Colored People's Time

Definitions

noun dated, African American The supposed habit of black people of frequently being late, conceived of as a time zone.

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Colored People's Time.

Black people always seem to be late and, in fact, have been late so often and so predictably that they themselves have coined a term for it: CP Time, Colored People's Time.

Black History Month: An Explanation of CP Time by Your Very Delayed Guest Book Editor Baratunde Thurston 2010
Black people always seem to be late and, in fact, have been late so often and so predictably that they themselves have coined a term for it: CP Time, Colored People's Time.

Baratunde Thurston: Black History Month: An Explanation of CP Time by Your Very Delayed Guest Book Editor 2010
Black people always seem to be late and, in fact, have been late so often and so predictably that they themselves have coined a term for it: CP Time, Colored People's Time.

Baratunde Thurston: Black History Month: An Explanation of CP Time by Your Very Delayed Guest Book Editor Baratunde Thurston 2010
Colored People's Time is an African-American inside joke referring to their frequently being late for appointments. ex: "Sorry I'm late, I was on CP time."

What's Happenin' Baby? Meet the Brown Bomber! Brian Hughes 2008
For those of you who don't know, CPT stands for Colored People's Time, or the tendency of people of color to show up late to work and important engagements.

New York Press 2009