Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A provision in a statute that exempts an activity or item from new regulations that would otherwise prevent engagement in that activity or use of that item.
- noun A clause in some southern state constitutions that exempted descendants of persons allowed to vote prior to the Civil War from subsequent voting restrictions, meaning that such restrictions disfranchised many African Americans while not applying to many whites.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
clause orsection , especially in alaw , granting exceptions for people or organisations who were affected by previous conditions.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an exemption based on circumstances existing prior to the adoption of some policy; used to enfranchise illiterate whites in south after the American Civil War
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From late 19th-century legislation and constitutional amendments passed by a number of U.S. Southern states, which created new literacy and property restrictions on voting, but exempted those whose grandfathers had the right to vote before the Civil War. The intent and effect of such rules was to prevent poor and illiterate African American former slaves and their descendants from voting, but without denying poor and illiterate whites the right to vote.
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Examples
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bilby commented on the word grandfather clause
Sexist!
December 15, 2008
kewpid commented on the word grandfather clause
As it is a recommendation that we use "gender-neutral language" in academic writing, I suppose this ought to be changed to grandparent clause.
December 15, 2008
bilby commented on the word grandfather clause
I was going to suggest toothless old fogey clause but, err, ...
December 15, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word grandfather clause
Ooh! Umbrage! Bilby's "toothless old fogey" comment was ageist and dentist.
May 31, 2010
bilby commented on the word grandfather clause
How about knobby-kneed, doddering silvertop?
May 31, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word grandfather clause
Umbrage! Nihilist.
May 31, 2010
bilby commented on the word grandfather clause
Technical foul! You took umbrage with your first comment so obviously there was none left to take with your second.
May 31, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word grandfather clause
Umbrage! Any new umbrage-taking on my part is grandfathered in, thankyouverymuch.
*hopes this distracts from the last umbrage-taking's requirement that nihilist be pronounced like "knee" instead of "Nile"*
May 31, 2010
milosrdenstvi commented on the word grandfather clause
You know, right, that come Erin McKean's birthday, Grandfather Clause will deliver gifts to all deserving little boys and girls who have been good about using their and its correctly, helped of course by his merry and devoted band of subordinate clauses...
June 1, 2010
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word grandfather clause
Am I a deserving little kid? Am I? I do try ever so hard to use their theirs and its its and it's correctly!
June 1, 2010