# Guinea =Italian? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158 "2002-09-29T22:52:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/1 "2002-09-29T22:52:18Z")
Wathing a movie the last night and one of the characters refrerred to an Italian as what sounded like ‘guinea’, which is apparently a killing offence. Was he saying ‘guinea’, and what is the origin of the expression? I’ve never heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/2 "2002-09-29T23:49:29Z")
While I’m sure this has been asked and answered somewhere on here, it goes back to the 18th century where it referred to Guinea, W. Africa. It meant a black person. It gradually was used in referring to people who weren’t “white” and used in a disparaging manner. It first appears in print in 1890 in referring to Italians, but was certainly used an an epithet earlier. It was also used in referring to people of Spanish heritage. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/3 "2002-09-30T00:31:22Z")
It’s a very common expression in my Irish/Italian neighborhood in the Bronx, and probably the most common derogatory term for an Italian there. These days I wouldn’t consider using it to be a killing offense, but as with most such terms a lot depends on the tone it is said in and the relationship between the individuals. “Wop” is a bit less common and maybe a bit archaic; “Guido” is more recent. ---
**Author:** ![emolson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5fc32e/32.png) [@emolson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emolson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/4 "2002-09-30T05:31:26Z")
{minor hijack} A few months ago, I was reading the care book for guinea pigs (the Amerind word for which escapes me at the moment). It said that they were brought back to the Old World from the New by the Spanish (or perhaps Portugese). It seems likely that “guinea pig” was some sort of pejorative label. Thoughts? {/slight hijack} ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/5 "2002-09-30T05:58:10Z")
Earlier board discussions on the topic: [What’s up with Guineas?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8080) November, 1999 [Etymology of “Guinea”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11156) January, 2000 ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/6 "2002-09-30T07:06:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emolson \* > **A few months ago, I was reading the care book for guinea pigs (the Amerind word for which escapes me at the moment)** [another slight hijack]The Quechua word for guinea pig is “cuy” (pronounced “KWEE”). Good eatin’, they claim. I believe this brings us the GP’s alias: cavy.[/ASH] ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/7 "2002-09-30T08:28:06Z")
Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/8 "2002-09-30T10:52:51Z")
Guinea is also a term for a small group of people in West Virginia of mysterious origin thought to possibly be melungeon…Also, the term Guinea is used in some areas in reference to Portugese folks… ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/9 "2002-09-30T11:47:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emolson \* > \*\*{minor hijack} A few months ago, I was reading the care book for guinea pigs (the Amerind word for which escapes me at the moment). It said that they were brought back to the Old World from the New by the Spanish (or perhaps Portugese). It seems likely that “guinea pig” was some sort of pejorative label. Thoughts? {/slight hijack} \*\* Cecil says > [@](#): > > We’re not even sure why guinea pigs are called guinea pigs. They don’t come from Guinea, which of course is in Africa; the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus, also known as the cavy) originated in South America. Some think Guinea was confused with the Guiana region, which is in South America, but this notion is generally discounted. One plausible theory is that guinea pigs were shipped back to Europe in Guineamen–that is, slave-trading vessels, which, having off-loaded their human cargo in the New World, needed paying freight for the long ride home. [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/011012.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/011012.html) ---
**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:** [September 30, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinea-italian/130158/10 "2002-09-30T14:41:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by peepthis \* > \*\* > [another slight hijack]The Quechua word for guinea pig is “cuy” (pronounced “KWEE”). Good eatin’, they claim. [/ASH] \*\* Having had roast _cui_ several times in restaurants in Cuzco, Peru, yes, I can attest it’s the best rodent I’ve ever eaten.