The origins of racial slurs

[andygirl]

Okay, if reading racial slurs that are not at all meant to be racist in this context could somehow offend you, stop reading.


I was reading "Made in America" by Bill Bryson the other day. It's more or less a history of American English. I came across something interesting.

The word "nigger" is a dialectical variation of "Negro" that originated from a particular region of the South where "Negro" was phonetically pronounced "Nigra".

Now, my question: Does anyone know the origin of other commonly used ethnic slurs? Or, for that matter, words like "faggot" and "dyke"?

andygirl

[TNTruth]

In the interests of keeping this light, I'll start with one that is not that common over here: wog. It's Brit for a person from "East of Suez", and it derives from "golliwog".

Now a golliwog was a grotesque doll pictured in some children's stories written around the turn of the last century. Is that what you're looking for?

Also, "Mick" is a no-brainer. It stems from so many Irishman being named Michael. Ditto "Paddy". It seems the people who wanted to slur the Irish were not very imaginative.

[wolfman]

May be a little offensive to some people




Complete off-topic hijack, but for some reason this reminded me of one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life. I know it sounds like a joke setup, but its real.

There was this drunk idiot at a bar trying to start fights, and yelling at people all over the place for about 20 minutes, finally the bartender calls the cops. And they show up, including one cop who introduced himself as officer Ferrarri in a thick New York Italian accent. The drunk got got more and more angry and finally yelled at the cop "F*** off you F***ing Guinea pig". Hehe, didn't have quite the effect he was going for as the entire bar including the cops nearly split a side laughing.

Back to your regularly scheduled topic.

[beakerxf]

Actually, I don't need the origin of one, just confirmation that it is actually a slur. I, on occasion use the slang word "jipped" (cheated, etc.).

I have this foggy memory that it may be a slur against the Jewish. Is this correct? I need to make sure because I work for a Jewish owned company and have used the phrase once already in front of one of the VPs (he didn't say anything) and want if it's something to be avoided in the future.

[tomndebb]

Irish, Mick, (common name among the Irish that became a general epithet for all Irish. Paddy or Pat was also common (and remains so in Britain), but Mick "won out" in the States.

Polish, Polack, simply the older name for Polish people in English (from the Polish word for Pole) that became the pejorative when the word Polish became more prominent.

French, Frog, from the disdain held by "plain eating" English-speaking folk for any group that was so "odd" as to eat frog legs. (I suspect I'm going to get corrected on this one.)

German, Kraut, from the disdain held by "plain eating" folk for people who eat food with rich (or overpowering) odors.

Italian, Wop, from Italian guappo, a street tough--used by association that all Italians were bullies and cutpurses. (Guappo is related to both Spanish guapo and and older French word I've forgotten. The French word meant "weak" and the Spanish word means "beautiful" and the word may have originally been an ironic reference among Italian immigrants to the puffed up hooligans in their midst.
Italian, guinea, a linking of Italians to the dark-skinned peoples of Africa, paticularly in the Guinea region.

Hungarian, bohunk, hunky (not honky), from a corruption of the word Hungarian.

U.S. whites (from blacks), honky, purportedly from the higher, nasal sound of white speech as opposed to the lower, throatier sound of black speech.

Dutch, blockhead, or squarehead, I'm not sure of these. Blockhead has meant a stupid person for a long time. It may have simply meant that the English thought the Dutch stupid (when in insult mode) and squarehead may have been a back-formation from blockhead. I'm not sure.

Hispanic in the U.S., spic (also applied to Italians formerly), origin not really understood.
Mexican in the U.S., greaser, an attempt to portray Mexicans as being greasy with grime from never washing.

Jewish, kike, origin also not really understood.
Jew is itself offensive when used as a verb.

Rom, (gypsies), have also incurred a the insult of having their name become a verb meaning "to cheat," gyp. (Gypsy comes from the notion that the Rom originated (or spent a lot of time in) Egypt. They are actually from the Indian sub-continent.

Korean, (and other East Asian groups by association), slope, an attempt to malign the intelligence of Korean people by indicating that they are "slope-headed" with little fore-brain. (Ironically, most people of the maligned groups have higher foreheads than the European-descended coiners of the term.)



What I have noticed through this list is that there aren't any names that show any spark or originality. When people want to make a group less than human, they grab fairly mundane ideas (frequently false) and simply slap them on.

[Coldfire]

Originally posted by tomndebb
Dutch, blockhead, or squarehead, I'm not sure of these. Blockhead has meant a stupid person for a long time. It may have simply meant that the English thought the Dutch stupid (when in insult mode) and squarehead may have been a back-formation from blockhead. I'm not sure.

Just call me Clog Boy ;)

Seriously, I've never heard those. The generic insult to the Dutch is fairly decent (hey, why not, we're a decent people): Kaaskop, meaning "Cheese Head". Yup, Gouda and all that. Used by Belgians and Germans, mostly.

[lissener]

Originally posted by beakerxf
Actually, I don't need the origin of one, just confirmation that it is actually a slur. I, on occasion use the slang word "jipped" (cheated, etc.).

I have this foggy memory that it may be a slur against the Jewish. Is this correct? I need to make sure because I work for a Jewish owned company and have used the phrase once already in front of one of the VPs (he didn't say anything) and want if it's something to be avoided in the future.

It's a slur against Gypsies, not Jews: it's spelled gypped.

[Agentakbar]

Tomndebb,
I just want to say that I have an incredible amount of respect for you for not saying that the term "Wop" comes from "Without Papers." Very good.
I know return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

Bri

[Bear_Nenno]

Can't believe no one has mentioned Cracker yet.

Cracker is a slur describing white people. It came from the sound of the whips they used on the slaves.

[wolfman]

We also have the new more complex slurs, from a member of a group to another member.

Oreo, black on the outside white in the middle, meaning a black person who doesnt act black.

Banana, Twinkie. Same as above, but yellow on the outside, white in the middle, from Asians.

[TNTruth]

I always thought "wop" comes from the sound a Beretta makes when fired.

[APB9999]

Blockhead for the Dutch is a new one to me. I guess I don't meet that many Dutch, but now if I do, I'll be prepared. So what derrogatory term do the Dutch use for Americans?

Also, didn't "Mick" for an Irishman come from the common prefix "Mc" on Irish LAST names?

[rowrrbazzle]

From Cecil's column What's the origin of "honky"? (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_257b.html)

Dear Cecil:

Your source for the origin of honky only gave you half the story. Another probable etymon for honky, cited by David Dalby in his "African Element in American English" (to be found in my Rappin' and Stylin' Out: Communication in Urban Black America) is the Wolof term honq, "red, pink," a term frequently used in to describe white men in African languages. --Tom Kochman, professor of communication, University of Illinois at Chicago

[beakerxf]

Originally posted by lissener

It's a slur against Gypsies, not Jews: it's spelled gypped. [/B]

Thanks lissener and tomndebb.

[beakerxf]

I found this page:

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/sigs/life/gay/history/dyke

The site list no copyrights, but I'll try to paraphrase as much as possible anyway.

Four possible origins:

Possibly a form of "hermaphrodite" or "morphodite" and "morphodike"
Possibly from the phrase "diked out" which means "to overdress".
"the word appears first in the long term forms *bulldike* and *bulldyking*, both used in the 1920's by American blacks. . . .[It's] possibility that this is basically just another backcountry, barnyard word, perhaps a combination of *bull* and *dick*"
"Boudicca (or Boadicea) [ca. 28-62 C.E.]. The name is pronounced "bou-dikka". Boudicca was a chieftan/queen of the Iceni tribe in Britain during the 1st Century of the common era."

[tomndebb]

The Dutch presence in what would become the U.S. was pre-empted by the British a long time ago and they have never established the large number of poor immigrants that invites disparaging remarks. In fact, the Dutch were so firmly entrenched in New York upper society (Vanderbuilt, Roosevelt, Hoover, Stuyvesant, etc.) that they might have never been viewed as a "problem" immigrant group.

My familiarity with the two slurs probably is due to the large amount of 19th Century and sea-related literature I have read. Neither slur is in common vogue.

(Interestingly, while looking for examples of their use, I discovered that the word "squarehead" is used (not frequently) in Great Britain to refer to the Germans, not the Dutch. This is an ironic twist on the use of the word, reversing the pattern in the U.S. of labelling things that are German (Deutsche) as "Dutch" (e.g., the farmers of Eastern Pennsylvania.).


APB9999, the prefix certainly helped reinforce the habit of naming Irish "Mick" (and may be responsible for "Mick" edging out Paddy, again,) but I'm fairly sure that the name was picked because of its prevalence as a first name.

[Chronos]

Also note that very few Irish names start with the prefix Mac or Mc-- That's mostly for Scottish names. The Irish equivalent would be O'. (Both mean, roughly, "son of" or "decended from".)

[bibliophage]

frog: The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives frog as a long-obsolete term for a Dutchman, in addition to a term for a Frenchman. IIRC, a person from Paris used to be called a grenouille by people from other parts of France. (Supposedly, Paris was built on a drained swamp).

faggot and fag in the sense "homosexual" both date from the early 20th century. There is speculation that they derive from fag meaning "boy-servant" or from Yiddish slang faygele (homosexual, but literally "little bird.")

spic may be from "no speak English," but the NSOED gives it as a clipped form of spiggoty which may itself be from "no speak the English."

[Lance Turbo]

I always thought spic was a contraction of hispanic > 'sp'ic > spic

Guess I was wrong.

[labdude]

Originally posted by Bear_Nenno
Can't believe no one has mentioned Cracker yet.

Cracker is a slur describing white people. It came from the sound of the whips they used on the slaves.

Can anyone post a source for this? I always thought it meant white like a cracker or white bread.

Also, In an episode of the Sopranos on of the italian gangsters refers to some (i think black) drug dealers as "moo lynn yards." What does this mean??

[Coldfire]

Originally posted by APB9999
So what derrogatory term do the Dutch use for Americans?

Usually Dumb Fat Yankee Tourist does the trick :D
We haven't got a generic term for Americans, or for many other nationalities for that matter. We (in extreme cases, utterly non-PC) call Germans "Moffen" (muffs). This is because the SS wore them. Might sound as innocent as Kraut, but believe me, it is FAR worse.
I'd say it just isn't a Dutch thing to make up derogatory terms about other nationalites. There are some for the minority groups in the Netherlands, but not as widely used as the English terms I've been reading in this thread.

Tomndebb: good point. The Dutch weren't a minority, so there isn't a slur for them. Makes perfect sense! Remember, New Yorkers: if it weren't for these blasted Limeys, you would all live in Nieuw Amsterdam now ;)

[tomndebb]

British, limey, from the practice of feeding British seamen limes to reduce the amount of scurvy aboard ships. Later, the term was transferred from British silors to all Brits. (This almost counts as a double insult--although unintended. When James Lind discovered that the citrus fruits oranges and lemons prevented scurvy (Vitamin C was not actually isolated for another 150~ years), the Royal Navy promptly ordered its ships to stock up on limes. Limes were much cheaper, but carried only 10% of the vitamin, so that scurvy continued to ravage the men who were later "named" for the fruit.)

[writefetus]

MULENYAM Racist slur (often shortened to "moolie") meaning
African-American; literal translation: eggplant

also, re: Cracker, I have always heard this refered to as deriving from the whipcrackers (teamsters) who would drive the horse teams hauling forest products and turpintine harvested from the Georgia piney woods...my.02

[lemartel]

I think I remember reading that faggot came from the English school practice of older boys using the younger boys as servants. One of their duties was bringing faggots of wood to heat the older boys rooms. This practice became known as fagging, and since these were all male schools the implication came to be that there was occasionaly more going on than household chores.

[Spoke]

Also note that very few Irish names start with the prefix Mac or Mc-- That's mostly for Scottish names. The Irish equivalent would be O'. (Both mean, roughly, "son of" or "decended from".)

I believe you may be mistaken about this. In fact, I seem to have a vague recollection that Cecil may have done a column on this very topic. "Mc" is in fact a very common prefix in Ireland. If I remember correctly, "Mc" was originally used to indicate "son of," while the "O' " prefix indicated "grandson of."

Also, regarding the origin of the term cracker, I believe it was originally applied to Southern wagon/coach drivers, who had wa reputation for liberal use of the whip on their horses. I don't believe the term had any connection to slavery.

Interesting aside: Atlanta had a baseball farm team of some prominence years ago, kown as "The Atlanta Crackers". Atlanta's Negro League team, named without irony, was "The Black Crackers."

[Yeah]

"Mexican in the U.S., greaser, an attempt to portray Mexicans as being greasy with grime from never washing."

I used to occasionally hear the term "greaser" used in Southern California to refer to young male Mexicans, young Chicanos, and young male Portuguese (when they weren't referred to as "tuna chokers") but I got the impression the term had to do with the real or apparent "greasiness" of their hair resulting from the oily hair dressings they sometimes used (e.g., Brylcreem as opposed to Vitalis). I never got the impression that "greaser" implied grime or dirt. Some support for this derivation comes from the Merriam-Webster dictionary that gives "an aggressive swaggering young white male usu. of workin-class bachground" as the third definition of "greaser."

[Spider]

Originally posted by tomndebb
[
(Interestingly, while looking for examples of their use, I discovered that the word "squarehead" is used (not frequently) in Great Britain to refer to the Germans, not the Dutch. This is an ironic twist on the use of the word, reversing the pattern in the U.S. of labelling things that are German (Deutsche) as "Dutch" (e.g., the farmers of Eastern Pennsylvania.).
[/B]

From reading WWII comic books, seeing WWII movies, and talking to my Gran'pappy, I always heard Germans were called Squareheads because of their WWII helmets, which looked rather square when compared to the Allies'. I don't think this is just an accidental confusion of "Dutch" and "Deutsche."

[JeffB]

According to Random House's Word of the Day (http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980604) site, cracker originally meant boaster or braggart. Eventually this was extended to poor white Southerners, who were considered braggarts.

[Spoke]

Here's the link to Cecil's column covering the "Mc" prefix:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_005.html

[beakerxf]

Originally posted by Yeah
Some support for this derivation comes from the Merriam-Webster dictionary that gives "an aggressive swaggering young white male usu. of workin-class bachground" as the third definition of "greaser."

I have also heard the term "greaseback" for Mexicans. perhaps it's a play on "greaser" or "greaser" is a play on it.

Another term for Mexicans that is quite common and easily explained is "beaner". Eitehr because they stereotypically eat lots of beans or because of their connection with migrant farm workers.

[tomndebb]

Yeah, "greaser" was certainly a reference to the "tough guys" who used Brylcreem (or axle grease) to slick back their hair in the 50's (hence the musical and movie), but the term "greaser" for a Mexican dates to the mid-nineteenth century. References early in this century clearly link the "greasiness" of the objects of scorn to their purported personal hygiene.

Spider, the Dutch/Deutsche point was the ironic parallel that two separate groups have used terms that either overlapped or were confusing between those two nationalities. I doubt that there is any connection between nineteenth century sailors calling Dutch "squareheads" and twentieth century soldiers calling Germans "squareheads."

[Yeah]

Tom: "...but the term "greaser" for a Mexican dates to the mid-nineteenth century. References early in this century clearly link the "greasiness" of the objects of scorn to their purported personal hygiene."

But what is "greasy" about Mexico or Mexicans or, for that matter, about Mexican dirt or (literally) dirty Mexicans?

If "greaser" means "dirty/unwashed person" then why weren't some Amerindians of the Southwest called greasers by the same 19th century Gringos? Contemporary accounts seem to more often describe West Coast Amerindians as unwashed than Mexicans.

It seems to me that there must be more to the association of "greaser" with Mexicans than just dirt.

[gobear]

[b]Gook[/b, I believe, stems from the Korean war. The Korean word for "country" is "guk", pronounced/gook/, so you have Korea,/hangook/, China,/choonggook/, and America/meegook/.
When the Korean kids saw American soldiers, they would say,
"miguk, miguk", and the Americans picked up "gook" as an anti-Asian slur.

[Meephead]

Used commonly in Texas to refer to Mexicans who presumably swam the Rio Grande River to get across the border.

[tomndebb]

YeahBut what is "greasy" about Mexico or Mexicans or, for that matter, about Mexican dirt or (literally) dirty Mexicans?

To my mind? Nothing. Particularly as it was applied by a group of people for whom weekly baths were a recent novelty.

However, the first several references to greaser in the OED, dating all the way back to 1849, all remark on the term being used against Mexicans for their general lack of cleanliness. Perhaps the term "greasy" passed through a brief phase of meaning general dirtiness without the connotation of oil. (Although I cannot find a citation for that usage.)

I cannot provide the logical basis for the epithet, but I would note that logic only coincidentally plays a part in creating slurs, anyway. (Note that slope is actually contradicted by a physical examination of its victims.)

[sailor]

It is interesting to note that words start out being very mildly derogatory and become more offensive as the group they refer to takes offense. The word quaker started out as derogatory but that religious group adopted it with pride and the word lost its offensive value.

Say any word with the right intonation and it can be offensive. I know this racist guy who loves using the term "African-American" with the most derogatory tone and it *does* sound offensive. The problem is not the word in itself but the connotation it is given.

[Nekochan]

wolfman mentioned banana and twinkie in reference to "whitewashed" Asians. Well, there are also "eggs" - white people who are infatuated with Asian culture/people.

I have always been mystified by the use of the word "zipperhead" in Full Metal Jacket as a slur against the Vietnamese. Why "zipperhead"? Does anyone know?

[bibliophage]

Originally posted by goboy
Gook, I believe, stems from the Korean war.I think the word is older than that. Some sources date it to 1899, some to about 1935. I remember reading that it was what US servicemen called Filipinos shortly after the Spanish-American War. The word may be from some language of the Philippines, perhaps Vicol, according to one source.

[labdude]

Originally posted by Yeah

But what is "greasy" about Mexico or Mexicans or, for that matter, about Mexican dirt or (literally) dirty Mexicans?


In the book "The great Arizona Child Abduction" recently featured on CSPAN the author stated that turn of teh century mexican-americans were often considered "dirty" by their white neighbors. What the white people failed to consider was that mexican-americans of the day seldom had running water or indoor plumbing, because they were poor. Also, the mexican women often had to work outside of teh home (because they were poor) and had less time to clean and scrub their houses. In fact many of the "dirty" mexican women were employed as maids of the white women.

[Spider]

Originally posted by Nekochan
[b]

I have always been mystified by the use of the word "zipperhead" in Full Metal Jacket as a slur against the Vietnamese. Why "zipperhead"? Does anyone know?

I'm not sure, but I always thought that referred in some way to the US practice of torching villages w/ their GI zippo lighters, called "zipping" the village. That is not a total WAG, as it seems familiar somewhere in the dark recesses of my head, but its the next best thing.

[TwistofFate]

Mc is a contraction of Mac, meaning son of, as posted above.
i.e. McGowan or Mac an Gabhainn, "son of the smith"


BTW, please dont blame us for infilcting "Big Mac" on you ;)

[tomndebb]

please dont blame us for infilcting "Big Mac" on you

What a kroc.

[matt_mcl]

It was my understanding that "faggot" was originally a slang term for a shrewish old woman, and that "fag" (servant-boy) is unrelated, deriving instead from "fagged" (worn out, exhausted).

[John Corrado]

APB9999 asked: "So what derrogatory term do the Dutch use for Americans?"

Coldfire[b/] replied "Usually Dumb Fat Yankee Tourist does the trick."


Which is highly ironic, given that according to H.L. Menken (whom Cecil quotes in the corresponding article), "Yankee" is a derivative of the term "John Cheese", which was applied as an insult by Brits to the [b]Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam, and eventually somehow mutated into "Yankees" being all American settlers.

Oh, and if JohnLarrigan, as an Irishman, refuses to take responsibility for the "Big Mac", then I, as an Italian-American, refuse to take responsibility for the "Whopper".

[Wooglin]

origins im familiar with:

wop - for when the italians came over as immigrants and were WithOut Papers, which was than abriviated and written on them, altho it seems that has been struck down. anyone know where the "dego" from wop dego comes from?

mic - from the prefix Mc, which regardless of what it means or meant in ireland, is still used by an abundance of irish folk now. ive also heard hem, but couldnt figure that out.

fag - from a faggot, or bundle of sticks gathered to burn, which is waht i heard was done to homosexuals when the the term for a bundle of sticks was in vouge. altho that is a pretty shaky origin.

spic - also from the contraction hispanic, makes sense to me

kike - the story i heard was this was originally a word used by other jews to make fun of the not so bright jews who would sign there name w/ a circle, insted of the standard X on papers at ellis island. there is a supposed hebrew/yiddish word that corresponds w/ cirlce and the name seem to have caught on w/ ignorant people of other religions.

nigger - seems to make the most sense that its juts another way of saying negro. simplest = best anbswer right?

that about all i can think of now, wow what great conversation starters

[lee]

This page has the origins of a few slurs: http://parallel.park.uga.edu/distance/texts/berlitz.html

[elucidator]

So far the derivation of "cracker" is interesting, if not utterly convincing. Derivation of "redneck" is obvious, but has been tainted by association with the fancy pick-up/dumb hat/Dixie Chick crowd. Kitty Wells died for your sins.

As a recovering Texan, my personal favorite is "peckerwood". Any ideas on derivation?

[tomndebb]

Wooglin,
Please note that wop had already been addressed and, I'm afraid, your answer is the incorrect folk etymology.

I believe that dago is a corruption Spanish Diego, James. It was initially used as a general term for Mexicans in the U.S. Southwest (in the way that Mick and Paddy have been applied to all Irish). At some point in the late nineteenth century, the meaning and current spelling shifted over to cover Italians. Whether this occurred because anglos simply applied it to any southern Romance-speaking person (Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian surnamed people have all been labelled dago at one time or other) or whether the name was specifically transferred when the large number of Italian immigrants came to Colorado to work the mines, I have not been able to discover.

lee,
That site by Berlitz was interesting, although he blew it on gringo. Gringo is simply a corruption of the Spanish word griego, Greek. Griego has been used in Spanish for "foreigner" (in a manner not too diferent than the English "It's Greek to me.") for a long time. About the time that griego was corrupted to gringo, the invaders and meddlers from the U.S. became the most significant obnoxious foreigners to the Mexicans and that word was applied to the Yanks, alone.
(The "Green Grows the Grass" story is ancient and widely disseminated--but wrong.)

[BrothaTJ]

One of my friends is of Indian descent and although his parents grew up in India, he has lived in America all his life. Because of this, he sort of looks down on Indians who just recently came over to the US, so a common word that he and many others use for an american newbie is "Fob", an acronym for "Fresh Off the Boat." I'm sure this has been used by other American ethnic groups throughout the ages.
I've also heard "Spearchucker" as a slur against Native Americans, for obvious reasons.

[Alphagene]

Well, there are also "eggs" - white people who are infatuated with Asian culture/people.
Are "eggs" like "asiaphiles" or "rice kings" (white guys who only date asian women)?