Oreo
or o·re·o
[awr-ee-oh, ohr-]
- a black person who is regarded as having adopted the attitudes, values, and behavior thought to be characteristic of middle-class white society, often at the expense of his or her own heritage.
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Origin of Oreo
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70; from trademark name of a chocolate cookie with a white cream filling
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for oreo
Contemporary Examples
But the Oreo cookies in the photograph were actually sent by Operation Oreo, a project of Alpharetta Methodist Church in Georgia.
Elsewhere in the song, Kelly compares himself to the cookie monster and cleverly sings “I love to lick the middle like an Oreo.”
A surprising new entry on the 2009 list in this category is Oreo, a sweet black-and-white choice.
There is also a trend toward ‘O’-ending names, such as Leo, Romeo, Rocco, Oreo, Gizmo and Milo.
Historical Examples
We are to make all possible speed, to Oreo, their governing city.
When leaving Ulietea, Oreo's last request was for me to return.
The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar KhayyamOmar Khayyam
Oreo must have been aware of the plot, for he more than once asked Captain Cook why he did not go and bathe as usual.
Captain CookW.H.G. Kingston
Oreo, on his part, quickly aroused himself, and sent off canoes to Bolabola and elsewhere to find the fugitives.
Captain CookW.H.G. Kingston
Oreo and several chiefs took a passage on board the English ships to Bolabola, which was reached the day after they left Ulietea.
Captain CookW.H.G. Kingston
Word Origin and History for oreo
Oreo
n.
derogatory word for "black person felt to have a 'white' mentality," 1968, black American English, from the snack cookies, which consist of dark chocolate wafers and white sugar cream filling (hence "brown outside, white inside"). The cookies (made by Nabisco) date from 1912; the source of the name has been forgotten.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper