Oreo en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Brand name of unknown origin, trademarked by National Biscuit Company on 14 March 1912. See the Etymology section of Wikipedia's Oreo article for various theories. In reference to well-assimilated black people, derived from the slur that they are "black on the outside, white on the inside".
Meanings
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(qualifier:foods) A cookie made of two wafers joined with a sugary filling, particularly a Nabisco cookie with two alkalized cocoa-powder wafers around a white creme filling.
The Oreo is really an antidepressant drug disguised as a cookie. You lost your job? Eat a bag of Oreos[…] There are two ways to eat Oreos. Kids like to pull the chocolate wafers apart and eat the sweat, creamy middle first. Adults dunk them in milk.
1984 December, Michael Norman, “The Junk Food Hall of Fame”, in Cincinnati Magazine, page 67:“You can feed, like, an entire city,” he marvels, before salivating over Oreos, Nilla Wafers, jugs of milk, eggs, a sausage wrapped in a pancake on a stick.
2026 July 9, Sophie Haigney, “World Cup Tourists Are Giving Americans Exactly What We Crave”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:While Oreo cream may not appear to possess fluid-like properties, it is considered a "yield stress fluid""—a soft solid when unperturbed that can start to flow under enough stress[…] Curious as to whether other had explored the connection between Oreos and rheology, Owens found mention of a 2016 Princeton University study in which physicists first reported that indeed, when twisting Oreos by hand, the cream almost always came off on one wafer.
2022 April 19, Jennifer Chu, “MIT Engineers Introduce the Oreometer”, in MIT News:
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(US, derogatory, ethnic, slur) A black person who has overly assimilated into white culture, a black race traitor.
Growing up in white suburbs and attending elite schools and institutions of higher learning, black American prince and princesses are immersed in Anglo (often WASP) culture and emerge with modes of speech, behavior and grooming that brand them as "Oreos," black on the outside and white in the middle.
[2002 November 26, Adrienne Crew, “BAP like me”, in Salon, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2007:She's a pure Oreo. You know, like the cookie, black outside and white inside.
1971, Iceberg Slim, The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim, Holloway House:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oreos | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Twinkie · egg · coconut · banana · wigger
Hypernyms
snack (cookie) · cookie (cookie) · junk food (cookie)
Synonyms
Oreo cookie · Uncle Tom (black person assimilated into white culture)
Translations (16)
ar أوريو (Nabisco cookie brand) · it Oreo (Nabisco cookie brand) · th โอรีโอ (Nabisco cookie brand) · de Oreo (Nabisco cookie brand) · he אוראו (Nabisco cookie brand) · nl Oreo (Nabisco cookie brand) · tr Oreo (Nabisco cookie brand) · ja オレオ (Nabisco cookie brand) · cmn 奧利奧 /奥利奥 (Nabisco cookie brand) · es Oreo (Nabisco cookie brand) · fr bounty (Black person assimilated to white culture) · sv Oreo (Nabisco cookie brand) · fr Oreo (Nabisco cookie brand) · nl bounty (Black person assimilated to white culture) · mr ओरियो (Nabisco cookie brand) · ko 오레오 (Nabisco cookie brand)
wikipedia: Oreo#Etymology · wikipedia: National Biscuit Company · wikipedia: Wikipedia