Comparing them with Google Ngram does show that buck naked predates and is slightly more frequently used than butt-naked, but I’d say butt-naked has been widely accepted into the lexicon. Bonus, it doesn’t have (possibly) racist origins like buck naked has.
Apparently, buck used to be a slur in the US for a black or Native American man.
A suggested etymology for buck naked is that it refers to the the nude state of black men when they were sold at slave auctions. AFAIK it’s not attested anywhere, just a hypothesis.
It’s Buck Naked, “Butt Naked” is a “bone apple tea” type thing
Both butt-naked and buck naked are used.
Comparing them with Google Ngram does show that buck naked predates and is slightly more frequently used than butt-naked, but I’d say butt-naked has been widely accepted into the lexicon. Bonus, it doesn’t have (possibly) racist origins like buck naked has.
Wait, buck naked is racist?
Apparently, buck used to be a slur in the US for a black or Native American man.
A suggested etymology for buck naked is that it refers to the the nude state of black men when they were sold at slave auctions. AFAIK it’s not attested anywhere, just a hypothesis.
TIL