wog
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
The origins are not entirely clear. The term was first noted by the lexicographer F.C. Bowen in 1929, in his Sea Slang: a dictionary of the old-timers’ expressions and epithets, where he defines wogs as "lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast."
The most common theory is that it is a clipping of golliwog, which was first used as the name of a black-faced doll in Florence Upton’s 1895 book The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. A variety of erroneous folk etymologies exist, with the most common claiming that the word is an acronym for one of either westernized, worthy, wily, or wonderful preceding “Oriental gentlemen”. Another erroneous claim is that it was used in the mid 1800s, with WOGS (meaning Working On Government Service) stencilled on the shirts of Indian workers in Egypt.[1]
The Scientologist sense is from the usage of L. Ron Hubbard, who apparently accepted the folk etymology from “worthy Oriental gentleman” but employed the term to mean “common ordinary run-of-the-mill garden-variety humanoid”.
Noun edit
wog (plural wogs)
- (British, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) Any person who looks in-between "white" and "black": originally specifically an Indian, but later also broadened to anybody of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent.
- 1889, The American Missionary Volume 43 p. 81[2]:
- 'One of the little Indian girls whose name is Polly has just come in to ask, " Miss D., what is a wog? One white boy called me a polliwog, and I thought a wog must be something bad."'
- 1921, Lionel James, chapter 18, in The History of King Edward's Horse, page 188:
- "The King Edward's Horse called the Indian Cavalry 'The Wogs'—which is the diminutive of 'Golliwogs',—a description that was very apt of these dark apparitions in khaki and tin-hats."
- (Australia, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) Specifically someone of Mediterranean descent.
- 2015, Johnny Lieu, “Cronulla Riots: What happened on one of Australia's darkest days”, in Mashable[3]:
- 'Every fucking aussie. Go to Cronulla Beach Sunday for some Leb and wog bashing Aussie Pride ok.'
- (Scientology, often attributive) A person who is not a Scientologist.
- 2007 June 21, Dave Touretzky, “date correction for DM's big revelation”, in alt.religion.scientology[5] (Usenet), message-ID <467ab5da$1@news2.lightlink.com>:
- I'm of course talking about Hubbard's books (including Book One) being extensively rewritten, and Scn's decision to remove any mention of LRH from materials intended for wogs.
- 2012, Bruce Clark, Love, Sex, Fleas, God:
- At the Org there were mixed feelings towards wogs because, at any given time, there were wogs in our midst. Wogs coming in off the street in search of Scientology services were looked upon favourably […]
Usage notes edit
In Australia (and to a lesser extent New Zealand), many Southern Europeans, Arabs, and other Mediterranean groups have reclaimed the word, such as Australian YouTuber and comedian Superwog.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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Verb edit
wog (third-person singular simple present wogs, present participle wogging, simple past and past participle wogged)
- (Australia, WWII slang, obsolete) (Of soldiers stationed abroad) to sell something, especially illicit or stolen goods, to the local inhabitants.
- (Australia, UK, dated) To steal.
Etymology 2 edit
Clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”).
Noun edit
wog (plural wogs)
Etymology 3 edit
Unknown. Probably from Etymology 2, a clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”).
Noun edit
wog (plural wogs)
- (Australia slang) A bug, an insect.
- (Australia slang) A minor illness caused by bacteria, virus, intestinal parasite, etc.
- (Australia slang, obsolete) A toy insect in parts that can be assembled, used in fund-raising games.
References edit
Anagrams edit
German edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
wog