Fwd: A question

[Benjamin Barrett]

> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Douglas G. Wilson

> > > >One of my students heard the following, and was
> wondering if any of it was
> > > >true - any ideas or is this a language myth?
> >
> >It's an absolute myth. See HDAS,
>
> > > >Gook, a racial slur for Koreans comes from the
> Korean word for "America".
>
> The basic sense of "gook" (see also "goonie" etc. in
> HDAS, ... even
> "gomer") is not "Korean" nor even "Oriental"/"Asian" but simply
> "indigene"/"local yokel".

FWIW, for me, the pronunciation of gook as in Korean and as in yokel
are different.

Benjamin Barrett
Tukwila, WA