where does the saying 'yellow belly ’ come from??
It is short for “you yellow bellied coward”.
You called?
It was used in print as early as 1842 as a derogatory comment about Mexicans. That’s as far back as I can take it.
In and around the same time period, the term “yellow journalism” or a variation of the term was used to describe sensational reporting magazines/newspapers and
pamphlets . They were quite often printed on cheap yellow paper. Probably by Rupert Murdock’s great-great grandfather.