red-diaper family

9.9

A family whose parents strongly support communist ideas and raise children that way

noun
/rɛd ˈdaɪpər ˈfæmɪli/

Archaic

: familia de pañales rojos

Growing up in a red-diaper family, she learned about activism from a young age.

Examples

Many members of the movement came from red-diaper families with a tradition of political engagement.
He often spoke about being raised in a red-diaper family and its impact on his politics.
Growing up in a red-diaper family shaped my political views.
Many red-diaper families have a rich history of activism.
Growing up in a red-diaper family, she was immersed in leftist ideologies from an early age.
He shared how being part of a red-diaper family influenced his views on social justice.
She realized that many of her friends came from red-diaper families that prioritized political activism.

Antonyms

conservative

∞ 4.6

Does not want big changes and likes traditional values

Surface Forms

red-diaper family singular

red-diaper families plural

Morphology

red-diaper + family

The constituent meanings ('red' + 'diaper' + 'family') are literal (a colored baby garment and a kin group) and do not transparently yield the political sense of parents holding leftist/communist beliefs. This is a culturally specific, historical idiom (related to 'red‑diaper baby') rather than a regular compositional formation, so a B1 learner who knows the words would be unlikely to infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Red-diaper family comes from the image of red, the color linked to 'communist' politics, and diaper, a baby's cloth, so it gives the picture of a child born into a 'red' home. So, it means 'a family whose parents hold strong leftist or communist beliefs and raise their children with those ideas'.