This is about the English idiom. }}For the 1996 film starring Chris Farley, see Black Sheep (1996 film). Black sheep is an English language idiom which describes an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within one's family. The term has been looked upon either positively or negatively depending on the era and culture in which the term was used.

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Idiomatic usage

Black sheep is an English language idiom—usually derogatory—which describes an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within one's family. ^[1]

The term originated from the occasional black sheep which are born into a herd of white sheep due to a genetic process of recessive traits. Black sheep were considered commercially undesirable because their wool cannot be dyed as white wool can. In 18th and 19th century England, the black color of the sheep was seen as the mark of the devil. ^[2]

In modern usage, the expression has lost some of its negative connotations, and the term is usually given to the member of a group who has certain characteristics deemed inappropriate by that group. ^[3]

Biological origin

In sheep, whiteness is not albinism but a dominant gene that actively switches color production off. As a result, sheep blackness is recessive, and if a white ram and a white ewe are parents of a black lamb, both must be heterozygous for black, and then there is a 25% chance that the lamb will be black. A recent study done by the , and believe the black color is created by an allele E D at the extension locus. ^[4]

Other uses

In psychology, the "black sheep effect " refers to the tendency of an in-group to treat or evaluate a member of its own more harshly than a similarly negative behavior or deed of an out-group member. ^[5]

See also

• The Ugly Duckling
• Scapegoat
• Albino Black Sheep

References

1. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
2. Black Sheep
3. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms
4. Molecular and pharmacological characterization of dominant black coat color in sheep
5. Black sheep effect Psychology Lexicon. Retrieved on January 4 2008