Re: Antedating of " Pinko"

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 1/13/06 1:02:29 PM, laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:


> In some cases, we can indeed
> detect (at least etymologically) a combining form in certain
> pejorative nominals:  nympho, klepto, schizo, homo.  But in many
> others we can't:  weirdo, sicko, fatso, wino, wacko, lezbo.  I would
> assimilate "pinko" to the latter category, and in any case not to
> that of eminently upscale forms like "Greco-" and "Franco-".
> 

WACKO doesn't seem to fit in with the others, since the connection with WACK 
is at best opaque. Yet it seems to be more like the -O   of WEIRDO than the 
psuedo-Spanish -O of STUPIDO.