GRANDFATHER CLAUSE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Grandfather clause

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/grˈændfˌɑðər klɔz/ Listen

Grandfather clause

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.

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Etymology of 'Grandfather clause'

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"Grandfather clause" Quotes from Famous Books

... "land sakes," "dew tell" and "what d'ye mean by that?" I never was so humiliated in my life, but there's no getting around the truth. I've been ten years out of college, and when I go back they'll pull the grandfather clause on me and wheel me in early nights. I'm a back number and I know the symptoms. When that young Sophomore told me the boys of Eta Bita Pie had just spent twenty dollars apiece on a formal dance and house party, I put up the same kind of a lecture to him that my father gave me when ...

— At Good Old Siwash • George Fitch

Words linked to "Grandfather clause" : exemption, freedom