A young woman was trying to solve a billing problem, and she stated, "I've been like white on rice about this."

I hadn't heard this phrase before; have you? This is what UsingEnglish.com says about it, which makes sense from the context (that is, she was following it closely). There were some other opinions in the Urban Dictionary, which I know you don't like z, including "a white man engaged in sexual intercourse with an Asian woman." Puleez!

In my experience, it means you cannot possibly get any closer to the problem or a person.

Ike & Tina Turner, "Baby Get It On"
Album: Acid Queen

TT: we're gonna get it on
...and we goin on

IT: you dont know, girl how
you blow my mind.
I said now baby, won't you hear what I say
I want your lovin' in the worst kind of way, so come on, baby let's get it on

TT: ah huh

IT: Now your the finest girl I ever saw in my life
I want to stick to you like white on rice
So come on.

TT: ah huh

.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Proofreader>,

I agree with Proofreader. I have heard the expression many times. I've never heard it in reference to mixed-race coitus.

I've never heard it.

Me neither.

quote:

I have heard the expression many times.

I wonder why I am always in the dark about such phrases. I figured out what it meant from the context, but I don't remember hearing it before.

I suspect that in this case, you are in the dark because you aren't dark enough.

It was new to me, too.

quote:

Originally posted by Valentine:
I suspect that in this case, you are in the dark because you aren't dark enough.

"Like white on rice" has nothing to do with how dark you are, and it's not a racist saying, either. I don't hear it so much any more, but I used to hear it often years ago. I most remember it being used in a combative sense. For example, if someone disagreed with something that someone else said or did and vehemently challenged that person, either verbally or physically, it was said that "he was all over him, like white on rice." Or "like stink on shit."

I did not mean to imply that it was only applied to white or black folk, and certainly not that it was racist at all.

I had not heard it at all, ever, in any context. But it struck me, perhaps because of the Ike and Tina quote, that it may be a phrase more in use in some parts of society than others.

Your statement made me think you thought it was primarily a black saying. I didn't think you were being racist. But one of the definitions Kalleh read in the Urban Dictionary, "a white man engaged in sexual intercourse with an Asian woman," could be considered racist.

I've been hearing this phrase for a long time, usually together with "all over it", and "man", as in "I'm all over that like white on rice, man." My sense, taken from context & accent, was that it is a down-home, country saying. Although it may well have originated in African-American communities, there's a big overlap with white 'country', i.e. Appalachian expressions, as well as with the lingo used by pop, rock, and country musicians.

Except for in this thread, I've seen nothing about the phrase being African-American. While the general meaning is "closely attached" or "closely followed," apparently the slang meaning is the white man and Asian woman one (it being rice and all). Has anyone heard it used in the Black community...besides being in the Ike and Tina Turner song? Or is that the reason people here are linking it to African-Americans?

The Ike and Tina Turner reference is the only one I've seen from a black source. I've never heard it used in a racial connotation. Except during one football game a few years ago where the announcer, after a black defensive lineman knocked down a white split end, said, "He has been on him like white on rice." But it just seemed to mean "good defense."

I have no doubt in some circles the phrase may inspire either sexual or racial overtones (or both) but until this thread began, I hadn't heard them.

Just to confirm that I, like Bob and Arnie, had never heard of the expression before it appeared in these pages.

Eventually it will reach the outer limits of the American empire.

quote:

Eventually it will reach the outer limits of the American empire.

You mean all the way to the Mexican border? Wow!

Mind you, "blanco en aroz" doesn't seem to role off the tongue quite so well.

quote:

"...arroz es arroz es arroz ... "

I shouldn't have relied on my memory for the spelling...

I, too, have heard the expression many times, though I don't think I've used it. But I've heard people say, "I'm all over that like white on rice," and these are white, middle class, suburban people. If the phrase comes from country or black culture, I'll bet it's spread to the general public through TV sit-coms of the '80s and '90s.

This site traces it to the '80s.

Wordmatic

I'm pretty sure I heard it in the 50s and 60s and I imagine it's much older than that. The oldest record I can find it in print is from October 12, 1969.

I managed to find two 1965 cites, but each indicates that the phrase is still older. One calls the phrase "proverbial", and the other is quoting an earlier, footnoted source.

I went back further on that site and found an 1833 quote.

quote:

The American spectator - Page 31
by Saturday Evening Club - American literature Periodicals - 1833
'Within a month after we refused to do what Andrew demanded," says Friedlander, "the
OTS was back on this bank like white on rice. And they ate us for lunch ...

Ummm, no. The quote is from 1999. I think the 1833 date is the date of first publication of the magazine.

The Office of Thrift Supervision didn't exist back then. I also doubt that the phrase "ate us for lunch" is that old.

But there are two earlier cites - 1924 and 1943 - that appear to be from Black America.

Agreed, Val. That's the dual pain of a googlebooks search. First, the search-engine often misunderstand the dates. And then, your click-onto-the-source doesn't give you full detail on the date, and at best you can only say what it "appears to be".

the search-engine often misunderstand the dates

It's standard practice to list periodicals in library card catalogs by date of publication of the first issue. It's up to the person citing the work to check with the periodical itself to see what the date of the issue actually is. (Many academic journals have a cover date of publication that differs from the actual date of publication.) Another problem is that many cite a book by its date of publication rather than by it's first date of publication.

quote:
It's standard practice to list periodicals in library card catalogs by date of publication of the first issue. It's up to the person citing the work to check with the periodical itself to see what the date of the issue actually is.

Yes, but Google indexes them by first-issue date. So (for example) if you do a google-booksearch for usages of a given word before 1900, the search-engine will bring up post-1900 issues of periodicals whose first issue predates 1900.

This applies to Google's book-search but not to its news-archives search (which has its own dating problems).

Yes, but Google indexes them by first-issue date.

I think it's because the scanning people are pulling the records straight from the libraries where the books and journals are being scanned. If you solve the problem and send them your solution you could probably get a job at Google.