Noun: A baby born to a black
prostitute from a liason with a
white john.
Adjective: (Prejorative) A term of derision given by black folks to a mixed race person, referring to the alleged fact that their momma was a 'ho and their papa was a john. (Related term: zebra)
Popularized by the 1967 novel "
Trick Baby: The Story of a White Negro" by Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck).
Dot sat there grinning. He looked straight ahead as we struggled into our coats. Then, without turning his head, he casually said, "
Blue, I can't miss seeing you again
soon. I'll
duck into the homicide bureau and enjoy your morgue shots, maybe as soon as tomorrow. I'll count ice-pick holes in your black lard
ass. You and your trick baby partner could be walking corpses."
I cut in. I was hot as
hell. I said, "Goddamnit, Mr. Murray, I was no trick baby. My mother was no whore. She married a white man. Do I have to pin her marriage license to my chest? And
Blue and I haven't done anything to wind up dead."
He said, "I'll believe a license when I see it. I'm bullshit proof...."
-- Iceberg Slim, "Trick Baby"
