# Questions about "Gingers" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848 "2011-11-14T00:20:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/1 "2011-11-14T00:20:36Z")
I’ve been wondering a couple things lately. 1) When did everybody start calling redheads “gingers”? and 2) Why ginger? Ginger isn’t red, it’s gold. If anything we should be calling blonds ginger, not redheads. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/2 "2011-11-14T01:09:42Z")
It seems like it’s primarily a UK term that got popular in the US when South Park did a couple episodes using the word. Why “ginger”? No idea. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/3 "2011-11-14T01:16:51Z")
I found this online: > [@](#): > > The OED says: > > 1. dial. and slang. a. A light sandy colour, resembling that of ginger. > > 1865 DICKENS Mut. Fr. I. ii, Mature young gentleman; with..too much ginger in his whiskers. 1889 N.W. Linc. Gloss. (ed. 2), Ginger, a light red or yellow colour, applied to the hair. > > b. A cock with reddish plumage; also, a red-haired or sandy-haired person. > > 1785 GROSE Dict. Vulg. Tongue s.v. Ginger-pated, Red cocks are called gingers. 1797 Sporting Mag. IX. 338 In cocking, I suppose you will not find a better breed of gingers. 1857 H. AINSWORTH Spendthrift xvi. 109 Examining the cocks, and betting with each other..this backing a grey, that a ginger. 1885 in Eng. Illustr. Mag. June 605 There is..‘Ginger’, the red-haired, who [etc.]. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/4 "2011-11-14T02:53:58Z")
I actually just had a conversation with a British friend about this XD According to her, ginger and redheads are two different colors. Gingers are more…orange…and redheads are more red. Which…is odd to me but whatever XD I do agree though that it’s mainly a British thing that’s worked its way over here. ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/5 "2011-11-14T03:05:01Z")
My son, when he was three, asked why they were called red-heads instead of orange heads. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/6 "2011-11-14T03:58:21Z")
Thanks for starting this thread. I hadn’t known that it’s fairly widespread. I just thought my had adopted the habit as an affectation. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/7 "2011-11-14T04:44:20Z")
Venerable Australian comic strip, dating from the 1920s: [Ginger Meggs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Meggs) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/8 "2011-11-14T04:53:03Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > My son, when he was three, asked why they were called red-heads instead of orange heads. Because orange, interestingly enough, didn’t enter the English language as the name of a colour until the 16th century, after the fruit had arrived: prior to that the colour of an orange would have been, well, red. We still use it sometimes; rust is usually called red and not orange. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/9 "2011-11-14T07:48:15Z")
I don’t have red hair, nor does anyone I know (aside from a High School classmate I haven’t seen in 20 years.) That having been said the term “Ginger” strikes me as highly offensive. It’s obviously meant as a slur. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/10 "2011-11-14T08:27:12Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I don’t have red hair, nor does anyone I know (aside from a High School classmate I haven’t seen in 20 years.) That having been said the term “Ginger” strikes me as highly offensive. It’s obviously meant as a slur. You’re kidding, right? It’s just a word for a hair colour. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/11 "2011-11-14T08:35:07Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > You’re kidding, right? It’s just a word for a hair colour. Are YOU kidding? In some schools kids participate in “Kick a Ginger Day.” > **["Kick a Ginger Day": One Mom's Horrifying Account](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kick-a-ginger-day-one-mom_b_369957)** > > "Kick a Ginger Day": One Mom's Horrifying Account ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/12 "2011-11-14T08:36:12Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > You’re kidding, right? It’s just a word for a hair colour. It DOES have sliiiightly slur-like connotations, mostly by proxy of the fact that a lot of red-heads have a pale, easily sun-burned complexions, and it’s used to torment them. However, the only people I ever hear using the slur-connotation (haw haw gingers can’t tan!) are gingers themselves, or people who are making fun of their close ginger friends. Really, it’s closer to a playground taunt than a slur. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/13 "2011-11-14T08:58:41Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > It DOES have sliiiightly slur-like connotations, mostly by proxy of the fact that a lot of red-heads have a pale, easily sun-burned complexions, and it’s used to torment them. However, the only people I ever hear using the slur-connotation (haw haw gingers can’t tan!) are gingers themselves, or people who are making fun of their close ginger friends. Really, it’s closer to a playground taunt than a slur. Fair enough, like I said I don’t currently know any (not by bottle) red heads, but it seems to me mocking someone for something they cannot control is at the very least abusive/bullying. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/14 "2011-11-14T09:52:32Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > You’re kidding, right? It’s just a word for a hair colour. Just a hair colour that makes people a target for bullying and prejudice.[Here’s](http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/24/gingerism-ginger-prejudice)the first article that comes up in a search on “ginger prejudice”. The anecdotes told are by no means the worst I have heard. The one that springs to mind is a pregnant red headed woman being told by her inlaws – as a joke – that her baby would be better off born dead than ginger. ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/15 "2011-11-14T10:37:23Z")
Ginger is as much of a slur as “pizzaface” is. Except I’d probably find the latter much more hurtful if I had acne. I hope that article was written tongue-in-cheek, because the idea of redheads experiencing “prejudice” beyond playground bullying is pretty laughable. The reason even adults indulge in this “prejudice” for humor is because of the shared implicit belief that hair color is inconsequential. I imagine it could be annoying at worst. If it is such a problem go to wal mart and get a bottle of hair dye. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/16 "2011-11-14T10:42:51Z")
My three year has red hair. Over here, that means she’s called a ranga (short for orangutan). So far, it’s been affectionate but I’m not looking forward to her school years. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/17 "2011-11-14T11:29:01Z")
> **[Red hair | Prejudice and discrimination against redheads](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair#Prejudice_and_discrimination_against_redheads)** > > Red hair was thought to be a mark of a beastly sexual desire and moral degeneration.\[citation needed\] > A savage red-haired man is portrayed in the Grimm brothers fable Der Eisenhans as the spirit of the forest of iron. > Theophilus Presbyter describes how the blood of a red-haired young man is necessary to create gold from copper, in a mixture with the ashes of a basilisk. > According to Montague Summers, red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of a witch, werewolf or vampire during t... For what its worth, Im a redhead and have no strong memories of anything about it bullying wise, and went to school in the US, England and NZ. But there does seem to be at least some isolated or historical events where it went beyond simply teasing. Otara ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/18 "2011-11-14T11:30:06Z")
> [@Grey\_area](#): > > If it is such a problem go to wal mart and get a bottle of hair dye. So if a black person is discriminated against for having nappy hair they should go to Wal Mart and buy some straightener? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/19 "2011-11-14T11:52:37Z")
I actually understand this prejudice less than other forms, like racism or sexism. What reason did people have to consider redheads inferior? For Black people, it was so you could not feel guilty about enslaving them. For women, it was an attempt to take control of the mating process. What reason was there in insisting redheads were inferior? Did it indicate ancestry? ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848/20 "2011-11-14T12:12:23Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > So if a black person is discriminated against for having nappy hair they should go to Wal Mart and buy some straightener? Yeah, if the hair is the sole cause of the problem. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gingers/602848.md?page=2)