# The origins of racial slurs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2000, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478 "2000-08-07T21:54:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/1 "2000-08-07T21:54:43Z")
Okay, if reading racial slurs that are **not at all** meant to be racist in this context could somehow offend you, stop reading. I was reading “Made in America” by Bill Bryson the other day. It’s more or less a history of American English. I came across something interesting. The word “nigger” is a dialectical variation of “Negro” that originated from a particular region of the South where “Negro” was phonetically pronounced “Nigra”. Now, my question: Does anyone know the origin of other commonly used ethnic slurs? Or, for that matter, words like “faggot” and “dyke”? andygirl ---
**Author:** ![TNTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@TNTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TNTruth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/2 "2000-08-07T22:17:44Z")
In the interests of keeping this light, I’ll start with one that is not that common over here: wog. It’s Brit for a person from “East of Suez”, and it derives from “golliwog”. Now a golliwog was a grotesque doll pictured in some children’s stories written around the turn of the last century. Is that what you’re looking for? Also, “Mick” is a no-brainer. It stems from so many Irishman being named Michael. Ditto “Paddy”. It seems the people who wanted to slur the Irish were not very imaginative. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/3 "2000-08-07T22:19:15Z")
May be a little offensive to some people Complete off-topic hijack, but for some reason this reminded me of one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life. I know it sounds like a joke setup, but its real. There was this drunk idiot at a bar trying to start fights, and yelling at people all over the place for about 20 minutes, finally the bartender calls the cops. And they show up, including one cop who introduced himself as officer Ferrarri in a thick New York Italian accent. The drunk got got more and more angry and finally yelled at the cop “F\*\*\* off you F\*\*\*ing Guinea pig”. Hehe, didn’t have quite the effect he was going for as the entire bar including the cops nearly split a side laughing. Back to your regularly scheduled topic. ---
**Author:** ![beakerxf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@beakerxf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beakerxf)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/4 "2000-08-07T22:42:56Z")
Actually, I don’t need the origin of one, just confirmation that it is actually a slur. I, on occasion use the slang word “jipped” (cheated, etc.). I have this foggy memory that it may be a slur against the Jewish. Is this correct? I need to make sure because I work for a Jewish owned company and have used the phrase once already in front of one of the VPs (he didn’t say anything) and want if it’s something to be avoided in the future. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/5 "2000-08-07T23:03:39Z")
Irish, **Mick** , (common name among the Irish that became a general epithet for all Irish. Paddy or Pat was also common (and remains so in Britain), but Mick “won out” in the States. Polish, **Polack** , simply the older name for Polish people in English (from the Polish word for Pole) that became the pejorative when the word Polish became more prominent. French, **Frog** , from the disdain held by “plain eating” English-speaking folk for any group that was so “odd” as to eat frog legs. _(I suspect I’m going to get corrected on this one.)_ German, **Kraut** , from the disdain held by “plain eating” folk for people who eat food with rich (or overpowering) odors. Italian, **Wop** , from Italian _guappo_, a street tough–used by association that all Italians were bullies and cutpurses. (_Guappo_ is related to both Spanish _guapo_ and and older French word I’ve forgotten. The French word meant “weak” and the Spanish word means “beautiful” and the word may have originally been an ironic reference among Italian immigrants to the puffed up hooligans in their midst. Italian, **guinea** , a linking of Italians to the dark-skinned peoples of Africa, paticularly in the Guinea region. Hungarian, **bohunk** , **hunky** (not honky), from a corruption of the word Hungarian. U.S. whites (from blacks), **honky** , purportedly from the higher, nasal sound of white speech as opposed to the lower, throatier sound of black speech. Dutch, **blockhead** , or **squarehead** , I’m not sure of these. Blockhead has meant a stupid person for a long time. It may have simply meant that the English thought the Dutch stupid (when in insult mode) and squarehead may have been a back-formation from blockhead. I’m not sure. Hispanic in the U.S., **spic** (also applied to Italians formerly), origin not really understood. Mexican in the U.S., **greaser** , an attempt to portray Mexicans as being greasy with grime from never washing. Jewish, **kike** , origin also not really understood. **Jew** is itself offensive when used as a verb. Rom, (gypsies), have also incurred a the insult of having their name become a verb meaning “to cheat,” **gyp**. (Gypsy comes from the notion that the Rom originated (or spent a lot of time in) Egypt. They are actually from the Indian sub-continent. Korean, (and other East Asian groups by association), **slope** , an attempt to malign the intelligence of Korean people by indicating that they are “slope-headed” with little fore-brain. (Ironically, most people of the maligned groups have higher foreheads than the European-descended coiners of the term.) What I have noticed through this list is that there aren’t any names that show any spark or originality. When people want to make a group less than human, they grab fairly mundane ideas (frequently false) and simply slap them on. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/6 "2000-08-07T23:44:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > **Dutch, blockhead, or squarehead, I’m not sure of these. Blockhead has meant a stupid person for a long time. It may have simply meant that the English thought the Dutch stupid (when in insult mode) and squarehead may have been a back-formation from blockhead. I’m not sure.** Just call me **Clog Boy** 😉 Seriously, I’ve never heard those. The generic insult to the Dutch is fairly decent (hey, why not, we’re a decent people): **Kaaskop** , meaning “Cheese Head”. Yup, Gouda and all that. Used by Belgians and Germans, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/7 "2000-08-07T23:52:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beakerxf \* > \*\*Actually, I don’t need the origin of one, just confirmation that it is actually a slur. I, on occasion use the slang word “jipped” (cheated, etc.). > > I have this foggy memory that it may be a slur against the Jewish. Is this correct? I need to make sure because I work for a Jewish owned company and have used the phrase once already in front of one of the VPs (he didn’t say anything) and want if it’s something to be avoided in the future. \*\* It’s a slur against Gypsies, not Jews: it’s spelled _gypped_. ---
**Author:** ![Agentakbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Agentakbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agentakbar)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/8 "2000-08-08T00:54:35Z")
Tomndebb, I just want to say that I have an incredible amount of respect for you for not saying that the term “Wop” comes from “Without Papers.” Very good. I know return you to your regularly scheduled thread. Bri ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/9 "2000-08-08T01:01:16Z")
Can’t believe no one has mentioned **Cracker** yet. Cracker is a slur describing white people. It came from the sound of the whips they used on the slaves. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/10 "2000-08-08T01:24:06Z")
We also have the new more complex slurs, from a member of a group to another member. Oreo, black on the outside white in the middle, meaning a black person who doesnt act black. Banana, Twinkie. Same as above, but yellow on the outside, white in the middle, from Asians. ---
**Author:** ![TNTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@TNTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TNTruth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/11 "2000-08-08T01:40:05Z")
I always thought “wop” comes from the sound a Beretta makes when fired. ---
**Author:** ![APB9999](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB9999](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB9999)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/12 "2000-08-08T01:50:11Z")
Blockhead for the Dutch is a new one to me. I guess I don’t meet that many Dutch, but now if I do, I’ll be prepared. So what derrogatory term do the Dutch use for Americans? Also, didn’t “Mick” for an Irishman come from the common prefix “Mc” on Irish LAST names? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/13 "2000-08-08T02:04:19Z")
From Cecil’s column [What’s the origin of “honky”?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_257b.html) > [@](#): > > Dear Cecil: > > Your source for the origin of honky only gave you half the story. Another probable etymon for honky, cited by David Dalby in his “African Element in American English” (to be found in my Rappin’ and Stylin’ Out: Communication in Urban Black America) is **the Wolof term _honq_, “red, pink,”** a term frequently used in to describe white men in African languages. --Tom Kochman, professor of communication, University of Illinois at Chicago ---
**Author:** ![beakerxf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@beakerxf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beakerxf)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/14 "2000-08-08T02:12:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > > It’s a slur against Gypsies, not Jews: it’s spelled _gypped_. \*\* Thanks lissener and tomndebb. ---
**Author:** ![beakerxf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@beakerxf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beakerxf)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/15 "2000-08-08T02:26:25Z")
I found this page: [http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/sigs/life/gay/history/dyke](http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/sigs/life/gay/history/dyke) The site list no copyrights, but I’ll try to paraphrase as much as possible anyway. Four possible origins: [ul] [li]Possibly a form of “hermaphrodite” or “morphodite” and “morphodike”[/li][li]Possibly from the phrase “diked out” which means “to overdress”.[/li][li]“the word appears first in the long term forms _bulldike_ and _bulldyking_, both used in the 1920’s by American blacks. . . .[It’s] possibility that this is basically just another backcountry, barnyard word, perhaps a combination of _bull_ and _dick_”[/li][li]“Boudicca (or Boadicea) [ca. 28-62 C.E.]. The name is pronounced “bou-dikka”. Boudicca was a chieftan/queen of the Iceni tribe in Britain during the 1st Century of the common era.”[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/16 "2000-08-08T03:51:30Z")
The Dutch presence in what would become the U.S. was pre-empted by the British a long time ago and they have never established the large number of poor immigrants that invites disparaging remarks. In fact, the Dutch were so firmly entrenched in New York upper society (Vanderbuilt, Roosevelt, Hoover, Stuyvesant, etc.) that they might have never been viewed as a “problem” immigrant group. My familiarity with the two slurs probably is due to the large amount of 19th Century and sea-related literature I have read. Neither slur is in common vogue. (Interestingly, while looking for examples of their use, I discovered that the word “squarehead” is used (not frequently) in Great Britain to refer to the _Germans_, not the Dutch. This is an ironic twist on the use of the word, reversing the pattern in the U.S. of labelling things that are German (_Deutsche_) as “Dutch” (e.g., the farmers of Eastern Pennsylvania.). **APB9999** , the prefix certainly helped reinforce the habit of naming Irish “Mick” (and may be responsible for “Mick” edging out Paddy, again,) but I’m fairly sure that the name was picked because of its prevalence as a first name. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/17 "2000-08-08T06:01:32Z")
Also note that very few Irish names start with the prefix Mac or M[sup]c[/sup]-- That’s mostly for Scottish names. The Irish equivalent would be O’. (Both mean, roughly, “son of” or “decended from”.) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/18 "2000-08-08T06:51:53Z")
**frog** : The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives frog as a long-obsolete term for a Dutchman, in addition to a term for a Frenchman. IIRC, a person from Paris used to be called a _grenouille_ by people from other parts of France. (Supposedly, Paris was built on a drained swamp). **faggot** and **fag** in the sense “homosexual” both date from the early 20th century. There is speculation that they derive from **fag** meaning “boy-servant” or from Yiddish slang **faygele** (homosexual, but literally “little bird.”) **spic** may be from “no _speak_ English,” but the NSOED gives it as a clipped form of **spiggoty** which may itself be from “no _speak the_ English.” ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/19 "2000-08-08T08:31:04Z")
I always thought spic was a contraction of hispanic \> 'sp’ic \> spic Guess I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478/20 "2000-08-08T09:29:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bear\_Nenno \* > \*\*Can’t believe no one has mentioned **Cracker** yet. > > Cracker is a slur describing white people. It came from the sound of the whips they used on the slaves. \*\* Can anyone post a source for this? I always thought it meant white like a cracker or white bread. Also, In an episode of the Sopranos on of the italian gangsters refers to some (i think black) drug dealers as “moo lynn yards.” What does this mean?? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-racial-slurs/28478.md?page=2)