Actually Rouge, I think this dates back to "knights in shining armour". Sometimes noted as white armour. Sir Galahad comes to mind. Good guy versus bad guy (Black Knight).
We all know (I hope) that "white knight" is a term used by anonymous internet tough guys as an ineffectual insult aimed at men who are not sexist weirdos.
No surprise that it doesn't get used in the real world.
Thanks!
hang on. I thought it was internet slang to refer to guys who act as tough guys under the guise of being chivalrous. It's not simply about not being a "sexist weirdo", which most men are not (sorry for the double negative). Being a 'white knight' is about guys who insist on intervening in matters that don't concern them out of a misguided or disingenuous honour code of standing up for women, when really all they want to do is scrap with another dude. You know the type - the guy who feels the need to do pass-bys to tell dudes to chill just because they're having an argument with their girlfriend at a nightclub, as people often do.
I'm not saying that applies to this subway stupidity, but that's what I thought the term meant. Otherwise, wouldn't most of us be 'white knights'? Including those who left the scene early?
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hang on. I thought it was internet slang to refer to guys who act as tough guys under the guise of being chivalrous. It's not simply about not being a "sexist weirdo", which most men are not (sorry for the double negative). Being a 'white knight' is about guys who insist on intervening in matters that don't concern them out of a misguided or disingenuous honour code of standing up for women, when really all they want to do is scrap with another dude. You know the type - the guy who feels the need to do pass-bys to tell dudes to chill just because they're having an argument with their girlfriend at a nightclub, as people often do.
I'm not saying that applies to this subway stupidity, but that's what I thought the term meant. Otherwise, wouldn't most of us be 'white knights'? Including those who left the scene early?
You're pretty much right. It started seeing use as someone (male or female) standing up for someone else (male or female) who doesn't need or want standing up for. It has since been given a lot more definitions (most specifically by MRA-type folks) but sees a decent amount of use offline as well.
Yeah, I always took White Knight to refer to guys like Harrison Mooney or Jian Gomeshi. Guys who loudly and proudly defend women's rights (nothing wrong with that part) when really they ARE the guy they claim to hate. Almost as though loudly voicing their disgust excuses their own behaviour in their mind.
Or the guy who loudly condemns the actions of misogynists, then goes to Vegas and gets a married women blackout drunk before getting with her...but it's okay because it's different when he does it.
But I could be wrong. #notallwhiteknights
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As far as I always knew it means, 'one that champions a cause', and has been around for decades, if not centuries. I knew that the meaning had been hijacked by the business world into meaning someone who swoops in to save a failing company, but I had no idea that the internet community had attributed new meaning.
It blows my mind that being a White Knight now has a possible negative connotation.
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I'm also surprised White Knight has a negative connotation. The term has been around forever and generally has meant someone who comes in and saves the day. Or in the business world, a company who comes into save another company from a hostile takeover. Maybe the internet meaning evolved from this, as a company that is a "white knight" isn't doing it selflessly but rather to take advantage of the situation for its own benefit.
I have heard of White Knight Syndrome which is essentially where a person has a misguided sense of the need to "save the day".
Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need
[Chorus:]
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet
[Chorus]
Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I would swear that there's someone somewhere
Watching me
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach
Like the fire in my blood
As far as I always knew it means, 'one that champions a cause', and has been around for decades, if not centuries. I knew that the meaning had been hijacked by the business world into meaning someone who swoops in to save a failing company, but I had no idea that the internet community had attributed new meaning.
It blows my mind that being a White Knight now has a possible negative connotation.
It blows my mind that being a White Knight now has a possible negative connotation.
It kinda does. In 2014 internet speak, it now refers to a guy jumping into save a woman when she clearly deserved the predicament she's in, or the guy otherwise has no business jumping in. A guy jumping in for the right reasons is generally just called a good guy.
As far as I always knew it means, 'one that champions a cause', and has been around for decades, if not centuries. I knew that the meaning had been hijacked by the business world into meaning someone who swoops in to save a failing company, but I had no idea that the internet community had attributed new meaning.
It blows my mind that being a White Knight now has a possible negative connotation.
Its always been a term up for interpretation.
While a White Knight champions a cause his assistance is 'unbidden.'
Essentially meaning that no one has asked for the help and while the white knight comes in, his assistance may not be needed or wanted but hes there anyways presumably because he thinks he knows better than the people hes 'helping' and sometimes they dont think things through and make things worse.
Its the same in business terms, the white knight comes in to save the day, but he usually gets to keep a greater share for his efforts and investment, so, much in the same vein as chivalry some guy shows up, assumes you're an idiot and needs his help and takes over.
The concept boils down to white knights inherently presuming the inferiority of the people getting his help because they were stupid enough to need it.
So theres the positive: Assistance
And the negative: You're getting helped whether you want or need it or not.
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White Knighthttp://knowyourmeme.com/memes/white-knight
About
"White Knight" (also known as "Internet White Knight") is a pejorative term used to describe men who defend women on the Internet with the assumption that they are looking for a romantic reward in return.
Origin
The term "white knight" is derived from the knight-errant stock character, a medieval figure in romance literature that would perform various acts to prove his chivalry. According to Wikipedia, the term "knight-errant" was first recorded in the 14th-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but was developed as a romance genre character during the late 12th century. The first Urban Dictionary definition was submitted by user Jake on November 23, 2004, which defined the phrase as a male who attempts to aid a woman in distress.
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Yeah ... that's pretty much what a White Knight means to me. Annoying dudes who come to the "defense" of ladies in the misguided train of thought that it's going to get them laid.
Yeah ... that's pretty much what a White Knight means to me. Annoying dudes who come to the "defense" of ladies in the misguided train of thought that it's going to get them laid.
Basically, I'm just saying that its not necessarily 'a damsel in distress' or 'getting laid' but the same concept.
They think they're helping out someone who cant help themselves for some perceived personal benefit while making sure it looks like they're not doing it for some perceived personal benefit.
Its interesting, its one of things where people walk in to save the day but havent been there since the beginning and thus dont know the context of the situation and tend to make themselves look stupid.
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Basically, I'm just saying that its not necessarily 'a damsel in distress' or 'getting laid' but the same concept.
They think they're helping out someone who cant help themselves for some perceived personal benefit while making sure it looks like they're not doing it for some perceived personal benefit.
Its interesting, its one of things where people walk in to save the day but havent been there since the beginning and thus dont know the context of the situation and tend to make themselves look stupid.
So you're saying that cp "white knights", don't necessarily want to have sex with other members of the board?
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