brown goods
nounEtymology From their colour. Consumer electronics equipment formerly had a brown wooden veneer.
1
consumer electronics equipment for entertainment, such as televisions and music centres
- Electronics capabilities led to the emergence of a distinction between "white goods" (the typically enamelled kitchen appliances such as fridges and cookers) and "brown goods" (such as wood- or bakelite-cased record players, radios, and TVs).1999, Miles, Ian, "Home Informatics: New Consumer Technologies, in eds. William H. Dutton et al., Society on the Line: Information Politics in the Digital Age, page 107
2
unbleached cotton textiles
3
spirits which are brown in colour, such as whiskey
Beverage industry
- In the U.S., there has been a gradual shift from “brown goods” (darker colored drinks, such as whiskey and brandy) to “white goods” (lighter colored drinks, such as gin and vodka).2012, Dwight B. Heath, “To every thing there is a season: When do people drink?”, in Drinking Occasions: Comparative Perspectives on Alcohol and Culture, Routledge, →ISBN, page 35:
- Coordinate terms
- red goods, white goods, yellow goods