Y. Yzerbyt |title=The black sheep effect: Judgmental extremity towards ingroup members in inter-and intra-group situations |journal=European Journal of Social Psychology |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=287–292 |publisher=Science Direct |location= |date= |url= http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00221031 |doi=10.1002/ejsp.2420180308 |id= |accessdate=2008-01-04 |author=Marques, José M. Category:English idioms Category:Pejorative terms for people Category:Social psychology Category:Sheep
