# Words I didn't realize were pejorative until later in life **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 22, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604 "2024-07-22T13:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/81 "2024-07-23T01:35:53Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > Somewhere or other (maybe the comic strip Pearls Before Swine?), it was mentioned that one ought not to say “Long time no see.” I’ve used it for years. I thought it was in the neighborhood of “see you later alligator”, but apparently it has to do with Chinese pidgin, which was news to me. So I had better be cautious with these words, too. Even if true, there is nothing pejorative about pidgin languages or pidgin speakers. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/82 "2024-07-23T01:39:41Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > At my high school, there was some fretting over whether to keep the line “Get up, you fat water buffalo” - because it’s spoken to Nicely-Nicely Johnson, who was being played by a Black student. (Also because the UPenn [“water buffalo incident”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_buffalo_incident) was still a recent memory.) I just had a flashback to my college days. As part of an acting/directing class several of us were doing a scene from a play, and one of the lines was “I _love_ mahogany” (referring, IIRC, to the wood trimming in the room). The person who spoke the line was a female Black student, and she put a lot of feeling into her reading of the line.We all found it amusing, and it became one of the in-jokes within the department. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/83 "2024-07-23T01:54:35Z")
I used the word “spaz” frequently all my life, mostly in reference to myself being upset or confused, until the [Tiger Woods incident](https://www.espn.com/golf/columns/story?columnist=sirak_ron&id=2412785) in 2006, when I learned that it’s a derogatory word for a person with cerebral palsy, particularly in the UK. I was a little sorry to lose a word that I had found quite useful, but at this point I no longer even think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/84 "2024-07-23T01:58:51Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I used the word “spaz” frequently all my life I did when I was a kid. That, and ‘spastic’. I don’t use it anymore, unless I refer to ‘spastic colon’ or something. > [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I learned that it’s a derogatory word for a person with cerebral palsy, particularly in the UK. I’ve heard that ‘brainstorm’ means an epileptic seizure in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/85 "2024-07-23T02:04:31Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Which begs the question: is a phrase really offensive if its offensive origins are so far in the distant past as to have completely been forgotten? For example, “slave” is an old reference to Slavs. I don’t know if anyone is still offended by the word. Also, the word “ciao” refers to Slavs, but a little less obviously. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/86 "2024-07-23T02:13:07Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > I’ve always used the word “pollywog” interchangeably with “tadpole”, but my boss said that she thought “pollywog” was related to “golliwog” and was probably a racist term. I haven’t been able to find a connection, but I’ve decided to stop using that word, too. > **[Definition of POLLYWOG](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollywog)** > > tadpole… See the full definition _alteration of Middle English polwygle , probably from pol poll + wiglen to wiggle_ “As you wish”. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > If you use the word _pollywog_, or _niggard_, Niggard, yes. But not Pollywog, I mean i have never even heard “golliwog”. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > In the US, at least, I doubt if you’d have problem with _pollywog_. Most people in the US have never heard of a _gollywog_. Yep. > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I also grew up not knowing that “gypped” was a pejorative and that “gypsy” was often considered to be a pejorative (although apparently some Romani don’t consider it to be such). Yeah, “gypsy” is kinda sorta bad. It can be okay, but NOT “gyp” . I think we should allow “gypsy” here but be careful as to context. “Gypsy cab driver” for example should be okay. > [@dorvann](#): > > I didn’t know some Inuit consider the term “Eskimo” offensive until a few years ago. Eskimo- do not use it to refer to most tribes of Canadian First Peoples, but fine if you mean an Alaskan Eskimo. > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > When I was young it was obvious that (n-word)-rigged was horribly racist, but a lot of folks used “Jerry-rigged” as the non-offensive version. Yep, but the correct term is nautical and old and is “Jury-rigged”. > **["Jury-rigged" vs. "Jerry-rigged"](https://www.dictionary.com/e/jury-rigged-vs-jerry-rigged/)** > > What's the difference between "jury-rigged" and "jerry-rigged"? And is the jury still out on whether one is preferred over the other? ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/87 "2024-07-23T02:18:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > > When I was young it was obvious that (n-word)-rigged was horribly racist, but a lot of folks used “Jerry-rigged” as the non-offensive version. > > Yep, but the correct term is nautical and old and is “Jury-rigged”. And even then, “jerry built” goes back to the mid-19th century. I don’t find “it’s pejorative against Germans” convincing. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/88 "2024-07-23T02:20:22Z")
Paddy wagon. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/89 "2024-07-23T02:29:44Z")
> [@phs3](#): > > And even then, “jerry built” goes back to the mid-19th century. I don’t find “it’s pejorative against Germans” convincing. Good point. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/90 "2024-07-23T02:36:25Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > a lot of folks used “Jerry-rigged” as the non-offensive version. It was only much later that I learned that “Jerry” in this case referred to Germans, and that the phrase was a pejorative against German folk. After reading this, I had to look it up, as I had always assumed that “jerry built” evolved from the nautical term “jury-rigged,” and had no connection to the offensive term for a German. I was only half right. Apparently any connection between “jury-rigged” and “jerry-built” is unclear. But all sources I’ve checked say that the latter was in use long before German soldiers were referred to as Jerries. ---
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/91 "2024-07-23T11:04:13Z")
I have heard the same thing about the word “pud”. However, I remember when the gum “Dubble Bubble” had a small comic in the wrapper, similar to Bazooka bubble gum. The main character was a little boy named Pud. ---
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/92 "2024-07-23T11:19:02Z")
Regarding “pollywog”, I have heard the term “wog” used in dramas set in India during the British Raj as a racist term for the native Indians. Could there be a connection? There was also an episode of “Fawlty Towers” where a resident called the Major explained the proper use of the term, as opposed to one used on native Africans. Some may find it offensive. More recently, I thought that the word “squaw” was just a word derived from Native American languages used for women. However, there was an island in Buffalo called Squaw Island which was recently changed to Liberty Island at the request of Native Americans who explained that it was actually an offensive term. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/93 "2024-07-23T11:51:23Z")
Re: squaw. Its offensiveness is overblown since it indeed does come from a word for “woman” as opposed to anything else. However, most specific nouns referring to people’s ethnicities sound vaguely offensive to me, (e.g. “Chinaman” versus “Chinese person”). And plus, people who didn’t speak _that_ type of native american language never called themselves squaws. I’m not sure about Buffalo, but on Canandaigua Lake, Squaw Island did recently change its name to Skenoh Island. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/94 "2024-07-23T11:53:15Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > Regarding “pollywog”, I have heard the term “wog” used in dramas set in India during the British Raj as a racist term for the native Indians. Could there be a connection? There was also an episode of “Fawlty Towers” where a resident called the Major explained the proper use of the term, as opposed to one used on native Africans. Some may find it offensive. I’m pretty sure that “wog” derives from “Gollywog” or “golliwog”, not from “pollywog”. Online dictionaries say the word dates from circa the 1920s, well after the invention of the Gollywog and its doll, which resemble a very stereotyped minstrel character. Saying that it is an abbreviation of “Westernized Oriental Gentleman” or “Worthy Oriental Gentleman” are very unconvincing. L. Ron Hubbard used to use the term “wog” when referring to non-Scientologists. I’m sure he knew how offensive the word was, but he wanted to transfer that sense of offensiveness to his enemies. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/95 "2024-07-23T12:15:53Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > my mother learned at age 62 she should not be talking about her bluetick hound chasing the coons out of her yard so happily. Fifty nine years ago, I was 7, and shocked by a neighbor down the block. She was a little old lady who had a little black poodle named Jigs. When the dog would wander off, she’d yell at the top of her lungs, “Jigs……Jigs……Jigaboo, get your black ass back here”. I was 7 and was totally blown away. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/96 "2024-07-23T12:26:12Z")
One relatively recent one is the renaming of the citrus fruit to Makrut Lime from it’s formerly pejorative term Kaffir Lime. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/97 "2024-07-23T12:44:47Z")
Nobody mentioned “_welch on a deal_” yet? ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/98 "2024-07-23T12:50:46Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Paddy wagon. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Nobody mentioned “_welch on a deal_” yet? There’s an entire category of obsoleted English anti-European animus that is now just a part of the language. Apart from the aforementioned examples, off the top of my head, there’s also Welsh Rarebit, Irish Goodbye, Dutch Courage, Dutch Oven etc. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/99 "2024-07-23T13:13:33Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Irish Goodbye Cf. “Jewish goodbye” (= making as if to leave and then spending another fifteen minutes chit-chatting). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/100 "2024-07-23T13:31:37Z")
I’ve always done the Irish Goodbye, but nowadays call it ghosting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604.md?page=6)