"ginger" for red hair

[Wendell_Wagner]

This is the most disturbing video about gingers (the “Ginger Refuge” sketch from the Catherine Tate Show):

- YouTube

According to the discussion in this video, the term “ginger” means something more specific than any kind of red hair. It apparently has to be something closer to a reddish-brown rather than a reddish-blonde color.

[Kyla]

@Rayne_Man

Also, what you would call an “orange” coloured cat in the USA is also know as ginger on this side of the pond.

A tabby cat.

[Askance]

@TV_time

I think if one reads any English or Aussie literature from the last 50 or more years, I think he or she will find the term “ginger” to refer to a red-headed person.

Australians being as they are such a person would more likely have been called Bluey - a short guy would be called Lofty, a bald guy Curly, a quiet one Rowdy and so on.

[pulykamell]

@Kyla

A tabby cat.

Tabby’s aren’t necessarily orange, are they? They’re quite often (if not more often) gray. I thought the term was basically for their coat pattern, and the typical “M” on their forehead.

[Cazzle]

@Askance

Australians being as they are such a person would more likely have been called Bluey - a short guy would be called Lofty, a bald guy Curly, a quiet one Rowdy and so on.

True! Just ask my dad, Bluey. These days the kids are calling redheads “rangas” (derived from orangutan, I believe). Dad took my little redheaded daughter out for a walk recently and the next day at work one of the guys said “Hey Blue! Saw you out walking with a little ranga last night.”

[Cunctator]

@TV_time

I think if one reads any English or Aussie literature from the last 50 or more years, I think he or she will find the term “ginger” to refer to a red-headed person.

A good example is the long-running Australian cartoon character Ginger Meggs.