Ginny/Guinea
A slang term for Italian Americans.
It's racial slur day here at Me Like Words and we're starting off with those damn Eye-ties. Ginny is one of my favorite racial slurs only because it seems so quaint these days; like hating Hungarians or something. Anyways, there is a split when it come to the proper spelling of this term so I will give you the background of both.

First up is ginny. In the 19th century Italians began to pour into America, just like every other European ethnic group. There were jobs (kind of), homes (sort of) and freedom (eh?). They came in droves and the Italians decided to set up shop in New York City. To this day the view of the classic New Yorker is a fat Italian guy from Brooklyn in pleated chinos and a wife beater, chomping on a cigar, bitching about Starbucks. These guys were called Ginnys and even their shirts were christened Ginny-T's. So how did we get ginny? Ginny is simply an acronym for "Going into New York, as was the custom of the day.

The second theory regarding this term revolves around a different spelling, Guinea. Now Guinea proper is a region in Africa, not a place in Italy so what does that have anything to do with Italians? It appears that term Guinea is a shortened version of a far more offensive term, Guinea Negro which makes reference to the fact that Italians have darker skin than the rest of Europe and the belief that they were once dominated by the Moors (Northern African Muslims), although the moors only seem to have made quick attacks. Dominated by barbarians: yes. Moors: no.

So there you have it. Anyway you slice it Ginny/Guinea is a hilarious slur to use on all of our Italian American friends. Hey look, some have even started adopting it as their own!


  ¶ 7:17 AM