Dictionary definition of “white knowledge”

white knowledge

n. information acquired without conscious effort. Subjects: English

Etymological Note: This term originated in science fiction writing and is associated with the author Terry Pratchett, who probably coined it.

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Citations: 1995 [Colm Buckley] Usenet: alt.fan.pratchett (Feb. 12) “Re: IT Annotations (spoiler)”: I think it’s just a joke; the storming of the winter palace in the Russian Revolution is far more ingrained into people’s “white knowledge.” 1997 Neil Gaiman Neverwhere (July 1) p. 9: He continued, slowly, by a process of osmosis and white knowledge (which is like white noise, only more useful), to comprehend the city, a process that accelerated when he realized that the actual City of London itself was no bigger than a square mile. 1999 [knepveu@lynx.neu.edu (Kate Nepveu)] Usenet: rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan (Mar. 13) “Re: More on Verin”: _Why_ must you use the Socratic method to introduce the Old Testament? I mean, granted, most of your students will have absorbed the basics in a white knowledge sort of manner—I did, and I’ve never read it. 2000 [Cassady Toles] Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List (Sept. 25) “Pacific NW Clio sites”: My friend Alexai describes the existance of a certain white knowledge that everyone has, but doesn’t know where they got it. 2004 Priti Trivedi @ Toms River, N.J. Fractured Blog (Oct. 15) “See how busy we are?”: The production team is slowly picking up the lingo, so that last night when Chad asked for a “Half apple” I actually knew 1. what he was talking about 2. where it was and 3. where he needed to put it. That’s amazing! Okay, so maybe apple boxes was a bad example, but the amount of “white knowledge” we’re all picking up on this movie is what keeps us going when the going gets tough. Or cold.

Posted 19 Oct 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend