Official Dictionary of Unofficial English-Grant-Barrett-0071458042

Changing English

to modern advances (such as how to perform breech births or use plants in folk remedies), corporate whitewash campaigns that instill doubt about valid scientific evidence, and information that is not disseminated due to blacklists, bans, or gag rules. Probably coined by Robert Proctor, though there is a similar word, agnoiology, the science or study of ignorance. The antonym of both agnoiology and agnotology would probably be epistemology, ‘the science of the nature and foundations of knowledge.’

folksonomy n. an accreted classification system whose levels, branches, and nodes are created informally and collaboratively by all users who submit data to a system. The most common application of this word is to describe tagging, used by some web sites to permit users to classify posts, pictures, questions, or other user-sub- mitted items. From folk + taxonomy. Coined by Thomas Vander Wal.

gayhawk n. similar to a fauxhawk, in that one’s hair stands on end across the top of the head, front to back, while the sides are combed upward toward the peak. The head is not shaved as it is in a Mohawk, from which both gayhawk and fauxhawk are derived using the portmanteau -hawk.

grandclerk n. the child of someone who clerked for a judge. Used by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to describe the children of her former clerks. A law clerk is an American term for an up-and-coming lawyer or law student who assists a judge or lawyer.

groantone n. an erotic or sexually suggestive ring tone for a portable telephone. Also known as a moantone.

honeymonkey n. an insecure computer designed to attract crackers, viruses, and other Internet threats so that they may be studied. Popularized, if not coined by, employees at Microsoft Corporation.

infartiller y n. a military unit that serves the traditional functions of both artillery and infantry units. Probably coined by soldiers in the U.S. Army’s Third Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team (Unit of Action) while training at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, LA. From infantry + artillery.

skoyc n. an acronym for “soft kiss on your cheek.” Used mainly in online discussions but if said aloud, it is usually pronounced as “skoyk.”

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snazzual adj. fashionable and trendy, but suitable for most nonformal occasions. Usually said of clothing. From snazzy + casual.

solastalgia n. nostalgia or a sense of loss about rapid (negative) changes to one’s community or surroundings. From Latin solacium ‘solace’ and algos ‘pain.’ Probably coined by Australian Glenn Albrecht in 2004.

splitter n. a public spittoon made of a potted plant attached to a lamppost, intended to keep public expectorations off the pavement. Coined by Kirtisagar Bollar in India. From spit + litter.

spluckle n. a split-fingered fastball pitch in baseball, also known as a splitter, that suddenly drops before it reaches the batter. Coined by Adam Melhuse of the Oakland A’s. From split + knuckleball.

spreadmart n. a computer spreadsheet that exists in multiple unreconciled versions throughout an organization. Coined by Wayne Eckerson in 2002. From spreadsheet + data mart ‘a static collection of data of a specific time, place, and criteria.’

stay rape n. when a guest overstays a visit. Something akin to a gatecrasher with aphilophrenia, the kind of person that stays until the last dog is hung. It’s a classic slang word: it demonstrates irreverence for the host-guest relationship and treads in taboo territory by trivializing the idea of rape.

vegepreferian n. someone who prefers vegetarianism but is not adamant about it. Coined by Elizabeth Bromstein in Toronto, Can. A slightly more common term is flexitarian.

Y V Ulluq Q n. a prism effect of cold ground air and higher warm air that creates a lingering band of bright light at the horizon even when the sun has set. Coined by Canadian Wayne Davidson, from the initials of his fellow scientists, Andrew Young and Siebren Van der Werf, and the Inuktitut words ulluq, meaning “day” or “daytime,” and qausuittuq, meaning “the place with no dawn or no tomorrow.”

On the Inside, On the Outside

One interesting subniche of slang is derogatory terms used within an ethnic group or race to insult its own members, but inside that, there’s a sub-subniche of food-related derogatory terms that all follow the pattern “X on the outside; Y on the inside.”

These terms share common characteristics. They are shapers of self. They reflect the way a cultural community believes one must

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act in order to be identified with that group, and they compare it to the way outsiders—usually a dominant Caucasian or Western culture—act. They demonstrate the conflict between a need to assimilate with mainstream culture and a need to assert one’s membership in an ethnic or racial group. They describe a person’s appearance and a person’s behavior. They charge a person with betraying his or her true identity and community—charges that are almost impossible to defend against, making this particular kind of insult especially effective. Such name-calling leaves the subject only two choices: One, conform to the expected racial or ethnic behavior. Two, abandon a racial or an ethnic identity.

Below is a list of such terms and three similar political terms. Be warned: these are the sorts of expressions that might be used jokingly among friends but never between strangers.

apple n. a person who is ethnically American Indian but culturally American. In the Navajo language, the word bilasáana ‘apple’ is used.

banana n. a white-acting East Asian person. A typical comment: “He’s a banana and posts to soc.couples.intercultural trying to brag that he’s a ladies man who dated Latinas. I think he wants a white girl.” (From the Usenet group soc.culture.korean, Mar. 21, 1997.)

Bount y bar n. in the United Kingdom, a white-acting black person. Bounty bars are a chocolate bar made with a coconut filling by Mars, Inc. They are not sold in the United States, but are similar to the Almond Joy chocolate bars made and sold by Hershey’s, Inc.

cedar n. a white-acting American Indian, most likely in the Southeast. Rare.

coconut n. a white-acting black, Hispanic, or South Asian person. egg n. a white-acting East Asian person.

Oreo n. a white-acting black person. From the Oreo-brand dessert cookie, which has two dark chocolate wafers filled with white icing.

potato n. a white-acting Hispanic or South Asian person.

radish n. a capitalist person or institution masquerading as a communist; a Chinese person who behaves like a Westerner.

rotten banana n. a black-acting East Asian person; a white-acting black person.

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turnip n. a Russian communist who is secretly a royalist. From the post World War I period.

Twinkie n. a white-acting East Asian person. From the brand name of a yellow cake-like treat filled with white icing.

watermelon n. a communist or socialist masquerading as an environmentalist.

Colorful Names for Whitey

In any language, there’s no shortage of epithets or nicknames for anyone who’s a little different. Minorities are called with hate, the powerful get terms of resentment, foreigners get names of disgust, and outsiders get nicknames of exclusion. That means, too, that there’s no shortage of terms for white Westerners.

As always, the most important factor as to whether someone is offended is context, so keep in mind that these are not words to be used lightly.

ang moh n. Singapore. From Hokkien Chinese for “red-haired” but describes anyone Caucasian or anything Western. Common especially in Singlish, where it is used derogatively to describe someone who is trying to act non-Asian. A more severe form is ang moh sai, meaning “red-haired shit.”

béké n. French West Indies, including Dominica and Martinique. A French Creole word for a resident descending from white Europeans, especially someone in authority; the boss or owner. There are numerous supposed origins for this word, none of which can be completely proven or disproven. One claims there is a similar word in the African language Igbo and that it came to the islands with slaves. Another claims that it formerly was a term for sailor’s quarters in the front of a ship. Still another claims that small rations of food known as becquée, ‘a beakful,’ were given to laborers by the plantation owners, and by transference the term was applied to the givers themselves. And last and least likely, the phrase eh bé qué? was said to be a corruption of eh bien quoi? (roughly, “so, what’s this?”) a French phrase used so often by white colonizers that it was corrupted into béké. The writings of Patrick Chamoiseu are excellent explorations of the cultural implications behind the white and black encounters in the Antilles.

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buckra n. United States, a boss or master; any white person, especially one of low standing. Both the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) say its original source is the Efik language, spoken in what is now Nigeria, where mbakára means “he who surrounds or governs.” It is (or was) most common in the United States in Gullah communities in coastal South Carolina and Georgia. It first shows up in the written record in 1782 in the form of “Boccarorra” in Benjamin Franklin’s Information to Those Who Would Remove to America. OED also notes that it appeared in the patois of Surinam.

bule n. (boo-luh). Indonesia. Western or white; a white person. Orang bule is “white man” in Bahasa Indonesia.

gabacho n. Mexico. an American person; a gringo. As an adjective, American or originating in the United States. This term is especially applied as a mild derogative to someone who is, or pretends to be, Mexican or Hispanic. A much older form of the word—dating as early as 1530—was applied to the French and meant “uncouth person of the mountains” and was applied in Spain to people from the north who badly spoke the Occitan language used in the region where France and Spain share a frontier. Later, it was used to apply to all French persons.

gringo n. Originally Mexican, now widespread throughout the Americas (including Portuguese-speaking Brazil) and Spain. A white person, especially an American. Dating from at least as early as 1849, it’s a highly successful word. In some uses, this word can be seen as soft teasing; in others, it’s a harsh accusation of cultural imperialism.

gwailo n. (gwye-low) Less often transliterated as gweilo. China, Hong Kong, Singapore. Foreigner; Caucasian. Literally “ghost person,” though the usual English translation is “white devil” or “foreign devil,” perhaps because it sounds more exotic. From the Cantonese.

haole n. Hawaii. A white person. According to the Hawaiian Dictionary (2003 University of Hawaii Press), the word also seems to have made it into the Marquesan language, where it appears as hao’e.

honky n. United States. A white person, dating from at least as early as 1946. Usually derogatory. DARE, OED, and the Historical Dictionary of American Slang (HDAS) agree that this probably an out-

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growth from hunky, ‘a person of Eastern European ancestry; a manual laborer.’ Until the 1960s, the spelling hunky was common, but honky is now the dominant form. It has also, perhaps, influenced Hongkie, a mildly offensive term used mainly by Singaporeans to describe residents of Hong Kong, who are seen as more Western and less Asian.

muzungu n. Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia. Swahili. White man; foreigner. The adventurer Richard Burton encountered this term as early as 1857 in Mombasa, Kenya. A different word, murunge, is used in Zimbabwe.

ndlebe zikhany ’ ilanga n. South Africa. White man. Zulu for “he whose ears reflect the sun.”

vazaha n. Madagascar. In the Malagasy language, a white person; a foreigner. In an English translation of Black Skin, White Masks (1952), Francophone writer Frantz Fanon says the word means “honorable stranger.”

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agbero n. a taxi or bus tout; (hence) a street thug or small-time extortionist. Nigeria.

1965 Wole Soyinka The Road in Collected Plays (June 1, 1973), p. 224

! Samson Baba Agbero...King of Touts! Champion of motor park!

1995 Niyi Osundare @ Lagos Newswatch (Ikeja, Nigeria) (Mar.) “See Lagos and Die” ! Lagos is suchlike text, only more baffling, more amorphous.... Where else would you encounter the inventive ribaldry of the agbero (motor park tout)? 2000 Sarah Krose @ Univ. of British Columbia (Museum of Anthropology) (B.C., Can.) (July 24) “Principles of Traditional African Art in Yoruba Thorn Wood Carvings: Conversations with Titi Adepitan,” p. 100 ! The Yoruba word for bus conductor is agbero, the one who collects fares from the passengers. We sometimes also call them touts. They are as terrible as you’ll ever get. Maybe we have the prime selection of bus conductors and touts anywhere in the world for their cantankerousness. I mean, they’re always talking and talking and making trouble. 2002 Anthony Okoro @ Lagos, Nigeria (All Africa) (Jan. 17) “Lagos Smoke Shacks” ! These smoke joints are said to be responsible for the increasing rate of miscreants popularly called Agbero in the area. 2002 Anthony Okoro @ Lagos, Nigeria (All Africa) (July 22) “Agbero, 6 Traffic Management Authority Men in Street Fight” ! While the officials were preventing drivers from making unnecessary U-turns, the agbero was said to be encouraging them and even directing them to drive against traffic. The excesses of the miscreant reached such a point that he was stopping vehicles on the middle of the bridge, molesting and extorting money from drivers and conductors, thereby compounding the already chaotic traffic situation. 2005 Daily Champion (Lagos, Nigeria) (June 16) “Menace of Touts” (Int.) ! Despite the pull and push that has made Lagos a city of first choice for many who seek a good head-start in life, Lagos has its unique draw-backs, one of which is the menace of social miscreants otherwise known as Area Boys and motor park touts called Agberos in local parlance.

air supply n. a type of corruption in which money is paid for services not rendered, usually with the agreement of both parties.

Crime & Prisons. Politics. Uganda.

1988 Mary Battiata @ Kampala, Uganda San Francisco Chronicle (Calif.) (July 27) “Graft, Corruption Hobble Uganda’s Comeback

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Efforts,” p. 3/Z6 ! Although petty corruption is rampant in the civil service, Ruzindana has focused on the big fish—senior officials motivated less by need than greed. His target is the booming and notorious Ugandan enterprise known here as “air supply.” Translation: fraud. “It means you supply nothing, and yet you are paid,” said Ruzindana. 1989 Paola Totar Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

(July 4) “Regular Shorts,” p. 26 ! We thought you should be given a quick taste of the fiddles his Ugandan counterpart uncovered. For bagmen, brothels, bookmakers and bribes read “air supply.” 1997

New Vision (Nov. 24) “Uganda Wildlife Authority Wants Edroma Prosecuted” (in Kampala, Uganda) ! Donors and Government funds were diverted. For example $600,000 from reserve funds is unexplained, 500m/= was either diverted or unaccounted for while 136m/= was fraudulently expended. We also discovered anomalies to do with air supply of solar panels and drugs, etc. 2004 Henry Ochieng Monitor

(Kampala, Uganda) (July 16) “Politics of Graft; Sad Movt Legacy” (Int.)

! This growth occurred at a time when “air supply” was introduced into the Ugandan lexicon. People in positions of influence began conniving with government accounting officers to win tenders on which they hardly delivered. The moment the cheque was cashed they would split the money and run.

alambrista n. an illegal immigrant who crosses into the United States via its border with Mexico. Mexico. Spanish. United States. [Spanish alambrista ‘tightrope walker’ = ‘wire crosser’]

1950 Bill Dredge L.A. Times (May 2) “Thousands of Mexicans Illegally Cross U.S. Border Each Month,” p. 12 ! The feelings of the line jump- ers—the alambristas—are reflected in the words of Julian Terrones Segura, 36, and newly arrived from his native village in Guerrero.

1959 White Masterson Zanesville Signal (Ohio) (Sept. 10) “The Dark Fantastic,” no. IV, p. 31D ! For the Mexican turned out to be merely an alambrista, a poor peon hoping to slip across the line and find work. 1970 Daily Report (Ontario, Calif.) (Sept. 13) “No Peace of Mind for the Alambristas” (in Fresno, Calif.), p. A5 ! Alambristas, disparagingly known as “wetbacks,” are being used here and elsewhere to harvest crops, particularly grapes. 1986 Sheric C. Neville @ Santa Ana, Calif. Orange County Business Journal (Calif.) (Feb. 17) “Study Shows Undocumented Workers Don’t Steal Jobs,” vol. 9, no. 3, p. 11

! For years, he’s answered requests by community groups to tell of his early adventures in the 1950s—how he labored, among other things, as a gardener and a trash collector; how he returned to California over and over; and how as an alambrista (wirejumper) he cooperated with the Border Patrol in what he saw as a “game.”

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Amexica n. the zone where the United States and Mexico share a border, culture, language, and economic conditions. Politics. The first cite is related only in that it refers to a joint Mexican-Ameri- can advertising agency.

[1945 N.Y. Times (Oct. 20) “Advertising News,” p. 21 ! Publicidad Amexica, Avenida Balderas 96, Mexico City, has been formed to act as exclusive associate of Export Advertising Agency, Inc.] [1995 Economist (U.K.) (Oct. 28) “Opportunity Knocks; Amexica the Beautiful” !

More than that, they could for the first time aspire to American standards of freedom and well-being without losing the Mexican way of life. Call it “the Amexican dream.”] 1995 Robert Mottley American Shipper (Dec. 1) “NAFTA’s Logistics Challenges,” vol. 37, no. 12, p. 69

! Viva Amexica. Well, not just yet. The North American Free Trade Agreement has changed the way shippers in the United States view Mexico, but only a few are responding strategically with logistics plans targeted to the large but volatile Mexican market. 2001 Time

(June 11) “A Country of 24 Million,” vol. 157, no. 23, p. 46 ! The united states of “Amexica” share more than a border and a common heritage: both sides welcome the benefits of trade but struggle with the pressures of growth. 2003 Ed Vulliamy Observer (U.K.) (Aug. 24) “Farewell America” (Int.) ! Poverty and race also define the country I call ‘Amexica’ that runs along either side of the Mexican border, belonging to both countries and neither. 2004 Samuel P. Huntington

Foreign Policy (Mar. 1) “The Hispanic Challenge,” p. 30 ! Charles Truxillo of the University of New Mexico predicts that by 2080 the southwestern states of the United States and the northern states of Mexico will form La Republica del Norte (The Republic of the North). Various writers have referred to the southwestern United States plus northern Mexico as “MexAmerica” or “Amexica” or “Mexifornia.” “We are all Mexicans in this valley,” a former county commissioner of El Paso, Texas, declared in 2001.

AMW n. a (pretty) woman whose career derives in some way from her appearance. Acronym. Entertainment. Fashion. Slang. United States. [Initialism for actress model whatever]

1988 Jeannine Stein L.A. Times (Oct. 24) “Into the Night,” p. 2 ! Who was there:...assorted AMWs (actress, model, whatever). 1995 Deborah Michel Buzz Magazine (Apr.) “The Himbos Are Coming!” (Int.)

! Today, hyphenates abound among himbos, many of whom are the male equivalent of AMWs (actress-model-whatevers). 1996 Peter Biskind Premiere Magazine (Apr.) “Good Night, Dark Prince” (Int.) ! He would rarely sleep with friends or colleagues. He preferred to hit on AMWs (actress-model-whatevers) who would do it for a few lines of

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