# Looking for words like vandal, thug, assassin **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582 "2018-08-31T17:28:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/41 "2018-09-01T11:52:25Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > It it right to say that this was the identifier for an ethnic/religious group analogous to the other examples? Seems more like it describes an activity. Yeah, I wondered a bit about this one when I wrote the entry. You could argue that its religious in the sense of a bunch of co-religionists as they would have been seen by the unfortunates in their path but I don’t think I’m the only one struggling to work out exactly what the OP was after. ---
**Author:** ![EdelweissPirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EdelweissPirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdelweissPirate)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/42 "2018-09-01T12:52:09Z")
A “whirling dervish” can figuratively mean a person who is in motion or very active, but a dervish is a Shi’a monk. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/43 "2018-09-01T14:31:04Z")
But there are whirling dervishes. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L_Cf-ZxDfZA/hqdefault.jpg "The Sufi Whirling Dervishes of Istanbul") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Cf-ZxDfZA) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/K1C9raPr-o8/hqdefault.jpg "Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1C9raPr-o8) ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/44 "2018-09-01T15:36:18Z")
It’s not really a noun, but ‘to run amok’ is sort of parallel to ‘berserker’; the early use of ‘amok’ was as a noun referring to a Malaysian or Indonesian who experienced a period of brooding followed by sudden frenzied aggression. Another example would be ‘going postal’ to describe a sudden violent outburst, although post office workers aren’t really an ethnic or religious group. ---
**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 1, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/45 "2018-09-01T15:49:25Z")
Cossack, in the sense of brutal police Prussian, in the sense of a strict disciplinarian If political parties count, Nazi ---
**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 1, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/46 "2018-09-01T16:05:31Z")
Not single words, but: Indian-giver Dutch uncle ---
**Author:** ![Mumberthax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mumberthax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumberthax)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/47 "2018-09-01T16:24:58Z")
Dutch rudder? :D:D:D ---
**Author:** ![yellow\_sausage\_bandit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yellow_sausage_bandit/32/394_2.png) [@yellow\_sausage\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellow_sausage_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/48 "2018-09-01T16:35:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I presume the OP is looking for words, originally names for ethnic groups, that are now used to describe types of people outside these groups. Yes, that’s what I meant. Thanks for the replies, you guys mentioned some good ones. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/49 "2018-09-01T16:56:16Z")
Barbarian, the classic cover-all in the West. Not sure when ancient Greece, but stems from satire on their stuttering syllables, meaningless attempts at speaking “civilized”" Greek, "bar-bar.’ Chinese and Japanese have a ton for whites (Europeans), which someone more knowledgeable will come along to provide. Don’t native Hawaiians (or even snobbish adopted ones?) say “howlie” or something like that for non-Hawaiians? No idea what that means, though… ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/50 "2018-09-01T17:20:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Not single words, but: > > Indian-giver > > Dutch uncle We go down here, we’re in a different huge thread. Granted, disdain and deprecation for some quality is inherent in the very etymology of many of these (not “goyim” though), or has acquired it (“goyim” in other discrete contexts; a jillion of the others). Hell, to “Cossacks,” etc. we can add “Jew.” Might be too specific for this OP. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/51 "2018-09-01T17:21:44Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > Baluba 😕 No fair such an outlier to English speakers w/o a definition. [There. Don’t be naughty.] ---
**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 1, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/52 "2018-09-01T17:26:16Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Barbarian, the classic cover-all in the West. Mentioned in the second post. > [@](#): > > Don’t native Hawaiians (or even snobbish adopted ones?) say “howlie” or something like that for non-Hawaiians? No idea what that means, though… Haole, which apparently just means “foreigner.” It did not apply to a specific people or ethnic group before being applied to all non-native Hawaiians, and so would not fit here. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/53 "2018-09-01T17:29:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Mentioned in the second post… :smack: Figured with us smarties that would be early early on. Too quick scan. > [@](#): > > …Haole, which apparently just means “foreigner.” It did not apply to a specific people or ethnic group before being applied to all non-native Hawaiians, and so would not fit here. Isn’t this exactly OP, which I was trying to say in my not-all-that-important not to which you are responding (with an appropriate addition, in how I understand it). ---
**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 1, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/54 "2018-09-01T17:35:20Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Isn’t this exactly OP, which I was trying to say in my not-all-that-important not to which you are responding (with an appropriate addition, in how I understand it). No it isn’t. See post #48 for clarification. (Although I’m not sure I entirely understand this sentence.) You may wish to read the entire thread to clarify what is meant. ---
**Author:** ![EdelweissPirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EdelweissPirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdelweissPirate)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/55 "2018-09-01T17:36:12Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > But there are whirling dervishes. > [https://youtu.be/L\_Cf-ZxDfZA](https://youtu.be/L_Cf-ZxDfZA) > > [https://youtu.be/K1C9raPr-o8](https://youtu.be/K1C9raPr-o8) “But?” I mean, yes, there are literal whirling dervishes, just as there were literal Thugees (thugs) and literal Assasins. In all three cases, a literal term for a cultural group was generalized into a figurative one denoting something different but still vaguely tied to the original meaning. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582/56 "2018-09-02T23:49:30Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 > > No fair such an outlier to English speakers w/o a definition. > > [There. Don’t be naughty.] Well, the word “baluba” is (or was) used in Ireland to mean a wild or savage person. Hyperactive children running and screaming could be said to be “acting like balubas”. I often heard it said with the stress on the first syllable: “BAluba”. I presume the correct pronunciation is “baLUba”. Of course it was a racist usage, but they were simpler times and the chances of ever meeting an actual Baluba person seemed remote. The word entered the vocabulary as a result of an [incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niemba_ambush) in 1960 where a platoon of Irish soldiers in the Congo was ambushed by a large group of Baluba warriors armed with bows and arrows. 9 of the Irish (and an unknown number of the Baluba) were killed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-words-like-vandal-thug-assassin/820582.md?page=2)