Claim:
A viral TikTok video aptly reported that the phrase “good morning” originated with white, English-speaking slave owners wishing their black slaves “good grief” after they killed or otherwise harmed their loved ones.
Evaluation:
A TikTok video posted in October 2023 went viral after its creator claimed that the phrase “good morning” was a perversion of “good grief,” the expression of grief that follows the death of a person. User @outkast.naii explained:
It was really a mockery of the black slaves. During slavery, they would cry and mourn in grief over what had happened to someone when they were whipped or killed or taken to another plantation. It was their way of making fun of the black slaves who had cried the night before. So they would ask them, “Did you have a nice funeral? Did you really cry?” And they would laugh about it.
The video itself was viewed 88,700 times. The video spread as viewers mocked or debunked it in reshares on TikTok, and gained even more visibility on X (formerly Twitter) (archived). One of the most recent was posted on YouTube in March 2024. However, the original creator acknowledged the derisive reactions and updated the caption of the viral video to admit the mistake:
‼️ READ THE SUBTITLES ‼️*I apologize, THAT WASN’T the ORIGINAL. 🤦🏽♀️💯 I made a mistake on this part 🤝🏾💯 #goodmourning #goodmorning #slaveryfacts #slaverydays
Snopes has contacted the creator of the video and will update this post if we receive a response.
As other Internet users have correctly pointed out, the word “morning” does not have its origins in colonial times or slavery. The words “morning” and “mourning” are in fact homophones: words with different spellings, meanings and origins, but which sound the same.
Both words have a Germanic origin and have undergone a clear evolution through Old English (English as used from the 5th century to the end of the 11th century, almost 500 years before the start of the colonial period in North America) and through Middle English (English as used between the 12th and 15th centuries, immediately before the colonial period).
According to Merriam-Webster, grief comes from the Old English word “murnan,” which means “to mourn,” but also “to worry” or “to be concerned.”
“Morning” comes from the Middle English “morn,” which in turn comes from the Old English “morgen.” This word, meaning “dawn,” also referred to the time between dawn and noon, according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. In fact, the German word for morning is still “morgen.” The same word gave rise to the use of “morgen” as a land measurement unit, defined as “the amount of land that a man can plough in one acre with a single blade drawn by an ox or a horse.” This unit was adopted by countries such as Germany or the Netherlands, and is still used in South Africa, a former Dutch colony. Land size varies, but in South Africa it is equivalent to about 2 acres.
The word “morn” then became “morning”, similarly to how the word “even” – the end of the day – developed into “evening”.
Sources:
Definition of MORN. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morn. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
Definition of MOURN. March 18, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mourn.
“Dictionary.Com | Meanings and definitions of English words”. Dictionary.Comhttps://www.dictionary.com/browse/morgen. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
