significant "Gooks"

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Fri May 9 19:20:34 UTC 2014


I

A slight antedating of HDAS:

1920 _Fort Wayne News and Sentinel_ (Apr. 9, 1920) 18: The marines
maintaining order in Hayti call the insurgent Haytians "Gooks." The upper
photo shows some marines with a road gang of "Gooks" whom they have
captured in skirmishes near Port au Prince.


II
Significant because it's clearly spoken in an early talkie seen by millions
- very possibly the general public's introduction to the term.

1929 Ralph Graves & Frank Capra _Flight_ (film): The last time I saw them,
they were chasing some gooks down a canyon.

With a biplane. In Nicaragua.

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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