An unexpected occurrence of an ethnic slur

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

Never a honky?

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>

Date:         Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:33:03
To:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject:      [ADS-L] An unexpected occurrence of an ethnic slur


In the song, "Garlic Blues," Helen Humes sings that her garlic-loving
boyfriend is

"... just like a _dago_ ..."

AFAIK, this is unique in black music. Well, there is the use of
"monkey-man" for a West Indian. But this is the only case that I know
of in which a slur against a white ethnic group occurs.

-Wilson
--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
 -Sam'l Clemens

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

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