# Poll: Is "bohunk" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 3, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-bohunk-offensive/258183 "2004-08-03T19:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-bohunk-offensive/258183/21 "2004-08-04T17:17:21Z")
My Gramps was a self proclaimed “bohunk” of Bohemian ancestry. He preferred bohunk over bohemian, as (in his mind) bohemians should be smoking pot, reading poems, wearing black. Like calling someone a pollack, I think if you are of the blood, you can get away with it a bit easier - maybe a LOT easier- than someone not. I tend not to make pollack jokes because I’m not Polish. However, my mom is. She calls my dad a “Dumb pollack” often (he’s German. Go figure.). I just don’t feel comfortable with it. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-bohunk-offensive/258183/22 "2004-08-04T17:25:38Z")
To be honest, I had never heard the term in my life befoe I joined this message board. (I’m from central California, which doesn’t have a large Hungarian/Czech population.) ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-bohunk-offensive/258183/23 "2004-08-04T17:31:23Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What’s wierd to me is that I’ve always thought “Dago” was a slur on the Spanish. Makes a certain amount of sense, assuming it’s a corruption of the common Spanish surname, “Diego.” I experienced the same confusion when I saw it in the Hornblower novels. According to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=dago) it is > [@](#): > > A nickname given to a person of Spanish (or, by extension, Portuguese or Italian) descent. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-bohunk-offensive/258183/24 "2004-08-04T18:03:10Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > I tend not to make pollack jokes because I’m not Polish. However, my mom is. 😕 Did your mom ever have any children? Because if she did, then they’re part Polish. Or maybe you’re adopted or a stepkid, in which case never mind. Scarlett, a Polack who just demonstrated the correct spelling for the record (a pollock is a fish) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-bohunk-offensive/258183/25 "2004-08-04T18:43:58Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > (a pollock is a fish) I thought it was a painter. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-bohunk-offensive/258183/26 "2004-08-05T05:01:18Z")
Caucasian Australians are also sometimes known as ‘Skips’ or ‘Skippy’. Personally, I think that’s just too cute, and don’t object in the least to being a Skip. (I’ve never checked to be sure, but I’m assuming it’s a play on Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, a once-popular TV show) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-bohunk-offensive/258183.md?page=1)