OED & Jigaboo

[Paul Johnston]

Maybe those in our list from the UK can fill us in, but when I lived
there in 1973-85, "Jewess" was decidedly UNcool, at least in the
sense of "old-fashioned", with overtones (at least) of racism.

While soliciting info from the Britishers on our list, what's the
pronunciation of the Oxfordshire Islip that the Long Island town is
named after?  "ice-lip", "Eyes-lip" or something else?   I lived at
the opposite end of the UK, so I don't know.

Paul

On Apr 11, 2007, at 3:20 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: OED & Jigaboo
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> OTOH, "negress" is so long out of date that most people don't know
> that it was ever in date. I last (and first) heard it in 1959, spolen
> by Greg McCurdy, of 'How ADJ is that?" fame. My impression is that,
> theretofore, Greg had never before had occasion to attempt to converse
> with a Negro - that was, of course, the term of preference, in those
> days - and was, therefore, somewhat clumsy at it. IAC, in the course
> of telling a lame story about an African "black" at a party - in those
> days, an insulting term usually applied only to Africans, "Negro"
> being reserved for Americans by the U.S. media - who was freaking out
> over being invited to dance with the white girls at the party, Greg
> quoted the African as claiming that he was accustomed to dancing only
> with "negresses."
>
> OT third H, "negresse" is used in Louisiana "Gumbo French" to
> translate, "woman, babe, chick, girl friend," etc. in zydeco-ic blues
> songs.
>
> But isn't "Jewess" still cool in the UK? It seems to me that Bernard
> Lewis(?) uses it throughout his writings. Well, it's been fifty years
> since I've read anything by him (assuming that I have the right person
> in mind). So, what do I know?
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 4/10/07, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: OED & Jigaboo
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------
>>
>> At 10:41 AM -0400 4/10/07, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:
>>> On Tue, Apr 10, 2007 at 09:30:32AM -0500, Scot LaFaive wrote:
>>>>  After hearing about Imus and being curious about "jigaboo," I
>>>> looked it up
>>>>  in the OED: "A Black person, a Negro." This made me think;
>>>> isn't "Negro" now
>>>>  considered somewhat offensive? I've heard that "Black" was once
>>>> offensive
>>>>  while "Negro" wasn't, but is it reversed now? Personally, I
>>>> find "Black" as
>>>>  acceptable and valid as "White," but I would never use "Negro."
>>>> Though there
>>>>  still is the United Negro College Fund....
>>>
>>> The OED's recently revised entry for _Negro_ has a long note
>>> about the usage, including mention of the UNCF, and the
>>> comment "...the term _Negro_ (together with related terms such
>>> as _Negress_) has fallen from favour and is now typically
>>> regarded as out of date or even offensive in both British and
>>> American English."
>>
>> "Out of date" is crucial for _Negro_ (and I think
>> there's a clear distinction vis-Ã -vis "Negress"
>> which--like "Jewess"--is out-of-date *and*
>> offensive).  In referring to, say, "the Negro
>> leagues", it's not necessarily intended or
>> received as offensive, although it is indeed
>> generally "[out] of favour".  Similarly, there's
>> "colored", surviving (hidden) in NAACP.
>>
>> LH
>>
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>
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> -----
>                                                       -Sam'l Clemens
>
> "Experience" is the ability to recognize a mistake when you make
> it, again.
>
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