11 racist and offensive phrases that people still use all the time

pathdoc / Shutterstock

• Many common phrases often found in American English actually have racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive origins.
• The popular term "peanut gallery," for example, was once used to refer to people — mostly Black people — who were sitting in the "cheap" seats in Vaudeville theaters.
• Some of these outdated terms should be left in the past, or revised at the very least.

As language evolves, we sometimes forget the offensive origins of certain words and phrases. Or we never knew them in the first place.

Many common terms and phrases are actually rooted in racist, sexist, or generally distasteful language. For example, the popular phrase "peanut gallery," typically used to reference hecklers, originated as a term to refer to those — usually Black people — who sat in the "cheapest" section of the Vaudeville theaters.

Similarly, people might not realize that the term "uppity," nowadays used generally to refer to a stuck-up or arrogant person, was commonly used to describe Black people that "didn't know their socioeconomic place."

As the nation enters a new age, new phrases should follow suit. Here are 11 popular phrases that you may want to rethink using in everyday conversation.