Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Rummyfan; infowarrior; MARTIAL MONK; joesnuffy
It doesn't appear that wog is a particularly nice word nor is it an acronym for "worthy oriental gentleman".

Merriam Webster

Main Entry: wog
Pronunciation: 'wäg, 'wog
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps short for golliwog
Date: circa 1929
chiefly British, usually disparaging : a dark-skinned foreigner; especially : one from the Middle East or Far East

Word Reference.com

wog1 [wɒg]
noun (British) (slang) (derogatory)
a foreigner, esp. one who is not White [ETYMOLOGY: probably from golliwog]

Your Dictionary.com

wog
n. Chiefly British Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a person of color, especially a person from northern Africa or western or southern Asia.

Dictionary.com- lists a similar definition.

Online Etymology

wog - World War II British armed forces slang for "native of India" (especially as a servant or laborer), possibly shortened from golliwog.

http://rec-puzzles.org/sol.pl/language/english/etymology/acronym

Supposed (but not real) acronyms:

wog Worthy (Wealthy) Oriental Gentleman

American Heritage Dictionary

NOUN: Chiefly British Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a person of color, especially a person from northern Africa or western or southern Asia.
ETYMOLOGY: Probably short for golliwog.

-------

Which would bring us to golliwog: (again the American Heritage Dictionary)

NOUN: A doll fashioned in grotesque caricature of a Black male.
ETYMOLOGY: After Golliwog, a character in books by Florence Upton (died 1922), American illustrator.

Some more info on the etymology of the word wog and offered by Oxford's

http://acadprojwww.wlu.edu/vol4/BlackmerH/public_html/xliberty/oed/wogcite.html

67 posted on 09/13/2003 1:27:00 PM PDT by Prodigal Son
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies ]


To: Prodigal Son
My favorite 'learned on FR' word is 'gobsmacked'.

I use it whenever I can.
68 posted on 09/13/2003 5:04:40 PM PDT by IncPen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies ]

To: Prodigal Son
I found this, unsourced, on the net:

All Personel, South East Asia Theater of War: Upon receipt and thereafter, you will cease refering to our allies as slopes, gooks, slants and yellow bastards and afford them the respect due to the worthy oriental gentlemen that they are.

Viscount Robert Mountbatten Commanding General South East Asia

While no etymologist I, it would seem from your research that Mountbatten was engaging in some particularly Churchillian word play.

Surprising, though, was your unfamiliarity with the term. Robert Ruark built two African novels on it; Uhuru and Something of Value. If you have not read either or both of these you, in particular, should not eat nor sleep until you have copies. It will be worth your while.

74 posted on 09/14/2003 12:47:29 AM PDT by MARTIAL MONK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies ]

To: Prodigal Son
Which would bring us to golliwog: (again the American Heritage Dictionary) NOUN: A doll fashioned in grotesque caricature of a Black male. ETYMOLOGY: After Golliwog, a character in books by Florence Upton (died 1922), American illustrator.

One of the original Upton "Golliwogg" illustrations:

And one of the many subsequent incarnations of the craze:

As one source points out, the doll in the story was copied from blackface minstrel show costumes, making it a caricature of a caricature...

92 posted on 09/14/2003 9:10:43 PM PDT by Ichneumon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson