# "Injun" is derogatory? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827 "2012-02-14T17:48:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/21 "2012-02-14T23:47:07Z")
Would it be disrespectful to refer to a Native American who spontaneously catches fire as an Internal Combustion Injun? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/22 "2012-02-14T23:57:59Z")
So how about instead of using the term “injun” we just refer to them as “native _merkins_”? And no, I’m not being a smartass. It seems to be a common practice on these boards to refer to citizens of the USA as _merkins_. In fact it has even been used by Colibri, the one whose warning was the impetus for this very thread. Personally I have no problem with it but if injun is so warning worthy why not merkin? BTW- the dictionary definition of merkin might just be enough to make some people scream with indignation. Go ahead. Look it up.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/23 "2012-02-15T01:00:44Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > So how about instead of using the term “injun” we just refer to them as “native _merkins_”? And no, I’m not being a smartass. It seems to be a common practice on these boards to refer to citizens of the USA as _merkins_. In fact it has even been used by Colibri, the one whose warning was the impetus for this very thread. Personally I have no problem with it but if injun is so warning worthy why not merkin? > > BTW- the dictionary definition of merkin might just be enough to make some people scream with indignation. Go ahead. Look it up.:eek: **Colibri** ’s use of a term to poke fun at the US is not even in the same ballpark as making fun of a minority group to which one does not belong. \*" 'Merkin" \*is more of a jab at southern Republicans (like George W) than a slur against America. Also, the forum in which the term is used makes a difference. GQ is for factual answers, and political/racial jabs aren’t allowed. But in GD, some folks engage in race-baiting on a consistent basis. And all bets are off in the Pit, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/24 "2012-02-15T01:19:52Z")
Even in the Pit hate speech is verboten. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/25 "2012-02-15T01:37:02Z")
What if—and I’m just thinking out loud here—we had a “Cesspool of Hate” forum? Or would that divert too much traffic from ATMB? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/26 "2012-02-15T02:02:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Even in the Pit hate speech is verboten. Race-baiting is allowed without the attendant hate speech outside of GQ. In GQ, race-baiting is not allowed in any form. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/27 "2012-02-15T14:57:17Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > From here: [American Indian versus Native American - A once-heated issue has sorted itself out](http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmterms.html). Interesting link. Tangentially related – When my mother worked for an education organization’s journal, the publisher preferred the term “Amerind” to “Native American” or “Indian.” So much so that he’d even demand that articles by native writers be changed to use the term “Amerind,” even when the authors were referring to themselves. I saw some letters-to-the-editor from self-identified Indians, both authors and general readers. Their response ranged from anger at his meddling to amused contempt, but none of the letters I saw indicated a preference for Amerind. Yet the officious publisher continued to insist to his editors that “Amerind” be used. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/28 "2012-02-15T15:12:40Z")
Honest Injun? ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/29 "2012-02-15T15:58:32Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > The word Indian is (imo) derogatory. It’s incorrect, and it was a mistake to begin with, and continuing to call Native Americans Indians is somewhat ignorant. **Indians are from India**. Agreed.😉 ---
**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:** [February 15, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/30 "2012-02-15T19:30:14Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > So how about instead of using the term “injun” we just refer to them as “native _merkins_”? And no, I’m not being a smartass. It seems to be a common practice on these boards to refer to citizens of the USA as _merkins_. In fact it has even been used by Colibri, the one whose warning was the impetus for this very thread. Personally I have no problem with it but if injun is so warning worthy why not merkin? > [@rachelellogram](#): > > **Colibri** ’s use of a term to poke fun at the US is not even in the same ballpark as making fun of a minority group to which one does not belong. I don’t recall ever having used the term myself, and a search shows that the only post of mine that includes it was where I was quoting another poster. I believe you must be thinking of someone else. In any case, “merkin” is more jocular than anything else, and is not remotely in the class of offensiveness as “injun.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/31 "2012-02-15T19:33:21Z")
It’s dandy that Native Americans have worked it out for themselves, but as an Indian American, I wish they had worked it out such a way that “Indian” didn’t apply to both us and them. (As an aside, my Asian Indian American circle uses “Injun” to refer to our own kind. It has endured better than “Macaca.”) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/32 "2012-02-15T20:47:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In any case, “merkin” is more jocular than anything else, and is not remotely in the class of offensiveness as “injun.” Do you know what a merkin actually is? ---
**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:** [February 15, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/33 "2012-02-15T20:55:48Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Do you know what a merkin actually is? Of course. Memorably referenced in the 1969 movie [Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064123/) But the word is used as an abbreviation for Americans without necessarily being a derogatory reference to the original meaning, as in[this post,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11699666&postcount=13)which is the one I mentioned quoting above. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/34 "2012-02-16T01:17:24Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Do you know what a merkin actually is? Per the great reference Urban Dictionary it is a [pubic hair wig](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=merkin). Apparently mercury was used to treat STD’s, which would cause pubic hair loss, hence a merkin was used as a wig to cover the now bare, um, nether region. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/35 "2012-02-16T02:08:33Z")
What’s the current thinking on “redskin”? Outside of Washington, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/36 "2012-02-16T02:15:46Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > What’s the current thinking on “redskin”? Outside of Washington, I mean. “Context, context, context.” If a potato, it’s OK. Washington football player–still OK, but contentious. If you applied it to a current poster on the SDMB with which you have a problem, then probably not OK. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/37 "2012-02-16T02:23:56Z")
I just pray I don’t find myself accusing anyone of acting niggardly. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/38 "2012-02-16T02:26:23Z")
> [@indian](#): > > Agreed.😉 Blame Columbus! ---
**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:** [February 16, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/39 "2012-02-16T02:33:47Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Per the great reference Urban Dictionary it is a [pubic hair wig](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=merkin). Apparently mercury was used to treat STD’s, which would cause pubic hair loss, hence a merkin was used as a wig to cover the now bare, um, nether region. Per the even greater reference, Peter Bowler’s _The Completely Superior Person’s Book of Words_: > [@](#): > > MERKIN n. A pubic wig for women, or, to quote Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 'counterfeit hair for women’s privy parts. … To others remains it to remark, with Ambrose Bierce, ‘Can such things be?’ ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827/40 "2012-02-16T02:44:47Z")
another definition of merkin: A man a lesbian goes out with socially to conceal her true orientation. (IOW a male “beard”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injun-is-derogatory/612827.md?page=3)