Notifications
Clear all
August 26, 2008 7:13 pm
Growing up I heard Jews referred to as persons of the Jewish persuasion. Around the mid-70s I began to hear women referred to as persons of the female persuasion or an African-American referred to as a person of the Negro persuasion. A few years ago I heard a person described as not being of the human persuasion.
I'm wondering when this humorous use first appeared.
Thanks
1 Reply
August 27, 2008 2:33 am
"Person of the female persuasion" - without much effort, here's a link to the phrase in The Romances of Alexandre Dumas, as translated in 1893.