# Derogitory terms that became the actual names for things **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136 "2015-08-28T03:59:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/61 "2015-08-30T18:01:08Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I think these may fit: > > Cop > > Canuck Nope. Canuck always was perfectly cromulent. > **[Johnny Canuck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Canuck)** > > Johnny Canuck is a Canadian cartoon hero and superhero who was created as a political cartoon in 1869 and was later re-invented as a Second World War action hero in 1942. The Vancouver Canucks, a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL), currently use a hockey playing "Johnny Canuck" logo as one of their team logos. In addition, the Vancouver Canucks' American Hockey League affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, use it as their main logo. > Johnny Canuck is a fictional lumberja... ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/62 "2015-08-30T20:03:31Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > It’s not the official name like Methodist is though, is it? Methodist was also originally a derogatory term. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/63 "2015-08-30T21:09:17Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Methodist was also originally a derogatory term. Post #5. The point is that there is not alternative term for “Methodist.” “Wesleyan” has a big overlap, but generally covers more Evangelical or Holiness churches. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/64 "2015-08-31T02:56:30Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > There’s a difference between a word’s origin and its meaning (denotative or connotative). “Nigger” is just a corruption of “negro,” which as you point out simply means “black,” yet it’s a terribly offensive word. > > To me, “negro” is very old-fashioned. I suppose some people could take it as offensive because it seems like an attempt to roll back the clock (or calendar). I’d almost always admonish my ex-wife not to use that word when we were speaking Spanish in the USA. But now I’ve got to ask, how do people in large, multi-ethnic areas deal with this? Blacks must hear “negro” quite a bit. Is it okay if it’s spoken in Spanish? We dealt with it by using code words. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/65 "2015-08-31T03:13:57Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’d almost always admonish my ex-wife not to use that word when we were speaking Spanish in the USA. But now I’ve got to ask, how do people in large, multi-ethnic areas deal with this? Blacks must hear “negro” quite a bit. Is it okay if it’s spoken in Spanish? Where is your wife from? In Panama, and I think some other Spanish-speaking countries, “negro” is frowned upon as a word to apply to people. The standard informal word for a black person is _moreno/a_, “dark.” However, the diminutive _negrito/a_ is OK. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/66 "2015-08-31T03:42:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Where is your wife from? In Panama, and I think some other Spanish-speaking countries, “negro” is frowned upon as a word to apply to people. The standard informal word for a black person is _moreno/a_, “dark.” However, the diminutive _negrito/a_ is OK. It’s the same in the Dom. Rep. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/67 "2015-08-31T04:05:01Z")
I feel like there’s a lot of philosophy/science movements that came about this way but I can’t think of them. [Impressionists,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Leroy) sorta. The Democratic Party’s [donkey symbol.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_%28United_States%29#Name_and_symbols) > [@Claverhouse](#): > > _ **Mob** _, for the great mass of people or that subsection thereof that runs about in full democracy mode. > > Originally an insult by disdainful aristocrats or political thinkers, from latin: _mobile vulgus_, now just describes ordinary people in a group. I wouldn’t call a normal group a mob. Only if they were angry or out of control. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/68 "2015-08-31T09:15:51Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Where is your wife from? In Panama, and I think some other Spanish-speaking countries, “negro” is frowned upon as a word to apply to people. The standard informal word for a black person is _moreno/a_, “dark.” However, the diminutive _negrito/a_ is OK. Mexico. There “moreno” means dark, but not African black people dark. Dark Brazilian-Indian footballers would be “moreno” but slave-descended footballers would be “negro.” ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/69 "2015-08-31T10:26:36Z")
“Warthog” or “Hog” for the A-10. Few people ever call it the Thunderbolt II, which is its actual designation. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/70 "2015-08-31T16:06:18Z")
Cowboy used to imply that the person was a cattle rustling outlaw. Sioux means snake and Lakota is the actual name that the tribe used to refer to itself. Neo-Conservative was used because of its similarity to Neo-Nazi. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/71 "2015-08-31T16:11:58Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Neo-Conservative was used because of its similarity to Neo-Nazi. Where’d you come across this? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/72 "2015-08-31T19:35:57Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’d almost always admonish my ex-wife not to use that word [negro] when we were speaking Spanish in the USA. But now I’ve got to ask, how do people in large, multi-ethnic areas deal with this? Blacks must hear “negro” quite a bit. Is it okay if it’s spoken in Spanish? > > We dealt with it by using code words. I quote this only because it relates back to my original question (and not because I am trying to pin down **Balthisar** ): While Negro has fallen out of favor in the U.S., was Black originally a derogatory term back when Negro and/or Colored were acceptable? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/73 "2015-08-31T20:32:51Z")
Sioux. Agonquin for “speaker of a different language.” ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/74 "2015-09-01T01:36:33Z")
Cheeseheads was the Illinois tourist term for Wisconsin residents. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/75 "2015-09-01T05:18:45Z")
To be [**a Tory**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tory) is to be an outlaw, a brigand, a cad. > [@](#): > > The word “Tory” derives from the Middle Irish word tóraidhe; modern Irish tóraí: outlaw, robber or brigand, from the Irish word tóir, meaning “pursuit”, since outlaws were “pursued men”.[4][5] It was originally used to refer to an Irish outlaw and later applied to Confederates or Royalists in arms.[6] The term was thus originally a term of abuse, “an Irish rebel”, before being adopted as a political label in the same way as Whig. I know the history, which is why I favour the term “Tories” over “Conservatives.” In England, > [@](#): > > The term _Whig_ was originally short for “[whiggamor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiggamore_Raid)”, a term meaning “cattle driver” used to describe western Scots who came to [Leith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leith) for corn. “Corn” = cereal crop. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/76 "2015-09-01T10:47:15Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Like I said, the only Friends I know live in East Anglia, maybe it’s different for them. Well, the big Quaker house in central London has Quaker on its signs and [its website](http://www.quaker.org.uk/)uses the word Quaker constantly. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/77 "2015-09-01T11:47:05Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Some state nicknames, too, like _tarheel_ and _cracker_. I’m sorry, but which state is (or was) the _Cracker State_? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136/78 "2015-09-01T14:35:17Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > Where’d you come across this? [Here](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/206955/neoconservative-invention-jonah-goldberg)is one place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derogitory-terms-that-became-the-actual-names-for-things/729136.md?page=3)