This is a list of common nouns, used in the
English language, whose
etymology goes back to the name of some, often historical or archaic,
ethnic or
religious group, but whose current meaning has lost that connotation and does not imply any actual ethnicity or religion.
Several of these terms are derogatory or
insulting. Such entries on this list should not be confused with "ethnic slurs" referring to a person's actual ethnicity, which have
a separate list.
A person with an unconventional artistic lifestyle (originally meaning an inhabitant of
Bohemia; the secondary meaning may derive from an erroneous idea that the
Romani people originate from Bohemia).[2] Not used as an insult in most circumstances.
Synonymous with
sodomite. From Middle English bougre, heretic, from Anglo-French bugre, from Medieval Latin Bulgarus, literally, Bulgarian; (from the association of Bulgaria with the
Bogomils, who were accused of heresy and sodomy).[3]Bugger up is a phrase meaning to ruin or spoil something in British English, and it is also used in some English-derived creoles like
Tok Pisin (
bagarap)
(U.S.) Originally (mid-18th century) a Scots-Irish settler into the
Virginia Piedmont; later (late 18th century) a backwoodsman, hick, or most severely "poor
white trash", especially on the frontier or in the Appalachian area. Post Civil War: a self-referential indicating an independent backwoods small farmer in the West Virginia/Carolina/Tennessee/Kentucky area.[5][6]
A crude person, lacking culture or refinement; an obsolete term, originally from the East Germanic tribe of
Goths that sacked
Rome in 410.[7] The term
Gothic for high medieval architecture was originally a perjorative term used during the
Renaissance for styles considered archaic and barbaric. A separate sense refers to members of the current
Goth subculture.
A foreigner; especially used disparagingly against North Americans and Europeans in
Latin America. (Possibly from the Spanish word griego, meaning
Greek.[8] In Roman days, foreigners were usually divided into Greeks and
Barbarians. The use of the term Greek for something foreign or unintelligible can also be seen in the expression "it's Greek to me".)[9] Another theory is that during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848),[10] the American army wore green uniforms, so Mexicans would yell at them “green go home” and later shortened it to “green go” (phonetically similar).
Barbarous or destructive person; also in used in
World War I (and to a lesser extend
World War II) as an
ethnic slur for the
Germans. From the confederation of
Eurasian tribes that first appeared in
Europe in the 4th century, leading to mass migrations of Germanic tribes westward, and which established an empire extending into Europe in the 5th century, known for plundering wealthy Roman cities.[13] In modern
Scotland and
Northern Ireland the term is a derogatory reference to a
Protestant, or a supporter of a historically Protestant football club, most notably
Rangers F.C.[14]
An obsolete term for people with
Down syndrome, which was originally medically classified as "Mongoloid Idiocy".[15] The shorthand version "mong" is also used as an insult.[16]
A person of short stature (possibly in reference to certain hunter-gatherer peoples, such as the
Mbuti of
Central Africa, sometimes grouped together under the term Pygmies, but that designation actually stems from the original meaning of pygmy as an unusually small person).[18]
A generous or helpful person. From the Biblical story of the
Good Samaritan. Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group centered in the
Levant and their
religion is related closely to
Judaism.
^James Kirke Paulding’s Letters from the South, written during an Excursion in the Summer of 1816. NY: James Eastburn (1817).
^Elizabeth A. Perkins & John Dabney Shane's "Border Life: Experience and Memory in the Revolutionary Ohio Valley" University of North Carolina Press (May 1998),
ISBN0-8078-2400-3 .
This is a list of common nouns, used in the
English language, whose
etymology goes back to the name of some, often historical or archaic,
ethnic or
religious group, but whose current meaning has lost that connotation and does not imply any actual ethnicity or religion.
Several of these terms are derogatory or
insulting. Such entries on this list should not be confused with "ethnic slurs" referring to a person's actual ethnicity, which have
a separate list.
A person with an unconventional artistic lifestyle (originally meaning an inhabitant of
Bohemia; the secondary meaning may derive from an erroneous idea that the
Romani people originate from Bohemia).[2] Not used as an insult in most circumstances.
Synonymous with
sodomite. From Middle English bougre, heretic, from Anglo-French bugre, from Medieval Latin Bulgarus, literally, Bulgarian; (from the association of Bulgaria with the
Bogomils, who were accused of heresy and sodomy).[3]Bugger up is a phrase meaning to ruin or spoil something in British English, and it is also used in some English-derived creoles like
Tok Pisin (
bagarap)
(U.S.) Originally (mid-18th century) a Scots-Irish settler into the
Virginia Piedmont; later (late 18th century) a backwoodsman, hick, or most severely "poor
white trash", especially on the frontier or in the Appalachian area. Post Civil War: a self-referential indicating an independent backwoods small farmer in the West Virginia/Carolina/Tennessee/Kentucky area.[5][6]
A crude person, lacking culture or refinement; an obsolete term, originally from the East Germanic tribe of
Goths that sacked
Rome in 410.[7] The term
Gothic for high medieval architecture was originally a perjorative term used during the
Renaissance for styles considered archaic and barbaric. A separate sense refers to members of the current
Goth subculture.
A foreigner; especially used disparagingly against North Americans and Europeans in
Latin America. (Possibly from the Spanish word griego, meaning
Greek.[8] In Roman days, foreigners were usually divided into Greeks and
Barbarians. The use of the term Greek for something foreign or unintelligible can also be seen in the expression "it's Greek to me".)[9] Another theory is that during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848),[10] the American army wore green uniforms, so Mexicans would yell at them “green go home” and later shortened it to “green go” (phonetically similar).
Barbarous or destructive person; also in used in
World War I (and to a lesser extend
World War II) as an
ethnic slur for the
Germans. From the confederation of
Eurasian tribes that first appeared in
Europe in the 4th century, leading to mass migrations of Germanic tribes westward, and which established an empire extending into Europe in the 5th century, known for plundering wealthy Roman cities.[13] In modern
Scotland and
Northern Ireland the term is a derogatory reference to a
Protestant, or a supporter of a historically Protestant football club, most notably
Rangers F.C.[14]
An obsolete term for people with
Down syndrome, which was originally medically classified as "Mongoloid Idiocy".[15] The shorthand version "mong" is also used as an insult.[16]
A person of short stature (possibly in reference to certain hunter-gatherer peoples, such as the
Mbuti of
Central Africa, sometimes grouped together under the term Pygmies, but that designation actually stems from the original meaning of pygmy as an unusually small person).[18]
A generous or helpful person. From the Biblical story of the
Good Samaritan. Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group centered in the
Levant and their
religion is related closely to
Judaism.
^James Kirke Paulding’s Letters from the South, written during an Excursion in the Summer of 1816. NY: James Eastburn (1817).
^Elizabeth A. Perkins & John Dabney Shane's "Border Life: Experience and Memory in the Revolutionary Ohio Valley" University of North Carolina Press (May 1998),
ISBN0-8078-2400-3 .