wog
See also: WOG, WoG, and Wog
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɒɡ/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒɡ
Etymology 1
- An abbreviation 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]
Noun
wog (plural wogs)
- (Britain, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) Any dark-skinned person. It originally referred specifically to Indians, but later also applied to people of North African, Mediterranean, or Middle Eastern ancestry.
- 1889, The American Missionary Volume 43 p. 81:
- '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."
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- (Australia, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of Southern European, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, or Southeastern European ancestry.
- 2015, Johnny Lieu, “Cronulla Riots: What happened on one of Australia's darkest days”, in Mashable:
- 'Every fucking aussie. Go to Cronulla Beach Sunday for some Leb and wog bashing Aussie Pride ok.'
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Usage notes
In Australia (and to a lesser extent New Zealand), many people no longer find the word offensive but rather a nickname for a historically significant group (similar to pom or yankee); and many Southern Europeans and Arabs have reclaimed the word, such as Australian YouTuber and comedian Superwog.
Synonyms
- (person of Italian descent): dago, Eyetie, goombah, greaseball, guido, guinea, wop
Derived terms
- wogball
- woggish
- wogspeak
- woggy
Translations
an offensive term for a dark-skinned person
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person of Italian descent — see wop
Verb
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
Abbreviation of polliwog (“a tadpole”).
Noun
wog (plural wogs)
- Abbreviation of polliwog.
- (nautical, slang) A pollywog, or sailor who has never crossed the Equator.
Etymology 3
Unknown. Probably an abbreviation of polliwog (“a tadpole”).
Noun
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.
Etymology 4
Following the usage of L. Ron Hubbard, who held that wog was originally an acronym of worthy oriental gentleman, but employed it in the specific sense of "common ordinary run-of-the-mill garden-variety humanoid".
Noun
wog (plural wogs)
- (Scientology) A person who is not a Scientologist.
- 1998 December 31, Hartley Patterson, “Documented Membership??”, in alt.religion.scientology, Usenet, message-ID <76gomd$tae$1@news4.svr.pol.co.uk>:
- So yes, they do keep records, but no they are not 'accurate' in the wog world meaning of the word.
- 2007 June 21, Dave Touretzky, “date correction for DM's big revelation”, in alt.religion.scientology, 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 […]
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References
- "wog, n.1." , OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2019. Accessed 11 July 2019.
Anagrams
- Gow, Gow., gow
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /voːk/
Audio (Austria) (file)
Verb
wog
- first/third-person singular preterite of wiegen
- first/third-person singular preterite of wägen