[Ads-l] squarehead

[Jonathan Lighter]

Esp._ Naut. & Mil. _A German; (hence) a Scandinavian.  Derogatory. OED:
1903.

All from Newspapers.com:

1848 _N.Y. Daily Herald_ (Nov. 5) 4: The French, in their revolutions, are
soon up, and soon down. But the German square-heads, when once raised,
there is no putting them down.  1879 _Liverpool Mercury_ (Feb. 15) 6:
Squareheads and Dagoes beware!   1884 _Daily British Whig_ (Kingston, Ont.)
(Aug. 26) 4: Unhappily for Paris, there were worse than William and his
square-heads lurking in the background. 1884 _Western Home
Journal_(Lawrence, Kans.) (Sept. 11) 1: The Coming of the Square-Heads.
…Paris awoke in a very savage humor.  1886 _Bristol [Eng.] Times_(Feb. 16)
6: Steamboat loads of raw Scandinavians and “square-heads.” 1889 _Buffalo
[N.Y.] Courier-Express_ (Nov. 1) 3: Scandinavian sailors….These the
American toughs spoke of as “square heads.” 1889 _Aurora [Ind.] Journal_
(Dec. 5) 4: Dodge City, Kans. …The railroad men, cowboys, and
“square-heads,” as the Scandinavians were called, were roped in to trying
the lottery. 1890_ Pittsburgh Post_ (Jan. 20) 6: A squarehead named Kohl,
just discharged from the German navy, was…lamp trimmer. 1901 _Evening Star_
(Washington, D.C.) (Aug. 10) 14: This lady has long been known in police
annals as “Squarehead Jennie,” … Scandinavians being known at this end of
the line as “Squareheads,” just as Italians are collectively called
“Dagoes” or “Ginneys.”

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