What is the meaning of the saying "You don't need to be brown to be down"? I guess the phrase has Hispanic origin.

gmackematix

If it's a saying it isn't very widespread as a Google search of "brown to be down" gives one hit, and the site is a Filippino one. To me it sounds a bit similar to a line from Ice-T's "Inside A Gangsta": "But you don't have to be brown if you wanna hang around." I'd say your version means what it says. You don't need to be brown-skinned to be down (as in cool or hip). Mar 10 07, 9:27 PM

uclageographer

Ya.. as I know the brown here is referring to brown skin. if "you don't need to be brown to be down" has a meaning of you don't need to have brown skin to come to an agreement? Mar 11 07, 5:03 PM

davejacobs

Apparently 'down' has an entirely different meaning in the States compared with the UK. Over here it means in low spirits, out of luck, and similar bad implications. Previous answers seem to indicate that in the States it means, cool, hip, coming to an agreement. Strange. Mar 12 07, 5:18 AM

What-A-Mess

And to us a "Flat" is a tire that lacks air, a "crisp" is not food, unless one is speaking of an Apple Crisp and the "Tube" is not watched nor ridden upon! Mar 12 07, 6:23 AM

Baloo55th

Over here a flat may lack air too, but it's to do with a tyre... That expression 'You don't need to be brown to be down' to me would mean that white people can be downtrodden as well as hispanics or blacks or whoever. Mar 12 07, 11:28 AM

uclageographer

I¡äm a non native English speaker My first guess of the meaning is that simply you don¡ät need to be brown skin or a guy called Brown to be unhappy©u I learned the world don¡ät let me down from the Beatles¡ä song¡£ To conclude£¬ this saying is extremely confusing and has relatively limited geographical distribution¡£ Then should I simply forget it£¿ Mar 12 07, 11:18 PM