Ethnic and place names are often used as derisive adjectives.[1][2]
Most of these derisive adjectives reflect stereotypes about the ethnicity or the place. Most are pejorative and some are offensive.
- African dominoes
- Dice.[1]
- African golf
- Craps.[1]
- Arizona cloudburst
- A sandstorm.[2]
- Arizona paint job
- An unpainted, weathered pine building.[1]
- Arkansas asphalt
- A road made of logs.[2]
- Arkansas fire extinguisher
- A chamberpot.[1]
- Arkansas toothpick
- A knife with an extra-legal blade.[1]
- Aztec hop
- Dysentary or diarrhea.[1]
- Baltimore beef steak
- Liver.[1]
- Boston strawberries
- Beans.[1]
- Bronx cheer.[1]
- California Bible
- = California prayer book.[1]
- California bank notes
- Silver and hides used as money.[2]
- California breakfast
- A cigarette and an orange.[1]
- California prayer book
- A deck of cards.[1]
- California toothpick
- = Arkansas toothpick.[1]
- Cape Ann turkey
- = Cape Cod turkey[1]
- Cape Cod turkey
- Codfish.[1]
- Chicago overcoat
- cement shoes or a coffin.[1]
- Chicago piano
- A Thompson submachine gun.[1]
- Chinaman's chance
- No chance at all.[2]
- Chinese fire drill[1]
- Chinese B
- A grade inflated to compensate for a student's disadvantage.[2]
- Cincinnati quail
- = Confederate beef.[1]
- Colored peoples'/folks' time
- Late.[1][2]
- Confederate beef/mule
- Fatty salt pork.[1]
- Connecticut mile
- The distance traveled in one minute.[1]
- Curse of Montezuma
- = Aztec hop.[1]
- Dago red
- Cheap red wine.[1]
- Dallas special
- = Arkansas toothpick.[1]
- Detroit iron
- An American car.[1]
- Detroit sled
- = Detroit iron.[1]
- Dutch act
- Suicide.[2]
- Dutch courage
- Courage from drunkenness.[2]
- Dutch leave
- = French leave.[1]
- Dutch rub
- A kind of torture between children.[2]
- Dutch treat[1]
- Dutch uncle
- An affectionate, older friend, remotely related person, or someone who reprimands severely.[1]
- Ethiopian paradise
- = Nigger heaven[1]
- French inhale
- Exhaling smoke from the mouth and then inhaling it through the nose.[1]
- French kiss[1]
- French leave[1]
- Haight Street breakfast
- Muscatel and Wheaties.[1]
- Indian giver[1]
- Indian haircut
- A scalping.[1]
- Irish banjo
- A shovel.[1]
- Irish confetti
- Bricks and cobblestones thrown during street fights.[1]
- Irish pendants/pennants
- Rags or laundry hung up to dry on board ship.[1][2]
- Irish shift/switch
- Describes a politician talking to one person with his arm around another, smiling all the while at a third.[1]
- Irish twins
- Siblings born within the same calendar year, or within twelve months of each other.
- Irishman's buggy
- A wheelbarrow.[2]
- Irishman's turkey
- Corned beef and cabbage.[2]
- Jew flag
- A dollar bill.[2]
- Jew shave
- An unshaven face covered with talcum powder.[2]
- Jewish lightning
- Arson for the point of insurance fraud.
- Jewish overdrive
- = Mexican overdrive.[1]
- Jewish side-walls
- = Mexican side-walls[1]
- Jewish time
- Late.[1]
- Jewish windbreaker
- A mink coat.[2]
- Jigaboo joy shop
- A store which sells chrome accessories for automobiles.[1]
- Kansas nigger
- An African-American who does not defer to whites.[2]
- Kentucky credit card
- = Mexican credit card.[1]
- Kentucky oysters
- = Rocky Mountain oysters.[1]
- Kentucky windage
- Compensating for wind or misaligned rifle sights by aiming off target.[1]
- Mahon soger
- A lazy and worthless sailor.[2]
- Mexican standoff[1]
- Mexican Bogner's
- Jeans worn as ski pants.[1]
- Mexican breakfast
- A cigarette and a glass of water.[1]
- Mexican car wash
- Leaving an automobile out in the rain.[1]
- Mexican cashmere
- A sweatshirt.[1]
- Mexican chrome
- Silver-color paint used to decorate a car.[1]
- Mexican credit card
- A siphon for stealing gasoline.[1]
- Mexican dragline
- A shovel.[1]
- Mexican filling station
- = Mexican credit card.[1]
- Mexican fox-trot
- = Aztec hop.[1]
- Mexican motor mount
- Inner tubing used instead of proper parts.[1]
- Mexican muffler
- A can stuffed with steel wool on an exhaust pipe.[1]
- Mexican nose guard
- Jockstrap.[1]
- Mexican overdrive
- Driving downhill in neutral.[1]
- Mexican promotion
- An increase in rank or title without a pay raise.[1]
- Mexican side-walls
- Painted tires.[1]
- Mexican straight
- In poker, any five cards and a sharp knife.[1]
- Mexican threads
- A stripped bolt forced into a hole to cut new threads.[1]
- Mexican toothache
- = Aztec hop.[1]
- Mexican two-step
- = Aztec hop.[1]
- Mexican valve job
- Cleaning a carburetor with kerosene.[1]
- Mexican window shade
- A Venetian blind mounted in the rear window of a car.[1]
- Milwaukee goiter
- A beer belly.[1]
- Mississippi marbles
- Dice.[1]
- Montezuma's revenge
- = Aztec hop.[1]
- Mountain dew
- Moonshine.[2]
- Mountain oysters
- = Rocky Mountain oysters.[1]
- Nigger bait
- (Excess) chrome on an automobile.[1]
- Nigger fishing
- Fishing for low-value fish with a pole and bobber.[2]
- Nigger heaven
- The cheapest balcony seats in a theater.[1]
- Nigger rich
- Either rich and ostentatious or rich one day, poor the next.[1]
- Oklahoma credit card
- = Mexican credit card.[1]
- Oklahoma guarantee
- No guarantee.[2]
- Oklahoma showup
- A falsified police line-up.[1]
- Oregon beef
- Deer killed out of season.[1]
- Pennsylvania salve
- Apple butter.[1]
- Philadelphia lawyer
- A crooked lawyer.[1]
- Polish air conditioning
- Driving with the windows down.[1]
- Prairie coal
- Cow dung used as fuel.[2]
- Prairie oysters
- = Rocky Mountain oysters[2]
- Puerto Rico Pendleton
- An old work shirt.[1]
- Rocky Mountain oysters[2]
- Rocky Mountain canary
- A burro.[1]
- Russian roulette[1]
- Scotch mist
- Dense mist-like rain.[2]
- Scotch woodcock[2]
- Scotsman's Zoo
- A viewpoint from which a zoo can be seen without paying.[2]
- Spanish flu
- The 1918 pandemic flu. It was associated to Spain since, in other countries, the World War I censorship blocked local reports to preserve morale. [3]
- Spanish supper
- Tightening of the belt a notch instead of eating.[1]
- Swedish headache
- Pain from sexual arousal without sexual release (cf. Blue balls).[2]
- Texas butter
- Gravy made from bacon grease, flour, and water.[1]
- Texas oysters
- Rocky Mountain oysters[2]
- Texas squirrels
- Prairie dogs used as food.[2]
- Tijuana Bible
- Pornographic comic books.[1]
- Vatican roulette
- Calendar-based contraceptive methods.[1]
- Welsh rabbit[2]
- West Indian Time
- Late.[1]
Notes edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn Ed Cray, "Ethnic and Place Names as Derisive Adjectives", Western Folklore 21:1:27–34 (January 1962), p. 27-34 JSTOR 1520639
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Kenneth Porter, "Still More Ethnic and Place Names as Derisive Adjectives", Western Folklore 25:1:37–40 (January 1966) JSTOR 1498597
- ^ "Spanish flu facts". Channel 4 News. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010.