Wog

Last updated

Wog is a racial slur used to refer, in British English, to black and South Asian people, and, in Australian English, to people from the Mediterranean region. [1] Whilst it is extremely derogatory in British English, in Australian English it may be considered non-offensive depending on how the word is used, due to reclamation and changing connotations. [1]

Contents

In the United Kingdom, it has usually been employed against people of black and Desi origin or descent and maritime Southeast Asia and less typically to North Africans and those from the Middle East. It is generally considered similar to other racially abusive terms such as dago for Italians and Spaniards, frog for the French, spic for Hispanic and Latin American people or wop for Italians.

In Australia, wog mostly refers to people from the Mediterranean region and to Australians from the Mediterranean region. This includes Southern European, Southeast European or Middle Eastern ethnicity, descent, and appearance, such as Southern Italians, the French, Greeks and Lebanese. The slur became widely diffused in Australia with an increase in immigration from Southern Europe and the Levant after the Second World War, and the term expanded to include all immigrants from the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. These new arrivals were perceived by the majority population as contrasting with the larger predominant Anglo-Celtic Australian people. In contemporary times, the word has lost some of its negative connotations in Australia in certain contexts due to reappropriation by the intended targets of the slur, though this is still considered a point of controversy. [1]

Origin

The origin of the term is unclear. It was first noted by lexicographer F.C. Bowen in 1929, in his Sea Slang: a dictionary of the old-timers’ expressions and epithets, where he defines wogs as "lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast." [2] Many dictionaries [3] [4] [5] [6] say "wog" probably derives from the golliwog, a blackface minstrel doll character from a children's book, The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg by Florence Kate Upton, published in 1895; or from pollywog , a dialect term for tadpole that is used in maritime circles to indicate someone who has not crossed the equator. [6]

Suggestions that the word is an acronym for "wily Oriental gentleman", "western orientated gentleman" "working on government service", or similar, are perhaps examples of false etymology or backronyms. [7] [8]

Use in British English

"Wog", in its modern usage in the UK, is a derogatory and racially offensive slang word referring to a dark skinned person, including people from the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and other parts of Asia such as the East Indies, but usually not those from the Mediterranean area or Southern Europe. Historically, the term also encompassed Southern Europeans and other such people with slightly darker skin tone than ethnically British people.[ citation needed ] A similar term, wop , has historically been used to refer to Italians in both Britain and the United States.

The saying, "The wogs begin at Calais", which implies that everyone who is not British is a wog, appears to date from the First World War but was popularised by George Wigg, Labour MP for Dudley, in 1949 when in a parliamentary debate concerning the Burmese, Wigg shouted at the Conservative benches, "The Honourable Gentleman and his friends think they are all 'wogs'. Indeed, the Right Honourable Member for Woodford [i.e., Winston Churchill] thinks that the 'wogs' begin at Calais." [9]

As reported by English-Jewish journalist Linda Grant, people in England have referred to Jews and Israelis as "wogs", as well. [10]

In 1969, the term was used on official police paperwork by Leeds City Police officers to describe the Nigerian British man David Oluwale; two officers were later found guilty of his assault and are also believed [ who? ] to be responsible for his death. This inspired the title of Kester Aspden's book on the case, Nationality: Wog, The Hounding of David Oluwale. [11] [12] [13]

In Series 1 Episode 6 of Fawlty Towers , "The Germans", Major Gowen specifies "wog" as meaning any person from India when speaking to Basil Fawlty about the India vs England cricket game at The Oval. [14]

Use in Australian English

In Australia, the term "wog" refers to residents of Southern European, Southeast European or Middle Eastern ethnicity and/or appearance. The slur became widely diffused with an increase in immigration from Southern Europe and the Levant after the Second World War and the term expanded to include immigrants from the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. These new arrivals were perceived by the majority population as contrasting with the larger predominant Anglo-Celtic Australian culture.

Today, "wog" is used particularly in places in Australia with substantial numbers of Southern European Australians, as well as non-European Middle Eastern populations, such as in Sydney and Melbourne. As with other slang and profanity used in contemporary Australian English, the term "wog" may be employed either aggressively or affectionately in different contexts.

In Australian English, "wog" can also be used as a slang word for an illness such as a common cold or influenza, as in: "I'm coming down with a wog". Such usage is not perceived as derogatory. [15]

A personalised licence plate making light of the term, referencing the film The Wog Boy Car with personalised plate celebrating being a Wog.jpg
A personalised licence plate making light of the term, referencing the film The Wog Boy

More recently, Southern European-Australian performing artists have taken ownership of the term "wog", defusing its original pejorative nature. The popular 1980s stage show Wogs Out of Work , created by Nick Giannopoulos and Simon Palomares, and its sequel Who Let the Wogs Out? [16] are early examples. The original production was followed on television with Acropolis Now , starring Giannopoulos, Palomares, George Kapiniaris and Mary Coustas, and films such as The Wog Boy and Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos , and parodies such as those of Santo Cilauro (Italian), Eric Bana (Croatian-German), Vince Colosimo (Italian), Nick Giannopoulos (Greek), Frank Lotito (Italian), Mary Coustas (Greek), comedy duo Superwog (Egyptian and Greek), comedy troupe Sooshi Mango (Italian) and SBS Television's offbeat Pizza by Paul Fenech (Maltese) and later Here Come the Habibs . TV series have continued this change in Australian cultural history—with some even classifying a genre of "wogsploitation" of pop culture products being created by and for a proudly "wog" market. More recently, a popular production, 'Superwog' - created by Theodore and Nathan Saidden - has begun streaming on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series began as a YouTube sketch series and has since become very popular among Australian teens. [17] Recent works of the genre have been used by Australians of non-English speaking backgrounds to assert ethnic identity rather than succumb to ethnic stereotypes. [18] Upon the release of Wog Boy 2, Giannopoulos discussed the contemporary use of the term "wog" in the Australian context:

I think by defusing the word 'wog' we've shown our maturity and our great ability to adapt and just laugh things off, you know... When I first came [to Greece] and I started trying to explain to them why we got called 'wog' they'd get really angry about it, you know. They were, "Why? Why they say this about the Greek people?" You know? But then when they see what we've done with it—and this is the twist—that we've turned it into a term of endearment, they actually really get into that...

Thus, in contemporary Australia, the term "wog" may, in certain contexts, be viewed as a "nickname" rather than a pejorative term [1] —akin to the nicknames ascribed within Australian English to other historically significant cultural groupings such as Australians ("Skips"), the English ("Poms"), the Americans ("Yanks") and New Zealanders ("Kiwis").

Other uses

Israeli soldier sleeping under graffiti that refers to Arabs as "wogs" during the 1948 Palestine War Soldier Sleeping 1948.jpg
Israeli soldier sleeping under graffiti that refers to Arabs as "wogs" during the 1948 Palestine War

Central Intelligence Agency

Duane Clarridge, a former CIA officer, explained that the term "wog factor" was used by the CIA "to acknowledge that the motivations that shape decision-making in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent are very different from our own." [19]

Scientology

The word "wog" is derogatorily used by Scientologists to refer to unenlightened non-Scientologists. [20]

Randy Newman

In the 1972 song "Sail Away" by Randy Newman, a slave trader trying to convince an African person to sail to America with the slaver refers to the African as a "little wog". [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

This glossary of names for the British include nicknames and terms, including affectionate ones, neutral ones, and derogatory ones to describe British people, Irish People and more specifically English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish people. Many of these terms may vary between offensive, derogatory, neutral and affectionate depending on a complex combination of tone, facial expression, context, usage, speaker and shared past history.

Gweilo or gwailou is a common Cantonese slang term for Westerners. In the absence of modifiers, it refers to white people and has a history of racially deprecatory and pejorative use. Cantonese speakers frequently use gwailou to refer to Westerners in general use, in a non-derogatory context, although whether this type of usage is offensive is disputed by both Cantonese and Westerners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pickaninny</span> Pidgin term for child, also a racial slur

Pickaninny is a pidgin word for a small child, possibly derived from the Portuguese pequenino. It has been used as a racial slur for African American children and a pejorative term for Aboriginal children of the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. It can also refer to a derogatory caricature of a dark-skinned child of African descent.

Nicholas Giannopoulos is an Australian stand-up comedian, stage, TV and film actor and film director. He is best known for his comedy stage show Wogs Out of Work alongside George Kapiniaris, the television sitcom Acropolis Now and The Wog Boy film series and has been described as "Australia's leading exponent of "wog" humour".

Acropolis Now was an Australian television sitcom set in a fictional Greek cafe, called the "Acropolis Cafe" in Melbourne that ran for 63 episodes broadcast from 9 August 1989 to 4 November 1992 on the Seven Network. It was created by Nick Giannopoulos, George Kapiniaris and Simon Palomares, who also starred in the series. They were already quite well known for their comedy stage show, Wogs out of Work. The title is a nameplay on the film Apocalypse Now. Each episode was 20 minutes in length and filmed in front of a live audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knacker</span> Person who removes animal carcasses

A knacker, knackerman or knacker man is a person who removes and clears animal carcasses from private farms or public highways and renders the collected carcasses into by-products such as fats, tallow, glue, gelatin, bone meal, bone char, sal ammoniac, soap, bleach and animal feed. A knacker's yard or a knackery is different from a slaughterhouse or abattoir, where animals are slaughtered for human consumption. Since the Middle Ages, the occupation of "knacker man" was frequently considered a disreputable occupation. Knackers were often also commissioned by the courts as public executioners.

Kanake is a German ethnic slur for people with roots from the Middle East and Northern Africa. It is also used to designate working class and rural people, who are referred to as "Ruhrpottkanaken". Many use it as a derogatory word, but also as a self-denomination.

Keling or Kling is an exonym to denote a Tamilian or someone deemed to have originated from South India. Originally a neutral term, since the mid-20th century it has been considered derogatory and an ethnic slur, and it is sometimes euphemistically referred to as the K-word. The term is used in parts of Southeast Asia, particularly the Malay Archipelago where there are a significant Tamil diaspora – specifically Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei – but cognates exist in neighbouring countries as well.

Guido is a North American subculture, slang term, and ethnic slur referring to working-class urban Italian-Americans. The guido stereotype is multi-faceted. At one point, the term was used more generally as a disparaging term for Italians and people of Italian descent. More recently, it has come to refer to working-class urban Italian-Americans who conduct themselves in an overtly macho manner or belong to a particular working-class urban Italian-American subculture. The time period in which it obtained the later meaning is not clear, but some sources date it to the 1970s or 1980s. The term is not used in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Coustas</span> Australian actress and comedian

Mary Coustas is an Australian actress, comedian and television personality and writer. Originally from Melbourne, Coustas often performs as the character "Effie", a stereotypical second-generation Greek Australian prone to malapropisms. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at Deakin University in Melbourne, majoring in performing arts and sub-majoring in journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandarin Chinese profanity</span> Profanity used within the Mandarin Chinese language

Profanity in Mandarin Chinese most commonly involves sexual references and scorn of the object's ancestors, especially their mother. Other Mandarin insults accuse people of not being human. Compared to English, scatological and blasphemous references are less often used. In this article, unless otherwise noted, the traditional character will follow its simplified form if it is different.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reappropriation</span> Valuing a formerly pejorative term in esteem

In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change. Linguistic reclamation can have wider implications in the fields of discourse and has been described in terms of personal or sociopolitical empowerment.

<i>The Wog Boy</i> 2000 Australian film

The Wog Boy is a 2000 Australian comedy film directed by Aleksi Vellis and starring Nick Giannopoulos, Vince Colosimo, Lucy Bell, Abi Tucker, Stephen Curry, Tony Nikolakopoulos and Derryn Hinch. Whilst the word wog is extremely derogatory in British English, in Australian English it may be considered non-offensive depending on how the word is used, due to reclamation and changing connotations.

Kike, also known as K-word, is an ethnic slur directed at Jewish people.

Wogs Out of Work is an Australian play which was written by Nick Giannopoulos, Simon Palomares, and Mary Portesi.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Clark, Andrew (12 October 2005). "A bad word made good". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  2. ↑ Bowen, Frank Charles (1929). Sea slang: a dictionary of the old timers' expressions and epithets. London, England: Sampson Low, Marston & Co.
  3. ↑ "Definition of 'wog'". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  4. ↑ "Definition of wog". Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Wog". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Wog". Yourdictionary.com. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  7. ↑ Wilton, David (2008). Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199740833.
  8. ↑ Dave Wilton (24 February 2007). "Wog". WordOrigins.org. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Africa". Hansard. House of Commons 5th Series. 467. col. 2845. 29 July 1949.
  10. ↑ Grant, Linda (2009). The People on the Street: A Writer's View of Israel. London, England: Hatchette Digital. "It started at once, [Ophir] said, with the geography teacher, 'who we used to call Bullet, who had a map on the wall where Israel appeared as Palestine and to my face he called Jews and Israelis 'terrorist wogs'... As for calling Jews 'wogs,' Ophir was to understand that there was nothing derogatory in the term, it simply meant Western Oriental Gentleman."
  11. ↑ "Remember Oluwale". Rememberoluwale.org. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  12. ↑ "The tragic tale of Oluwale". Yorkshire Evening Post . Leeds. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Farrar, Max (20 January 2009). "Why we still need a memorial to the ordeal of David Oluwale". The Yorkshire Post . Leeds. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Lawson, Mark (23 January 2013). "Fawlty Towers isn't racist. Major Gowen is". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ "Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms". Australian National University. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  16. ↑ [Who let the wogs out? (stage show) : programs and related material collected by the National Library of Australia]
  17. ↑ Dale, David (17 May 2003). "Wogsploitation makes its mark in mainstream". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  18. ↑ "Life as a pizza : The comic traditions of wogsploitation films | UB Online Repository". Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  19. ↑ Clarridge, Duane (13 August 2002). A Spy For All Seasons: My Life in the CIA. Scibner. p. 105. ISBN   978-0743245364.
  20. ↑ Reitman, Janet (2011). Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 77. ISBN   9780618883028. OL   24881847M.
  21. ↑ "Sail Away; song by Randy Newman"
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.