# origin of term "guinea"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-term-guinea/206169>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 7, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-term-guinea/206169 "2003-10-07T22:35:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jerrysan531](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@jerrysan531](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerrysan531)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-term-guinea/206169/1 "2003-10-07T22:35:40Z")

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Why are Italian people sometimes referred to as "guinea’s, and what is the origin of this usage of the word ?

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**Author:** ![dinoboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dinoboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinoboy)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-term-guinea/206169/2 "2003-10-07T23:14:17Z")

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As in ‘guinea pig’ (like for experimentation)? I don’t think I have ever heard of Italians being called that but [here](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gui1.htm) is a thorough explanation of that term.

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**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:** [October 8, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-term-guinea/206169/3 "2003-10-08T00:23:55Z")

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No, it’s in the sense of “Guinea” in Africa. The term was applied to Italians because of their relatively dark skin compared to northern Europeans.

\*\*dinoboy[/b[, you’ve never seen a movie about the Mafia?

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**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:** [October 8, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-term-guinea/206169/4 "2003-10-08T00:26:38Z")

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[Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137295&highlight=guinea+italian) the most recent thread on the subject, with links to earlier threads.