List of ethnic slurs

The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or otherwise insulting manner.

Some of the terms listed below (such as "gringo", "yank", etc.) can be used in casual speech without any intention of causing offense. The connotation of a term and prevalence of its use as a pejorative or neutral descriptor varies over time and by geography.

For the purposes of this list, an ethnic slur is a term designed to insult others on the basis of race, ethnicity, or nationality. Each term is listed followed by its country or region of usage, a definition, and a reference to that term.

Ethnic slurs may also be produced as a racial epithet by combining a general-purpose insult with the name of ethnicity, such as "dirty Jew", "Russian pig", etc. Other common insulting modifiers include "dog", "filthy", etc. However, such terms are not included in this list.

A

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Abbie, Abe, Abie	United States, Canada	Jewish men	Originated before the 1950s. From the proper name Abraham.
ABC	East Asia	American-born Chinese, Han or other Chinese (including Taiwanese) born and raised in the United States.	The term implies an otherness or lack of connection to their Chinese identity and (usually) Chinese language; however, it has been reappropriated by many Chinese Americans and used to convey positive connotations.
ABCD	South Asians in the US	American-Born Confused Desi, Indian Americans or other South Asian Americans, (desi) who were born in the United States.	Used chiefly by South Asian immigrants to imply confusion about cultural identity
Abid/Abeed (plural)	Middle East and North Africa	Black African people	Arabic for slave, associated with the Arab slave trade
Abo/Abbo	Australia	Australian Aboriginal person	Originally, this was simply an informal term for Aborigine, and was in fact used by Aboriginal people themselves (such as in the Aboriginal-run newspaper Abo Call) until it started to be considered offensive in the 1950s. Although Abo is still considered quite offensive by many, the pejorative boong is now more commonly used when the intent is deliberately to offend, as that word's status as an insult is unequivocal.
Afro engineering, African engineering or nigger rigging	United States	African Americans	Shoddy, second-rate or unconventional, makeshift workmanship. Indirectly refers to black American people as worse or lower-valued than white American people when associating anything bad with them.
Ah Chah	Hong Kong	South Asian people	From 阿差; Cantonese Yale: achā; from "acchā" meaning "good" or "OK" in Hindi.
Ali Baba	United States	Iraqi people	An Iraqi suspected of criminal activity.
Alligator bait, 'gator bait	United States (chiefly southern U.S.)	Black people, especially black children	Dates from early 20th century or before; implies that African Americans are good for nothing except being used to bait alligators
Alpine Serb	Serbo-Croatian: Alpski Srbin (ex-Yugoslavia)	People of Slovenian origin.
Ang mo	Malaysia, Singapore	European people, especially the Dutch	Hokkien for "red hair" referring to Dutch people from the 17th century and expanded to encompass other Europeans by the 19th century. It has become a neutral term, though is sometimes seen as derogatory.
Ann	United States, Canada	White women, "white-acting" black women	While Miss Ann, also just plain Ann, is a derisive reference to white women, it is also applied to any black woman who is deemed to be acting as though she is white.
Annamite, mites	French, English	Vietnamese people
Ape	United States	Black people	Referring to outdated theories ascribing cultural differences between racial groups as being linked to their evolutionary distance from chimpanzees, with which humans share common ancestry.
Apple	United States, Canada	Native Americans	First used in the 1970s. Someone who is "red on the outside, white on the inside". Used primarily by other Native Americans to indicate someone who has lost touch with their cultural identity.
Arabush / Aravush (ערבוש)	Israel	Arabs	Arabs, derived from Hebrew "Aravi" (Arab).
Argie/Argies (plural)	United Kingdom	Argentine people	Extensively used by the British soldiers during the Falklands War in 1982.
Armo	United States	Armenian/Armenian American	Especially used in Southern California.
Asing, Aseng	Indonesia	Non-Indonesian people, especially Chinese people	Insult to non-Indonesian citizen, from "[orang] asing" (foreigner) that rhymed with "Aseng" (Chinese name). This word is often directed at Chinese people due to Indonesia's relationship with the PRC.
Ashke-Nazi (אשכנאצי)	Israel	Ashkenazi Jews	Pronounced like "AshkeNatzi". Used mostly by Mizrachi Jews.
Aunt Jemima/Aunt Jane/Aunt Mary/Aunt Sally	United States	Black women	A black woman who "kisses up" to whites, a "sellout", female counterpart of Uncle Tom.

B

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Bachicha	Chile	Italian people	Possibly derived from the Italian word Baciccia, a nickname for Giambattista.
Baiano	Brazil	Northeastern Brazilian people	A person born in Bahia, one of the 9 states in the Northeast Region of Brazil. As a slur, it refers generically to any Northeastern person. Used mainly in São Paulo, the term is related to the Northeastern immigration of the second half of the 20th century.
Bamboula	France	Black people
Balija	Turkey, the Balkans	Bosnian people	An ethnic Bosniak or a member of the Bosnian diaspora.
Banana	United States, Canada	East or Southeast Asian people	"Yellow on the outside, white on the inside". Used primarily by East or Southeast Asians for other East- or Southeast Asians or Asian American who are perceived as assimilated into mainstream American culture. Similar to Apple.
Banderowiec	Poland	Ukrainians	The term Banderite was originally used to refer to the ultra-nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In Poland, the term "banderowiec" is used in connection with the massacres of Poles in Volhynia by the UPA.
Barbarian	Greece	Non-Greek people	Someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. βάρβαρος (barbaros pl. βάρβαροι barbaroi). In Ancient Greece, the Greeks used the term towards those who did not speak Greek and follow classical Greek customs.
Beaner / Beaney	United States	Hispanic or Latino people, especially Mexicans	The term originates from the use of frijoles pintos and other beans that can be generally found in Mexican food or other Hispanic and Latino foods.
Black buck or black brute	United States	Black men	Originating in the post-Reconstruction United States, it was used to describe black men who absolutely refused to bend to the law of white authority and were seen as irredeemably violent, rude, and lecherous.
Bluegum	United States	African Americans	An African American perceived as being lazy and unwilling to work.
Boche / bosche / bosch	France; United States; United Kingdom	German people	Shortened from the French term caboche dure, meaning "hard head" or "stubborn").
Boeotian	Athenians	Boeotian Greek people	Referring to the supposed stupidity of the inhabitants of the neighboring Boeotia region of Greece.
Boerehater / Boer-hater / Boer hater	South Africa; United Kingdom	British people	Refers to a person who hates, prejudices, or criticizes the Boers, or Afrikaners – historically applied to British people who held anti-Boers sentiments.
Bog / Bogtrotter / Bog-trotter	United Kingdom, Ireland, United States	Irish people	A person of common or low-class Irish ancestry.
Bogate	Chile	Yugoslav people	The expression is said to come from the Yugoslav interjection Hasti boga!
Bohunk	United States, Canada	Bohemian people	A lower-class immigrant of Central, Eastern, or Southeastern European descent. Originally referred to those of Bohemian (now Czech Republic) descent. It was commonly used toward Central European immigrants during the early 20th century. Probably from Bohemian + a distortion of Hungarian. See also hunky.
Bong	India	Bengali people
Boong / bong / bung	Australia	Australian Aboriginals	[First used in 1847 by JD Lang, Cooksland, 430]. Boong, pronounced with ʊ (like the vowel in bull), is related to the Australian English slang word bung, meaning "dead", "infected", or "dysfunctional". From bung, to go bung "Originally to die, then to break down, go bankrupt, cease to function [Ab. bong dead]". The (Oxford) Australian National Dictionary gives its origin in the Wemba word for "man" or "human being".
Boonga / boong / bunga / boonie	New Zealand	Pacific Islanders	Likely derived from the similar Australian slur.
Bootlip	United States	African American
Bougnoule	France	Arabian people
Bounty bar	United Kingdom	Black people	A black person who is considered to be behaving like a white person (i.e. dark on the outside, white on the inside).
Bozgor	Romania	Hungarian people	Used especially on ones born in Romania. Possibly derived from the Moldavian Csángó dialect pronunciation of bocskor meaning Opanak, a type of rustic footwear.
Brillo Pad	United Kingdom and United States	Black people	Used to refer to the hair of a black person
Brownie	United States, New Zealand, and Australia	Brown-skinned people, an Asian	Used in the 1850s–1960s; in Australia it was used for an Aboriginal Australian or someone Japanese; in New Zealand, a Māori
Buckwheat	United States	Black people	The name of a black character that appeared in the Our Gang (Little Rascals) short films. Today it is used to refer to the curly hair of a black person.
Buddhahead	United States	Asian people	Also used by mainland Japanese Americans to refer to Hawaiian Japanese Americans since World War II.
Buckra, Bakra	United States, West Indies	White people from Sub-Saharan African languages
Bulbash	Russia, Ukraine	Belarusians	Derived from Belarusian word "bulba" (potatoes), based on the fact that potatoes are a very common ingredient in Belarusian cuisine.
Bule	Indonesia	White people or foreigner	Derived from an archaic Indonesian word for albino.
Bumbay	Philippines	people from India	From Bombay
Burrhead / Burr-head / Burr head	United States	Black people	Referencing Afro-textured hair.

C

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Cabbage Eater		German and Russian people
Canaca	Chile	Chinese and Japanese people	Canaca is a slur originating in Oceania.
Camel jockey / camel dung-shoveler		Middle Eastern people
Carcamano	Brazil	Italian people	Used during the early 20th century, during the Second wave of Italian immigration to Brazil.
Chankoro	Japan	Chinese people	Japanese: チャンコロ, a Japanese reference to a Chinese person.
Charlie	United States	White Americans	Used in the 1960s–1970s. White people as a reified collective oppressor group, similar to The Man or The System.
	United States	Vietnamese people	Vietnam War Slang term used by American troops as a shorthand term for Vietnamese guerrillas, derived from the verbal shorthand for "Victor Charlie", the NATO phonetic alphabet for VC, the abbreviation for Viet Cong. The (regular) North Vietnamese Army was referred to as "Mr. Charles".
China Swede	United States	Finns	Derogatory term for Finnish immigrants to the United States, particularly in Minnesota and Michigan.
Chee-chee, Chi-chi	South Asia	Eurasian Mixed-race people, especially Anglo-Indians	Probably derived from Hindi chi-chi fie!, literally, dirt.
Cheese-eating surrender monkeys	United Kingdom, United States	French people	From the defeat of the French by the Germans in 1940, and the huge variety of cheeses originating from France. Gained popularity after the term was used on an episode of The Simpsons.
Chefur (čefur)	Slovenia	Non-Slovenian people of former Yugoslavia (Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Macedonians)
Tsekwa / Chekwa	Philippines	Chinese Filipino people	Used in Filipino/Tagalog and other Philippine languages, which derived it from the late 19th century Cebuano Bisaya street children's limerick, Cebuano: Intsik, wákang, káun, kalibang!, lit. 'Chinese (laborer), I work, eat, and shit!', where "Intsik"/"Insik" is derived from the Philippine Hokkien term, Chinese: 𪜶 叔; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: in chek; lit. 'his/her/their uncle', while "wakang"/"gwakang" is derived from the Philippine Hokkien term, Chinese: 我 工; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: góa kang; lit. 'I work', while "kaon"/"kaun" is from the Cebuano Bisaya term, Cebuano: kaon, lit. 'to eat', while "kalibang" is from the Cebuano Bisaya term, Cebuano: kalibang, lit. 'to defecate'.
Chernozhopy	Russia	Indigenous people from the Caucasus, e.g. from Chechnya or Azerbaijan.	черножопый, or chornaya zhopa, meaning "black-arse" in Russian.
Chilote	Argentina	Chilean people
Chinaman	United States, Canada	Chinese people	A calque of the Chinese 中國人. It was used in the gold rush and railway-construction eras in western United States when discrimination against the Chinese was common.
Ching chong	United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, Philippines	Chinese people	Mocking the language of or a person of perceived Chinese descent.
Chink	United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, India	Chinese people
Chinky	Mainland India	Northeast Indian people	The sound "chin" refers to China. The slur refers to the shared facial features of Northeast Indians and ethnically Chinese peoples.
Chonky		Asian people	Refers to a person of Asian heritage with "white attributes", in either personality or appearance.
Christ-killer		Jewish people	An allusion to Jewish deicide.
Choc-ice		Black people	A person who is figuratively 'black on the outside, white on the inside'.
Cholo	Latin America, Southwestern United States	Indigenous or Mestizo people	It may be derogatory depending on circumstances.
	Chile	Bolivian people, Peruvian people
Chug	Canada	Canadian aboriginal people	See Chugach for the native people.
Chukhna	Russia	Finnic people
Churka (Russian: Чурка	Russia	Western and Central Asians	чурка slur for Central Asians and indigenous people of Caucasus.
Ciapaty, ciapak	Poland	Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian, and Caucasian people.	Derived from chapati.
Cigányforma	Hungary (17th century)	old Hungarian slur against persons with the combination of black hair with brown eyes, regardless ethnicity	Its literal meaning is "Gypsy form"
Cigány népek	Hungary (17th century)	old Hungarian slur against ethnic groups or nations where the combination of black hair with brown eyes are dominant	Its literal meaning is "Gypsy folks"
Cioară	Romania	Romani people and Black people	Means crow
Cina / Cokin	Indonesia	Chinese people	Use in media has been banned since 2014 under Keppres no. 12/2014, replaced by Tiongkok (from Zhongguo 中国) or Tionghoa (from Zhonghua 中华). The President Decision (Keppres) even bans use of "China" in media and formal use.
Coconut	United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia	Hispanics/Latinos, South/Southeast Asians	Named after the coconut, in the American sense, it derives from the fact that a coconut is brown on the outside and white on the inside. A person of Hispanic/Latino or South/Southeast Asian descent who is seen as being assimilated into white American culture.
		South Asians	A brown person of South Asian descent is perceived as fully assimilated into Western culture.
		Pacific Islander
Coño	Chile	Spanish people	Used in to refer to Spanish people given the perception that they recurrently use of the vulgar interjection coño (lit. "cunt").
Coolie	United States, Canada	Asian people, usually Chinese, and Indo-Caribbean people	Unskilled Asian laborer (originally used in the 19th century for Chinese railroad laborers). Possibly from Mandarin "苦力" ku li or Hindi kuli, "day laborer." Also racial epithet for Indo-Caribbean people, especially in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and South African Indians.
Coon	United States, Commonwealth	Black people	Slur popularized by Coon songs played at Minstrel show. Originally associated in the 1830s with the U.S. Whig Party who used a raccoon as their emblem. The Whigs were more tolerant towards blacks than other main parties. After the party folded the term "coon" evolved from political slang into a racial slur. Within African American communities, the word has been used to refer to a black person who is allegedly a "sellout".
	Australia	Aboriginal Australian
	New Zealand	Pacific Islander
Coonass, Coon-ass	United States	Cajun people	Not to be confused with the French connasse, meaning cunt.
Coreano	Chile	Chinese and Japanese people
Cracker	United States	White people, especially poor Appalachian and Southern people	First used in the 19th century. It is sometimes used specifically to refer to a native of Florida or Georgia. Also used in a more general sense in the United States to refer to white people disparagingly.
Crow	United States
Crucco (m.), crucca (f.)	Italy	German people	The name was firstly given during the First World War to the troops of the Austro-Hungarian Army of Croatian and Slovenian ethnicity. Later the term was used to indicate the Germans.
Curepí	Paraguay	Argentines	A common term used by people from Paraguay for people from Argentina, it means "pig's skin".
Curry-muncher	Australia, Africa, New Zealand, United States, Canada	South Asian People
Cushi, Kushi (כושי)	Israel	Dark-skinned people	Term originated from Kushite, referring to an individual from the Ancient Kingdom of Kush. This was also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible generally used to refer to people usually of African descent. Originally merely descriptive, in present-day Israel it increasingly assumed a pejorative connotation and is regarded as insulting by Ethiopian Israelis; and by non-Jewish, Sub-Saharan African migrant workers and asylum seekers in Israel.
Czarnuch (m.), czarnucha (f.)	Poland	Black people

D

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Dago, Dego	United States, Commonwealth	Italians, Spaniards, Greeks, or Portuguese people	Possibly derived from the Spanish name "Diego"
Dal Khor	Urdu-speaking people	Indians and Pakistanis (specifically Punjabis)	The term literally translates to "dal eater", connoting the supposedly higher emphasis on pulses and vegetables in the diet of countryside Punjabis.
Darky / darkey / darkie		Black people	According to lexicographer Richard A. Spears, the word "darkie" used to be considered mild and polite, before it took on a derogatory and provocative meaning.
Dhoti	Nepal	Indian or Madheshi people	As reference to their indigenous clothing Dhoti worn by people of Indian subcontinent.
Dink	United States	Southeast Asian, particularly Vietnamese people.	Origin: 1965–70, Americanism. Also used as a disparaging term for a North Vietnamese soldier or guerrilla in the Vietnam War.
Dogan, dogun	Canada	Irish Catholics	[19th century on; origin uncertain: perhaps from Dugan, an Irish surname].
Dothead, Dot		Hindu women	In reference to the bindi.
Dune coon	United States	Arabian people	equivalent of sand nigger (below).

E

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Eight ball, 8ball		Black people	Referring to the black ball in pool. Slang, usually used disparagingly
Eyetie	United States, United Kingdom	Italian people	Originated through the mispronunciation of "Italian" as "Eye-talian". Slang usually used disparagingly (especially during World War II).

F

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Farang khi nok	Thailand	Poor white people	Is slang commonly used as an insult to a person of white race, equivalent to white trash, as khi means feces and nok means bird, referring to the white color of bird-droppings.
Fenian	Northern Ireland, Scotland	Irish Catholics	Derived from the Fenian Brotherhood.
Festival children (Russian: Дети фестиваля)	USSR (from late 1950s)	Children of mixed descent, with either parent (usually father) of black African or (more rarely) other non-European descent	It is believed that the first noticeable appearance of black or mixed-blood children appeared after the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students of 1957. The term was often used ironically and sometimes in a mildly derogatory fashion. This term is currently not used.
Feuj (verlan for juif)	France	Jewish people
Fidschi(de)	East Germany	Asian looking people, particularly Vietnamese people	German for Fiji, used to refer to anyone who looks Asian
Fjellabe	Denmark	Norwegian people	Means mountain ape. Jocularly used by Danes mostly in sports. From the 1950s. Norway is mountainous while Denmark is flat without mountains.
Flip	United States	Filipino people
Franchute	Chile	French people
Frenk	Ashkenazi Jews	Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews	Derived from Franks (as a reference to Western Europeans), due to the fact Sephardi Jews are Judaeo-Spanish speakers.
Fritz, fricc, fryc, фриц, fricis	United Kingdom, France, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Latvia	German people	from Friedrich (Frederick).
Frog, Froggy, Frogeater,	Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States	Dutch people (formerly) French and French Canadian people (currently)	Before the 19th century, referred to the Dutch (as they were stereotyped as being marsh-dwellers). When France became Britain's main enemy, replacing the Dutch, the epithet was transferred to them, because of the French penchant for eating frogs' legs (see comparable French term Rosbif). Also known in Slavic countries, but only towards the (mainland) French, see Polish żabojad, Ukrainian zhaboyid (жабоїд), Russian lyagushatnik (лягушатник); as well as in Basque frantximant.
Fuzzy-Wuzzy	United Kingdom	Hadendoa people	Term used to refer to the Hadendoa warriors in the 19th century, in reference to their elaborate hairstyles. Not applicable in Australia, see Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.

G

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Gabacho	Spain, Chile	French people	From Occitan gavach meaning "one who speaks wrong."
	Mexico	American people, French people	Neutral or pejorative depending on context.
Gabel	Albania, Kosovo	Romani people	Expression of disdain for someone, with the setting "Maxhup"
Gadjo		Non-Romani people	Technically a term for a person who does not possess Romanipen, it usually refers to non-Romanis and Romanis who do not live within Romani culture.
Gaijin (外人)	Japan	People of non-East Asian origin
Galla	Ethiopia	Oromo people or others in Ethiopia and Somalia	Used since 1670
Gans (Ганс)	USSR	German people, or more uncommonly Latvian people	The term originated among the Soviet troops in World War II, coming from Russified form of the German first name Hans. At the end and after the World War II the term was also applied by Russians to Latvians as a way of equating them to Germans since from 1943 to 1945, during the Nazi occupation of Latvia, nearly 100,000 Latvians were mobilised in the Latvian Legion and fought the Soviets alongside Germans.
Garoi	Romania	Romani people	It means crow.
Gexhë	Kosovo	Serbs of Šumadija	Derogatory expression for the Serbs of southern Serbia, of Šumadija.
Gin	Australia	Aboriginal woman		Moore (2004), "gin"
Gin jockey	Australia	White people	A white person having casual sex with an Aboriginal woman.
Godon	France	English people	An antiquated pejorative expression. Possibly a corruption of "God-damn".
Golliwog	United States, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand	Darkskinned people, especially African-Caribbeans	An expression which originally was a children's literature character and type of black doll but which eventually came to be used as a jibe against people with dark skin.
Gook, Gook-eye, Gooky	United States	East and Southeast Asians, but particularly Koreans	The earliest recorded example is dated 1920. Used especially for enemy soldiers. Its use has been traced to United States Marines serving in the Philippines in the early 20th century. It gained widespread notice as a result of the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Goombah	United States	Italian people, Italian-Americans	Initially applied to Italian or Italian-American men in general, it now also specifically carries connotations of stereotypical vulgar machismo and Italian Mafia or Italian-American Mafia involvement among ethnic Italians and Italian-Americans. However, "goombah" is also used among Italian-Americans themselves to refer to a friend or comrade; the word becomes pejorative mostly when used by a non-Italian to refer to an ethnic Italian or Italian-American in a derogatory or patronizing way rather than as a friendly term of address among Italian-Americans. Originates from the Southern Italian word cumpa or cumpari and the Standard Italian equivalent, compare, meaning "godfather".
Gora	India	Europeans and other light-skinned people	The word “gora” simply means a person of European descent or other light skinned person in Hindi and other Indo-Aryan languages. However, it is often used as an insult to white people, with “gori” being used to refer to a white woman.
Goy, Goyim, Goyum	Hebrew	Non-Jewish people	A Hebrew biblical term for "Nation" or "People". By Roman times it had also acquired the meaning of "non-Jew". In English, use may be benign, to refer to anyone who isn't Jewish, or controversial, as it can have pejorative connotations.
Grago, Gragok (shrimp)		Eurasians, Kristang people	A term for Eurasians, and specifically for the Kristang people of Malaysia, many of whom were traditionally engaged in shrimp fishing. It often has pejorative connotations, especially when used by outsiders, though in recent generations members of the community have to some degree tried to reclaim the term.
Greaseball, Greaser	United States	Mediterranean/Southern European and Hispanic people, and especially Italian people.	"Greaser" has taken on a less derogatory connotation since the 1950s.
Greenhorn	United States, New England region, especially Massachusetts.	Portuguese people	can also be used in a non-derogatory context when not referring to the Portuguese to mean anyone inexperienced at something.
Gringo	Spanish speakers, mostly Latin America	English speakers	Sometimes used by Latino Americans. In Mexico, the term means an American. Likely from the Spanish word "griego", meaning Greek (similar to the English expression "It's all Greek to me").
	Brazil	Foreigners	A colloquial neutral term for any foreigner, regardless of race, ethnicity or origin (including Portuguese people), or for a person whose native language is not Portuguese (including people whose native language is Spanish).
Groid	United States	Black people	Derived from "negroid".
Gryzun (Грызун)	Russia	Georgian people	Meaning "rodent", a word very similar to the Russian word for Georgian, "Gruzin" (Грузин).
Gub, Gubba	Australia	White people	Aboriginal term for white people
Guizi (鬼子)	Mainland China	Non-Chinese	Basically the same meaning as the term gweilo used in Hong Kong. More often used when referring foreigners as military enemies, such as riben guizi (日本鬼子, Japanese devils, because of Second Sino-Japanese War), meiguo guizi (美国鬼子, American devils, because of Korean War).
Guido, Guidette	United States	Italian Americans	Derives from the Italian given name, Guido. Guidette is the female counterpart. Used mostly in the Northeastern United States as a stereotype for working-class urban Italian Americans.
Guinea, Ginzo		Italian people	Most likely derived from "Guinea Negro", implying that Italians are dark or swarthy-skinned the natives of Guinea. The diminutive "Ginzo" probably dates back to World War II and is derived from Australian slang picked up by United States servicemen in the Pacific Theater.
Gummihals	Switzerland	German people	Literally "rubber neck"
Gusano	Cuba	Cuban exiles after the revolution	Literally "worm"
Gweilo, gwailo, kwai lo (鬼佬)	Southern Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau	White men	Loosely translated as "foreign devil"; more literally, might be "ghost dude/bloke/guy/etc". Gwei means "ghost". The color white is associated with ghosts in China. A lo is a regular guy (i.e. a fellow, a chap, or a bloke). Once a mark of xenophobia, the word is now in general, informal use.
Gwer	North Africa	White people
Gyp/Gip		Romani people	shortened version of "gypsy"
Gyopo, Kyopo (교포)	Korea	Estranged Korean people	Literally "sojourner". A Korean who was born or raised overseas, particularly the United States. (see also banana in this page)
Gypsy, Gyppo, gippo, gypo, gyppie, gyppy, gipp	United Kingdom, Australia	Egyptian people and Romani people	Derived from "Egyptian", Egypt being mistakenly considered these people's origin.

H

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Hairyback	South Africa	Afrikaners
Hajji, Hadji, Haji	United States Military	Iraqis, Arabs, Afghans, or Middle Eastern and South Asian people	Derived from the honorific Al-Hajji, the title given to a Muslim who has completed the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).
Half-breed		Multi-ethnic people	Métis is a French term, also used in Canadian English, for a half-breed, and mestizo is the equivalent in Spanish, although these are not offensive per se.
Half-caste	England, Australia	Mixed race (usually between Australian Aboriginal and white people in Australian parlance)	Originally used as a legal and social term.
Haole	United States, Hawaiian	Non-Hawaiian people, almost always white people.	Can be used neutrally, dependent on context.
Heeb, Hebe	United States	Jewish people	Derived from the word "Hebrew."
Hike	United States	Italian immigrants	Sometimes used with or to distinguish from "Hunk" ("Hunky").
Hillbilly	United States	Appalachian or Ozark Americans
Honky, honkey, honkie	United States	White people	Derived from an African American pronunciation of "hunky," the disparaging term for a Hungarian laborer. The first record of its use as an insulting term for a white person dates from the 1950s.
	New Zealand	European New Zealanders	Used by Māori to refer to New Zealanders of European descent.
Hori	New Zealand	Māori	From the formerly common Maorified version of the English name George.
Houtkop	South Africa	People of Black African descent	literally "wooden head"
Huan-a, Huana	Worldwide	Any non-Chinese	This word is derogatory because huan-a means "foreigner" which portrays non-Chinese as not a human
Huinca	Argentina, Chile	Non-Mapuche Chileans, non-Mapuche Argentines	Mapuche term dating back at least to the Conquest of Chile.
Hun	United States, United Kingdom	German people	(United States, United Kingdom) Germans, especially German soldiers; popular during World War I. Derived from a speech given by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany to the German contingent sent to China during the Boxer Rebellion in which he exhorted them to "be like Huns" (i.e., savage and ruthless) to their Chinese enemy.
	Ireland	Protestants and British soldiers	A Protestant in Northern Ireland or historically, a member of the British military in Ireland ("Britannia's huns").
Hunky, Hunk	United States	Central European laborers.	It originated in the coal regions of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where Poles and other immigrants from Central Europe (Hungarians (Magyar), Rusyns, Slovaks) came to perform hard manual labor in the mines.
Hymie	United States	Jewish people	Derived from the personal name Hyman (from the Hebrew name Chayyim). Jesse Jackson provoked controversy when he referred to New York City as "Hymietown" in 1984. Has also been spelled "Heimie", as a reflection of popular Jewish last names ending in -heim.

I

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Ikey / ike / iky: a Jew [from Isaac]		Jewish people	Derived from the name Isaac, an important figure in Hebrew culture.
Ikey-mo / ikeymo		Jewish people	Derived from the names Isaac and Moses, two important figures in Hebrew culture.
Indon	Malaysia, Singapore	Indonesian people	Clipping of Indonesia, Pontianak Malay for "whore".
Indognesial / Indonesial	Malaysia	Indonesian people	Which similar to "Indon" term mixed with "Dog" and "Sial" (Malay word for "Damn").
Intsik	Philippines	Chinese Filipino people	Used in Filipino/Tagalog and other Philippine languages. Based on the Philippine Hokkien term, Chinese: 𪜶 叔; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: in chek; lit. 'his/her/their uncle'.
Inyenzi	Rwanda	Tutsi people	A person of the Tutsi ethnic group in Africa. Literally means "Cockroach" and reportedly derives from how Tutsi rebels would attack at night and retreat, being hard to kill, like a cockroach. Most notably came to worldwide prominence around the time of the Rwanda genocide, as it was used by the RTLM in order to incite genocide.
Injun	United States	Native Americans	Corruption of "Indian"

J

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Jakun	Malaysia	Unsophisticated people, from the Malay name of an indigenous ethnic group.
Jamet, Jamet kuproy	Indonesia	Javanese people	Jamet stands for Jawa metal (a metalhead Javanese), while kuproy stands for kuli proyek (construction workers).
Japa	Brazil	Japanese people	Usually an affectionate way of referring to Japanese people (or, more generally, East Asian people), although it may be considered a slur. This term is never censored (as a slur typically would be) when it appears in mass media.
Jap	United States	Japanese people	Mostly found use during World War II, post-WWII.
		Jewish women	Usually written in all capital letters as an acronym for "Jewish-American princess," a stereotype of certain Jewish American females as materialistic or pampered.
Japie, yarpie		White, rural South Africans	derived from plaasjapie, "farm boy"
Jerry	Commonwealth	German people, especially soldiers	Probably an alteration of "German." Origin of Jerry can. Used especially during World War I and World War II.
Jewboy	United States, United Kingdom	Jewish boys	Originally directed at young Jewish boys who sold counterfeit coins in 18th century London
Jigaboo, jiggabo, jigarooni, jijjiboo, zigabo, jig, jigg, jigger	United States	Black people with stereotypical black features (e.g., dark skin, wide nose, and big lips).	From a Bantu verb tshikabo, meaning "they bow the head docilely," indicating meek or servile individuals.
Jidan	Romania	Jewish person.
Jim Crow	United States	Black people
Jjokbari	Korea	Japanese people
Jock, jocky, jockie	United Kingdom	Scottish people	Scots language nickname for the personal name John, cognate to the English, Jack. Occasionally used as an insult, but also in respectful reference to elite Scottish, particularly Highland troops, e.g., the 9th (Scottish) Division. Same vein as the English insult for the French, as Frogs. In Ian Rankin's detective novel Tooth and Nail the protagonist – a Scottish detective loaned to the London police – suffers from prejudice by English colleagues who frequently use "Jock" and "Jockland" (Scotland) as terms of insult; the book was based on the author's own experience as a Scot living in London.
Jungle bunny	United States, Commonwealth	Black people

K

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Kaew (แกว)	Northeastern Thailand	Vietnamese people
Kaffir, kaffer, kaffir, kafir, kaffre, kuffar	Arabian Peninsula	Non-Muslims (regardless of race).	also caffer or caffre. from Arabic kafir meaning "disbeliever".
	South Africa	Black people
		Members of a people inhabiting the Hindu Kush mountains of north-east Afghanistan
Kaffir boetie	South Africa	Black sympathizers during apartheid	Meaning "Kaffir brothers", it is analogous to "negro lover" in English. The term is outdated and no longer used.
Kalar	Burmese	Muslim citizens who are "black-skinned" or "undesirable aliens."
Kalia, Kalu, Kallu	Hindi	Darkskinned people	Literally means blackie generally used for black skinned people in India, can also have racist overtone when referring to Africans.
Kanaka	Australia	Pacific Islanders
Kanake	German	Turkish people	To some extent re-appropriated
Kano	Philippines	White Americans	Usually used in Filipino (Tagalog) or other Philippine languages. Shortened from the Filipino word "Amerikano". It usually refers to Americans, especially a stereotypical male white American, which may extend to western foreigners that may fit the stereotype which the speaker is not familiar with, especially those from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
Kaouiche, Kawish	Canadian French	Native Americans
Katsap, kacap, kacapas	Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Russia	Russian people	Ukrainian: кацап, Lithuanian: kacapas; self-deprecating usage by Russians
Kebab		Muslims, usually of Arabian or Turkic descent.	Its origin is a Serbian music video that was recorded in 1993 during the Yugoslav Wars but the phrase has spread globally amongst far-right groups and the alt-right as a meme between 2006 and 2008. Famously Turkish internet user parodied the sentiment of Serbian nationalists online, with a satirical incoherent rant that ended with the phrase "remove kebab" being repeated. Although the meme initially intended to parody racism, this meaning behind the meme was lost once it became common in alt-right discourse.
Keko	Turkey	Kurdish men	Originally neutral Kurdish word meaning man, pal, or friend, but became derogatory among Turkish speakers.
Keling	India	Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians	In Indonesian, the term can be applied to any person with dark complexion, not only of Indian descent, but also to native Indonesians with darker complexion and Africans. The term is derived from the ancient Indian region of Kalinga, where many immigrants to countries further east originated.
Kemosabe/Kemosahbee	United States	Native Americans	the term used by the fictional Native American sidekick Tonto as the "Native American" name for the Lone Ranger in the American television and radio programs The Lone Ranger.
Khach (Russian: Хач), Khachik (Russian: Хачик)	Russia	Peoples of the Caucasus, particularly North Caucasus and Armenians	From Armenian խաչ khach, meaning cross (cf. khachkar). Khatchik is also an Armenian given name coming from the same root. Khachik is considered milder and happens to be used in neutral contexts.
Kharkhuwa	India	Assamese people
Khokhol (Russian: Хохол)	Russia	Ukrainian people	Derived from a term for a traditional Cossack-style haircut.
Kike or kyke	United States	Ashkenazi Jewish people	Possibly from kikel, Yiddish for "circle". Immigrant Jews who couldn't read English often signed legal documents with an "O" (similar to an "X", to which Jews objected because "X" also symbolizes a cross).
Kimchi		Korean people
Kıro	Turkey	Kurdish men	A word used to describe rude and hairy men, pejoratively refers to the Kurds.
Knacker	Ireland	Irish Travelers
Kolorad	Ukraine	Pro-Russian separatists and Russian invaders	In reference to Russian St. George ribbon whose coloration resembles the stripes of the Colorado beetle.
Krankie	England	Scottish people
Krakkemut	Denmark	Arabs, Middle Easterns	While originally being used against greenlanders, it is now mostly used against Middel Easterns and Arabs. The word comes from the greenlandic word "Qaqqamut" meaning "to the mountain, up the mountain", however, the danish people began to pick up the word as an aggressive slur, and used it against the greenlanders, and slowly, it became a slur against the more frequent Arab and Middle Eastern immigrants in Denmark.
Kraut	United States, Canada, Commonwealth	German people	Derived from sauerkraut, used most specifically during World War II.

L

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Labas	Russia	Lithuanian people	Derived from Lithuanian greetings, labas rytas/laba diena/labas vakaras ("good morning/day/evening")
Laowai	China	Foreigners	Literally means "old foreign".
Lapp	Scandinavia	Sámi people	Used mainly by Norwegians and Swedes. The word itself means "patch." Also used is "Lapland", considered non-offensive, to refer to Sámi territory known as "Sápmi" or when referring to the actual name of Finland’s northernmost county.
Lebo, Leb	Australia	A Lebanese person, usually a Lebanese Australian.
Leupe lonko	Chile	German people	Used by some Huilliche people of southern Chile. Means "toasted heads" in reference to the fair hair of many Germans. Originated during the German colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue in the mid 19th-century.
Limey	United States	British people	Comes from the historical British naval practice of giving sailors limes to stave off scurvy.
Locust (蝗蟲)	Hong Kong	Mainland Chinese people
Londo	Indonesia	White people	Commonly used by Javanese people. Derived from "Belanda" (Netherlands).
Lubra		Australian Aboriginal Women
Lugan		Lithuanian people
Lach/lyakh (Ukrainian: лях)	Ukraine, Russia	Polish people	Lach is a term that originally referred to a representative of Slav tribes living roughly in what is today eastern Poland and western Ukraine, more commonly known today as Lendians, but later became associated with all Polish tribes. In other languages, Lach and derived expressions are neutral.

M

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Mabuno/Mahbuno	Zimbabwe	Local European people held in contempt, commonly white Africans of European ancestry.
Macaronar	Romania	Italian people	Roughly means "macaroni eater/maker".
Mayonnaise Monkey	United States	White people	A term commonly used by black people. A person with a "mayonnaise"-like complexion.
Macaca	Europe	African people	Originally used by francophone colonists in North Africa, also used in Europe against Immigrants from Africa.
Majus (مجوس)	Arabian Peninsula	Persian people	A term meaning Zoroastrian, Magi, fire worshipper.
Malakh-khor (ملخ خور)	Persia	Arabian people	Meaning "locust eater," referring to the eating of locusts in Arab cuisine.
Malaun	Bangladesh	Hindus	"Malaun" is derived from Bengali মালাউন (maalaaun), which in turn was derived from Arabic "ملعون" (mal'un), which means "cursed" or deprived of God's mercy.
Malon	Indonesia	Malaysian people	Used as the reply to Indon word. Malon is (mostly) a short for "Malaysia Bloon" (dumb Malaysians).
Malingsia / Malingsial / Malingsialan	Indonesia	Malaysian people	means "Malaysian thief / damned thief," is a slang for Malaysians. Originally combined from 2 words, "maling" (Javanese, meaning "thief") and "Malaysia." The Indonesian people used it because of the continuous claims of Indonesian cultures by Malaysia.
Mangal / Mango / Mangasar / Mangusta	Bulgaria	Romani people	From Bulgarian "мангал" (mangal) – a type of pot. Some variants are derived from the similar-sounding loanwords "манго" (mango) – mango and "мангуста" (mangusta) – mongoose.
Marokaki (מרוקקי)	Israel	Moroccan Jewish people	Derived from "Maroko" (Hebrew pronunciation for "Morocco") + "Kaki" (which means "shit", "crap" in Hebrew slang).
Mau-Mau	United States	Black people	derived from Kenyans of the Kikuyu tribe involved in the Mau Mau Rebellion in the 1950s.
Mayate/Mayatero		Black people	Literally the Spanish colloquial name of the Figeater beetle.
Meleis	Malaysia	Malay people
Mick		Irish people
Mocro	Dutch	Dutch-Moroccan people
Mof (singular) Moffen (plural)	Dutch	German people
Momo/Momos	India	Northeast Indians	Used on those that imply they are Chinese foreigners.
Monkey	Europe	Any dark-skinned people (usually towards black Americans, South Asians, and Papuans)
Moskal, Ukrainian: москаль, Polish: moskal, Russian: москаль, German: moskowiter	Ukraine, Belarus	Russians	Historically a neutral designation for a person from Muscovy, currently refers to Russians.
Mountain Turk	Turkey	Kurdish people	Former Turkish governments denied the Kurds their own ethnicity, calling them Mountain Turks (dağ Türkleri). Germans also used this word to describe Albanians, now it refers to the earlier.
Mulignan/Mulignon/Moolinyan	United States	Black people	Used by Italian-Americans. Deriving from "mulignana" the word for eggplant in some South Italian linguistic variants. Also called a mouli.
Munt	Rhodesia, originally military	Black people, usually men
Mustalainen	Finland	Romani people	Lit. "blackling," "blackie," "the black people", when "romani" is the neutral term.
Maxhup	Kosovo	Romani people	Expression of contempt for someone, usually Romani people
Mzungu	Eastern and Southern Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo	White people	May be both pejorative and affectionate, depending on usage

N

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Nawar	Arabian Peninsula	Romani people	Arab term for Romani people and other groups sharing an itinerant lifestyle.
Neftenya / Neftegna / Naftenya / Naftegna	Ethiopia/Amharic	Amhara people	Literally means "rifle-bearer", relates to 19th century Ethiopian history. Since 1975, used as inflammatory term by Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF, governing party) officials against Amharas; continued inflammatory/derogatory usage in 2020 online media two years after EPRDF loss of political power.
Němčour, nimchura (німчура), nemchura (немчура)	Slavic languages	German people
Nere	Bengali Hindus	Muslims
Niakoué	France	East or Southeast Asian people	A corrupted Vietnamese word with similar to "yokel", "country bumpkin", etc.
Niglet		Black children
Nig-nog or Nignog	Commonwealth	Black people	Originally used to refer to a novice – a foolish or naive person – before being associated with black people.
Nigger / neeger (Estonia) / neekeri (Suomi) / niger / nig / nigor / nigra / nigre (Caribbean) / nigar / niggur / nigga / niggah / niggar / nigguh / niggress / nigette / negro / neger (Dutch)	International/Worldwide	Black people, especially African-Americans	From the Spanish and Portuguese word negro ("black"), derived from the Latin niger. The Spanish or Portuguese term, or other such languages deriving the term from it such as Filipino, may vary in its connotation per country, where some countries, the connotation may range from either positive, neutral, or negative, depending on context. For example, in Spanish and Portuguese, it may simply refer to the color black. Among Spanish dialects in different countries, it may have either positive or negative connotations, such as describing someone similarly to my darling or my honey in Argentina, or describing someone to be angry in Spain.
Niggeritis		Black people	To feel sleepy after eating is referred to in and around the Caribbean as having "niggeritis", a direct allusion to the laziness of black Africans.
Nigger toe	United States	Black people	A slur that is actually referring to a Brazil nut
Nip	United States, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom	Japanese people	someone of Japanese descent (shortened version of Nipponese, from Japanese name for Japan, Nippon)
Nitchie / neche / neechee / neejee / nichi / nichiwa / nidge / nitchee / nitchy	Canada	Native Canadians	a Native American (from the Algonquian word for "friend")
Non-Pri, Non-Pribumi	Indonesia	Indonesians of foreign descent, especially Chinese Indonesians	The term pribumi was coined after Indonesian independence to replace the derogatory Dutch term Inlander ("native"). "Non-pribumi," often simply "non-pri," was then used to refer to Indonesians of foreign descent and was generally considered to suggest that they were not full citizens. Use of both "pribumi" and "non-pribumi" by government departments was banned by President B.J. Habibie in 1998 according to Inpres (Instruksi Presiden, lit. President's Instruction) 26/1998, along with instruction to stop discrimination by race in government.
Northern Monkey	United Kingdom	Northern English people	Used in the south of England, relating to the supposed stupidity and lack of sophistication of those in the north of the country. See also Southern Faerie. In some cases, this has been adopted in the north of England, with a pub in Leeds even taking the name "The Northern Monkey".
Nusayri	Syria and the Levant	Members of the Alawite sect of Shi'a Islam.	Once a common and neutral term derived from the name of Ibn Nusayr, the sect's founder, it fell out of favour within the community in the early decades of the 20th century due to the perception that it implied a heretical separateness from mainstream Islam. Resurgent in the context of the ongoing Syrian civil war, the term is now often employed by Sunni fundamentalist enemies of the government of Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, to suggest that the faith is a human invention lacking divine legitimacy.

O

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Ofay	African American Vernacular	White people First recorded in the late 19th century. Origin unknown. Suggestions include Yoruba ófé, "to disappear"; pig Latin for "foe"; and French au fait, "socially proper". According to academic Geneva Smitherman, no longer derogatory.
Oláh	Hungarian-speaking territories	Romanian people	Evolved to a pejorative term, originates from the historical designation of Romanians earlier the 19th century
Oreo	United States	Black people	Used as early as the 1960s. Refers to a black person who is perceived as acting white, and therefore black on the outside and white on the inside like an Oreo cookie.
Oven Dodger		Jewish people	Implying that one or one's ancestors avoided dying in the Holocaust and so avoid the crematorium ovens.
Overner	United Kingdom, Isle of Wight	Mainland United Kingdom Residents	a term used by residents of the Isle of Wight, sometimes pejoratively, to refer to people from the mainland United Kingdom.

P

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Paddy / Paddy wagons	United Kingdom	Irish people	Derived from Pádraig/Patrick. Often derogatory; however, Lord Edward FitzGerald, a major leader of the United Irishmen of 1798, was proclaimed by his Sister proudly "a Paddy and no more" and stated that "he desired no other title than this."
Pajeet	United States	Indian people	An American term for an Indian man. Used as a derogatory and disparaging term in reference to racial stereotyping towards Indians. The implication makes fun of a typical Indian male's name. Originated around late 2014 and early 2015.
Paki, Pakkis	United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Norway	Pakistanis, other South Asians, and sometimes Middle Eastern people	Shortened from "Pakistani."
Palagi	Pacific Islands	White people	A Samoan term for a white person, found throughout the Pacific islands. Not usually derogatory unless used in reference to a local to imply they have assimilated into Western culture.
Paleface	Native Americans	White people
Pancake Face, Pancake		Asian people
Papoose	United States, Canada	Native American children
Paraíba	Brazil	Northeastern Brazilian people	One of the 9 states in the Northeast Region of Brazil. As a slur, it refers generically to any Northeastern person. Used mainly in Rio de Janeiro, the term is related to the Northeastern immigration of the second half of the 20th century.
Pastel de flango	Brazil	East Asian people	Used mostly to refer to people of Chinese and Japanese origin. Pastel is Portuguese for any pastry and so is used for wonton in Brazil. Flango is eye dialect of frango (Portuguese for chicken) ridiculing Asian pronunciation.
Peckerwood	Southern African American people and Upper-class White people	Poor, rural White people
Peenoise	English-speaking Southeast Asia	Filipinos	Usually used in English or sometimes in Filipino (Tagalog) and other Philippine languages. Compound of pee + noise, likened to Pinoy, the colloquial diminutive demonym for Filipinos. The implication makes fun of their high-pitched voice and tendency to scream when speaking online, especially in online gaming and esports.
Perker	Denmark	Middle Eastern or Arab	Portmanteau of "perser" (Persian) and "tyrker" (Turk).
Pepper or Pepsi	Canada	French Canadians or Québécois.
Pickaninny		African American or West Indies child
Piefke	Austria	Prussians and Germans
Pikey / piky / piker	United Kingdom	Irish Travellers, Romani people, and vagrant lower-class/poor people	Derived from "turnpike". Irish Travellers. Romani people. Itinerant or vagrant lower-class or poor people. Sometimes used to refer to Irish people [19th century on].
Pindos / Pendos (Russian: Пиндос)	Russia	Americans	Universal disparaging term to refer to all Americans. Related slur terms can refer to the United States ─ such as Pindosiya, Pindostan (Russian: Пиндосия, Пиндостан) and United States of Pindosiya.
Plastic Paddy	Ireland	Estranged Irish People	Someone who knows little of Irish culture, but asserts their 'Irish' identity. Can refer to foreign nationals who claim Irishness based solely on having Irish relatives. Often used in the same sense as poseur and wannabe.
Pocho / pocha	Southwest United States, Mexico		adjective: Term for a person of Mexican heritage who is partially or fully assimilated into United States culture (literally, "diluted, watered down (drink); undersized (clothing)"). See also "Chicano."
Pocahontas	United States	Native Americans	Refers to a distorted narrative of Pocahontas, a Native American woman, in which the 17th-century daughter of Powhatan who negotiated with the English at Jamestown, married an English colonist and converted to Christianity.
Polack, Polak, Polock		Polish or Slavic people	From the Polish endonym, Polak (see Name of Poland). Note: the proper Swedish demonym for Polish people is polack, and the Norwegian equivalent is polakk.
Polaco	Spain	Catalan people
Polaca	Brazil	Prostitute	In Brazilian Portuguese the word (meaning "Polish woman") became synonymous to "prostitute"
Polentone	Italy	Northern Italians	Referring to them as a "polenta eater".
Pom, Pohm, Pommy, Pommie, Pommie Grant	Australia, New Zealand, South Africa	British
Porridge wog		Scots
Portagee	United States	Portuguese people and Portuguese Americans	Slur for Portuguese Americans immigrants
Potet	Norway	Ethnic Norwegians	Means "potato" in Norwegian and is mostly used negatively among non-Western immigrants when talking about or trying to offend ethnic Norwegians. Means "light skin like a potato".
Prairie nigger		Native American
Prod	Northern Ireland	Northern Irish Protestants
Pshek	Russian	Polish males

Q

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Quashie	Caribbean	Black people	Often used on those who were often gullible or unsophisticated. From the West African name Kwazi, often given to a child born on a Sunday.

R

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Raghead		Arabs, Indian Sikhs, etc.	Derived from those people wearing traditional headdress such as turbans or keffiyehs. See towel head. Sometimes used generically for all Islamic nations.
Ramasamy	British-ruled Southern Africa	Indians,	Ramasamy is a common name used mostly by Tamil people. The racially-divided southern Africa was inhabited by a large number of indentured labourers from India of whom Tamils were the majority.
Rastus	United States	African Americans	A stereotypical term.
Razakars	Bengali		Akin to the western term Judas.
Redlegs	Barbados	White people	Used to refer to the islands' laborer-class, given how pale skin tends to burn easily.
Redskin		Native Americans	Often used in the names of sports teams. See Native American name controversy.
Rootless cosmopolitan (Russian: безродный космополит)	Russia	Jews	Soviet epithet, originated in the official parlance, as an accusation of lack of full allegiance to the Soviet Union.
Rosuke, Roske	Japanese	Russians	"suke/ske" is a Japanese general-purpose derogatory suffix.
Rooinek	South Africa	British people	Slang for a person of British descent.
Roto	Peru, Bolivia	Chilean people	Used to refer disdainfully. The term roto ("tattered") was first applied to Spanish conquerors in Chile, who were badly dressed and preferred military strength over intellect.
Roundeye	English-speaking Asians	Non-Asians, especially White people
Russki, ruski (in Poland)	United States Europe	Russians	From the Russian word Русский Russkiy, meaning "Russian."

S

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Safavid	Iraq	Feyli Kurds	Mainly used by higher class Sunni Arabs during Ba'athist Iraq to insult Feyli Kurds for their belief in Shia Islam
Sambo	United States	African Americans or Black people
Sand nigger	United States	Arabs	Mainly used due to the desert environment of most Arab countries. Equivalent of dune coon (above).
Sarong Party Girl	Singapore	Asian women	Used to ridicule Asian women who exclusively dates, marries, or socializes with White man for ulterior motives (especially for sexual, social status, and monetary purpose).
Sassenach	Scottish, Gaelic	English people
Sawney	England	Scottish people	Archaic term. Local variant of Sandy, short for "Alasdair".
Scandihoovian		Scandinavian people living in the United States	Somewhat pejorative term for people of Scandinavian descent living in the United States, now often embraced by Scandinavian descendants.
Seppo, Septic	Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom	American people	Cockney rhyming slang: Septic tank – Yank
Schvartse, Schwartze	Yiddish or German speakers	African people (in the United States) Mizrahi Jews (in Israel)	Literally translates to "black".
Schwartze Khayeh	Ashkenazi Jews	Mizrahi Jews	Literally translates to "black animal".
Sheboon For the river in Belize, see Sibun River.	United States	Black women
Sheeny	United States	Jewish people	a 19th-century term for an "untrustworthy Jew".
Sheepshagger	Australia, United Kingdom	New Zealanders (in Australia) Welsh people (in the UK)
Shelta	Ireland	Irish Travellers	Derived from siúilta, which means "The Walkers" in Irish.
Shiksa (female), Shegetz (male)	Yiddish speakers	Non-Jewish children
Shina (支那）	Japan, Hong Kong	Chinese people
Shine	United States	Black people	Derived from shoeshiner, a lowly job many black people had to take.
Shiptar	Former Yugoslavia	Albanian people	From misspelled Albanian endonym “Shqiptar”.
Shka i Velikës	Gheg Albanians	Montenegrins from Velika	Derogatory terms for Montenegrins named after the place Velika in Montenegro.
Shkije	Gheg Albanians	Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Bosniaks	Derived from the Latin word "Sclavus" or from the Venetian word "Schiavone", which means Slav.
Shkinulkë	Gheg Albanians	Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Bosniaks	Same as Shkije but targeted towards women.
Shkutzim (Yiddish, plural)	Yiddish speakers (plural)	Non-Jewish men	Used especially on those perceived to be anti-Semitic. Cf. Shegetz, Shiksa.
Shkutor Croatian: Škutor	Croatia	West-Herzegovinan Croatian people
Shylock		Jewish people perceived as greedy or usurious	From the antagonistic character of Shylock, a Jewish money-lender, in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice.
Siamtue (Thai: เซียมตือ, Min Nan Chinese: 暹豬)	Bangkoker (Thai Chinese)	Central Thai people (usually include Mons)	literally: Siamese pig; Low and vile likes pigs, easy to fatten and slaughter, easy money. Mostly refers to Central Thais who migrated to Bangkok.
Sideways vagina/pussy/cooter		Asian women, particularly Chinese women.
Skinny	United States	Somali people	A term most commonly used for Somali militia fighters
Skopianoi	Greece	Ethnic Macedonians	derived from Skopje, the capital city of North Macedonia.
Skip, Skippy	Australia	An Australian, especially one of British descent	Derived from the children's television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
Skævøjet	Denmark	East Asian people	Skævøjet, literally meaning "with crooked eyes", is a reference to their appearance.
Slant, slant–eye		East Asian people	In reference to the appearance of the eyes.
Slope, slopehead, slopy, slopey, sloper	Australia, United Kingdom, and United States	Asian people (especially Vietnamese in Australia; especially Chinese in America)	Also slant, slant–eye.
Snowflake	United States	White people	Mostly used in this context in the 19th and 20th centuries
Smoked Irish/Smoked Irishman	United States	Black people	a 19th-century term intended to insult both blacks and Irish but used primarily for black people.
Somdeang (โสมแดง)	Thailand	North Koreans	literally: red ginseng. (see also Somkhao)
Somkhao (โสมขาว)	Thailand	South Koreans	literally: white ginseng. (see also Somdeang)
Soosmar-khor: (سوسمار خور)	Persia	Arabian people	Persian for "lizard eater," referring to the eating of lizards in Arab cuisine.
Sooty	United States	Black people	Originated in the 1950s.
Southern Faerie, Southern Fairy	United Kingdom	Southern English people	Used in the North of England to refer to someone from the South, alluding to their supposed mollycoddled ways. (see also Northern Monkey)
Soutpiel	South Africa	White English speakers	an Afrikaans term abbreviated as "Soutie" and translates as "Salt-penis," it derives from the Boer Wars where it was said that British soldiers had one foot in the United Kingdom, one foot in South Africa, and their penis dangled in the Atlantic Ocean (filled with saltwater).
Spade		Black people	Recorded since 1928 (OED), from the playing cards suit.
Spearchucker		Africans, African Americans	Derived from the idea that people of African descent were primitive.
Spic, spick, spik, spig, or spigotty	United States	Hispanic people	First recorded use in 1915. Believed to be a play on a Spanish-accented pronunciation of the English word speak. May apply to Spanish speakers in general.
Spook		Black people	Attested from the 1940s.
Squarehead		Nordic people, such as Scandinavians or Germans.	Refers to either the stereotyped shape of their heads, or to the shape of the Stahlhelm M1916 steel helmet, or to its owner's stubbornness (like a block of wood).
Squaw	United States and Canada	Native American women	Derived from lower East Coast Algonquian (Massachusett: ussqua), which originally meant "young woman".
Swamp Guinea		Italian people
Szkop, skopčák	Poland, Czech Republic	German people	The Polish term was particularly often used for Wehrmacht soldiers during World War II.
Szwab	Poland	German people	Derived from Swabia. See also: Fritz

T

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Tacohead	United States	Mexican people	This phrase is uttered by Willem Dafoe's character (Charlie) in the film Born on the Fourth of July (1989).
Taffy or Taff	United Kingdom	Welsh people	First used ca. 17th century. From the River Taff or the Welsh pronunciation of the name David (in Welsh, Dafydd).
Taig (also Teague, Teg and Teig)	United Kingdom (primarily Northern Ireland)	Irish nationalists	Used by loyalists in Northern Ireland for members of the nationalist/Catholic/Gaelic community. Derived from the Irish name Tadhg, often mistransliterated as Timothy.
Tanka	China	Tanka people	A name for a distinct ethnic group traditionally living in boats off the shore of South China. Originally descriptive ("Tan"/"Tang" is a Cantonese term for boat or junk and "ka" means family or peoples, Chinese: 蜑家; Cantonese Yale: Daahn gā / Dahng gā), the term Tanka is now considered derogatory and no longer in common use. The people concerned prefer to call themselves by other names, such as 'Nam Hoi Yan' (Chinese: 南海人; Cantonese Yale: Nàamhóiyàn; lit. 'People of The Southern Sea') or 'Sui Seung Yan' (Chinese: 水上人; pinyin: shuǐshàng rén; Cantonese Yale: Séuiseuhngyàn; lit. 'People Born on The Waters'), and other more polite terms.
Tar-Baby	United States	Black children	Also used to refer without regard to race to a situation from which it is difficult to extricate oneself. See tar baby.
Teapot		Black people	Originates from the 19th century.
Terrone	Italy	Southern Italian people.
Teuchter	Southern Scotland	Northern Scottish people	Used to refer to somebody from the north of Scotland or rural Scottish areas.
Thicklips	United Kingdom	Black people
Tibla	Estonia	Russian or Soviet people	In widespread use by the Estonian War of Independence, this word was forbidden under the Soviet occupation of Estonia. It may be a shortened corruption of Vitebski, workers from the Vitebsk Governorate during World War I who were seen as dumb. It may also come from the Russian profane addressing "ty, blyad," "ты, блядь" ("you bitch", and the like [a]) or, truncated, "ty, blya," "ты, бля.
Tiko	Indonesia	Native Indonesian people	Tiko stands for Tikus kotor (Dirty rat).
Timber nigger		Native Americans	Refers to the Native Americans on the East coast living in areas that were heavily forested.
Timur		Syrian people from Damascus	Refers to the children born of the mass rapes that the Turco-Mongol Tatar soldiers of Timur committed against the Syrian women of Damascus in the Siege of Damascus (1400).
Ting tong	United Kingdom	Chinese people or East Asians.
Tinker / tynekere / tinkere / tynkere, -are / tynker / tenker / tinkar / tyncar / tinkard / tynkard / tincker	Britain and Ireland	Lower-class people	An inconsequential person (typically lower-class) (note that in Britain, the term "Irish Tinker" may be used, giving it the same meaning as example as directly below)
	Scotland and Ireland	Romani people	origin unknown – possibly relating to one of the 'traditional' occupations of Romanis as traveling 'tinkerers' or repairers of common household objects
	Scotland	Native Scottish people	A member of the native community; previously itinerant (but mainly now settled); who were reputed for their production of domestic implements from basic materials and for repair of the same items, being also known in the past as "travelling tinsmiths," possibly derived from a reputation for rowdy and alcoholic recreation. Often confused with Romani people.
Toad	United States	Black people	Prison slang.
Tonto	United States	Native Americans	Native American character in the American television and radio programs The Lone Ranger. Spanish for "Idiot".
Touch of the tar brush	Commonwealth	White people with suspected non-white ancestry	Phrase for a person of predominantly Caucasian ancestry with real or suspected African or Asian distant ancestry.
Towel head		Turban wearers	Often refers specifically to Sikhs, or Arabs and Muslims—based on the traditional keffiyeh headdress. However, in British English, the term is only used to refer to Arabs. Americans use the term 'rag-head' to apply to wearers of turbans as well, because the cloth that makes a turban could be described as a rag, but in British English the term towel-head solely refers to Arabs because the traditional, Middle Eastern keffiyeh, such as the red and white Saudi one or the black and white Palestinian keffiyeh worn by Yasser Arrafat, resemble the most common styles of British tea-towels – dishcloth in American – while Sikh turbans do not.
Turco-Albanian	Western Europe, Balkans	Muslim Albanians	Historically used in Western Europe and still in use within the Balkans to refer to Muslim Albanians. In the Greek language, the expression is rendered as Turkalvanoi.
Turco	Argentina, Brazil, Chile	Syrians, Palestinians, Lebanese, Jews, Armenians	Meaning "Turk" in Portuguese and Spanish. The term originated in the late 19th century to refer those who came to Brazil, Argentina and Chile from the Ottoman Empire. Since Jews (both Sephardic and Ashkenazi) frequently occupied the same roles as peddlers as Syrians and Lebanese (who were the majority of those with Ottoman passports in Brazil), they were also called "turcos" in Brazil. Ironically, there was no relevant immigration of ethnic Turks to Brazil.
Turk	South Wales	Llanelli residents	The origin of this term is uncertain; some theories suggest it due to Llanelli's popularity with Turkish sailors in the late 19th to early 20th century or possibly when Turkish migrants heading for the United States stopped in Llanelli and decided to settle due to there being jobs available. However, most likely it's due to the fact that during World War One there was a trade embargo in place during Gallipoli, but Llanelli continued to trade tin with the Turkish; this led to people from neighbouring Swansea and other surrounding areas referring to them as Turks.
Turko	Sephardic Jews	Ashkenazi Jews	Ladino word meaning "Turk". The exact history of the term is uncertain, but possibly refers to the Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry.
Twinkie: Not to be confused with Twink (gay slang).	United States	European Americans, Asian Americans	European Americans with few or no social or genealogical links to an indigenous tribe, who claims to be Native American, particularly a New Age practitioner purporting to be a spiritual leader, healer, or medicine man/woman (see also Plastic shaman). Also an Asian American who has become assimilated into mainstream American culture (See Banana, Coconut, and Twinkie).

U

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Ukrop	Russians	Ukrainians	A disparaging term which means "dill" in Russian and Ukrainian, itself derived from "Ukrainian"<->Ukrop.
Uncle Tom	United States	Black people	Refers to black people perceived as behaving in a subservient manner to white authority figures.
UPAina/ UPAińcy / UPAiniec, UPAinka	Poland	Ukrainians	Portmanteau word Ukraine + UPA (Ukrayins'ka Povstans'ka Armiia) responsible for Volhynia genocide
Uppity		Black people	Refers to black people who are perceived as being insolent.

V

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Veneco	South America	Venezuelans
Vrindavan, Prindapan	Indonesia	Indian people	Indonesian version of pajeet. Originated from Little Krishna animated series.
Vuzvuz	Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews	Ashkenazi Jews	Onomatopoeia of the Yiddish word for "What", which Judaeo-Spanish speaking Sephardi Jews and Judaeo-Arabic speaking Mizrahi Jews did not understand.

W

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Wagon burner		Native American people	A reference to when Native American tribes would attack wagon trains during the wars in the eastern American frontier.
Wasi'chu, Wasichu	Lakota people, Dakota people	Non-Native white people	Word for a non-Native white person, meaning "the one who takes the best meat for himself."
West Brit	Ireland	Irish people	Directed at Irish people perceived as being insufficiently Irish or too Anglophilic.
Wetback	United States	Undocumented immigrants	Refers to undocumented immigrants residing in the United States. Originally applied specifically to undocumented Mexican migrant workers who had crossed the United States border via the Rio Grande river to find work in the United States, its meaning has since broadened to any undocumented person who enters the United States through its southern border.
White ears	Nauru	White people
White interloper		White people	Refers to a white person who becomes involved in a place or situation where they are not wanted or are considered not to belong.
Wigger / Whigger / Wigga (meaning white nigger)	United States	Irish people	Used in 19th-century United States to refer to the Irish. Sometimes used today in reference to white people in a manner similar to white trash or redneck. Also refers to white youth that imitate urban black youth by means of clothing style, mannerisms, and slang speech. Also used by radical Québécois in self-reference, as in the seminal 1968 book White Niggers of America.
White trash	United States	Poor white people	Common usage from the 1830s by black house slaves against white servants.
Whitey		White people
Wog	Commonwealth	Dark-skinned foreigners	Any swarthy or dark-skinned foreigner. Possibly derived from "golliwogg." In Western nations, it usually refers to dark-skinned people from Asia or Africa, though some use the term to refer to anyone outside the borders of their own country.
	Australia	Southern Europeans, Mediterraneans	Usually used to refer to Southern Europeans and Mediterraneans (Italians, Croatians, Greeks, Albanians, Spaniards, Lebanese, and others, including to a lesser extent those from former Yugoslavia). It has become reappropriated by the cultures that it is commonly used to describe, but may be considered by some as controversial.
Wop	United States, Canada, United Kingdom	Italian people	Derived from the Italian dialectism, "guappo," close to "dude, swaggerer" and other informal appellations, a greeting among male Neapolitans.

X

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Xiao Riben	China	Japanese people
Xing Ling	Brazil	Chinese people	Chinese products or low-quality products in general. Sometimes used to refer to Chinese people as well. Etymologically, this term is said to be derived from Mandarin 星零 xing ling ("zero stars").

Y

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Yam yam	United Kingdom	Black Country residents	Term used by people from Birmingham.
Yanacona	Chile	Mapuche people	Term used by modern Mapuche as an insult for Mapuches considered to be subservient to non-indigenous Chileans, "sellout." Use of the word "yanacona" to describe people have led legal action in Chile.
Yank	British English speakers	Americans	A contraction of "Yankee" below, first recorded in 1778 and employed internationally by speakers of British English in informal reference to all Americans generally.
Yankee	Dutch speakers	Americans	Possibly from Janke ("Johnny") or a dialectical variant of Jan Kaas ("John Cheese"). First applied by the Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam to Connecticuters and then to other residents of New England, "Yankee" remains in use in the American South in reference to Northerners, often in a mildly pejorative sense. Outside the US, especially in Spain and South America, used to describe all citizens of the US, regardless of which part of the US they come from.
Yellow		Asian people	An East or southeast Asian person, in reference to those who have a yellowish skin color.
		Mixed Ethnic people	Anyone of mixed heritage, especially black or white people; a light-skinned black person, or a dark-skinned white person.
Yid		Jewish people	Derived from its use as an endonym among Yiddish-speaking Jews. In the United Kingdom, "yid" is also used to refer to supporters of the Tottenham Hotspur football club, whose fans refer to themselves and players as "yids" (or the derivative form "yiddo"), regardless of whether or not they are Jewish, as part of a reclamation attempt centered around the club's significant historic Jewish following. The latter sense is common and well-established enough to be found under the word's Oxford English Dictionary entry, though its use has become controversial and a matter of debate in the 21st century, with opinions from both Jews and non-Jews, Tottenham fans and non-fans, running the gamut.
Yuon	Cambodia	Vietnamese people	The Cambodian word "Yuon" (yuôn) យួន /juən/ is derived from the Indian word for Greek, "Yavana." It can also be spelled as "Youn."

Z

Term	Location or origin	Targets	Meaning, origin and notes	References
Zip, Zipperhead	United States	Asian people	Used by American military personnel during the Korean War and Vietnam War. Also used in the films Apocalypse Now (1979), Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Romeo Must Die (2000), Gran Torino (2008), and Premium Rush (2012).
Zuca, Brazuca	Portugal	Brazilians	Short for Brazuca, derived from "Brasil", used by Portuguese people to refer to Brazilians living in Portugal.
Zhyd, zhid, zhydovka, zhidovka	East Slavic language speakers	Jewish people	Originally neutral (as in other Slavic languages), but became pejorative as debate over the Jewish question and the antisemitism in the Russian Empire intensified in the end of the 19th century. While still in official use during the Ukrainian War of Independence and the short-lived Belarusian Democratic Republic, its use was banned by the Soviet authorities, which had previously been campaigning against its usage, in the 1930s. The usage of the word "żyd" in Polish depends on capitalisation and grammatical form: upper-case Żyd is neutral and denotes Jews in general or Jews as a nationality; the lower-case form (żyd, plural: żydzi) denotes a follower of Judaism and, while neutral, is discouraged as it may be confused with the insult "żyd" (plural: żydy), referring to Jews themselves or to greedy people, or both.

See also

• Category:Sex- and gender-related slurs
• Fighting words
• Graphic pejoratives in written Chinese
• Hate speech
• List of disability-related terms with negative connotations
• List of ethnic group names used as insults
• List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
• List of LGBT slang terms
• List of regional nicknames
• List of religious slurs
• List of terms used for Germans
• Lists of pejorative terms for people
• Term of disparagement
• Xenophobia
• Xenophobia in the United States
• Xenophobia and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic
• wikt:Category:English ethnic slurs
• Wiktionary category: English derogatory terms
• wikt:Appendix:English terms for outsiders

References

Bibliography

• Ayto, John; Simpson, John (2010). Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-923205-5.
• Dalzell, Tom (2018). The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-76520-6.
• Doane, Ashley W.; Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo, eds. (2003). White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93583-8.
• Green, Jonathon (2005). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2nd ed.). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-304-36636-1.
• Herbst, Philip (1997). The Color of Words: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press. ISBN 978-1-877864-42-1.
• Moore, Bruce, ed. (2004). The Australian Oxford Dictionary. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-551796-5.
• Partridge, Eric (2006a). Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry (eds.). The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Volume I: A–I. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-25937-8.
• Partridge, Eric (2006b). Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry (eds.). The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Volume II: J–Z. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-25938-5.
• Rawson, Hugh (1989). Wicked Words: A Treasury of Curses, Insults, Put-downs, and Other Formerly Unprintable Terms from Anglo-Saxon Times to the Present. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-517-57334-1.
• Spears, Richard A. (1990). Forbidden American English. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Passport Books. ISBN 978-0-8442-5152-3.
• Spears, Richard A. (2001). Slang and Euphemism: A Dictionary of Oaths, Curses, Insults, Ethnic Slurs, Sexual Slang and Metaphor, Drug Talk, College Lingo, and Related Matters (3rd revised & abridged ed.). New York: Signet. ISBN 978-0-451-20371-7.
• Wilkes, G. A. (1978). A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms. Sydney: Fontana/Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-635719-3.

Further reading

• Burchfield, Robert. "Dictionaries and Ethnic Sensibilities." In The State of the Language, ed. Leonard Michaels and Christopher Ricks, University of California Press, 1980, pp. 15–23.
• Croom, Adam M. "Racial Epithets: What We Say and Mean by Them". Dialogue 51 (1):34–45 (2008)
• Henderson, Anita. "What's in a Slur?" American Speech, Volume 78, Number 1, Spring 2003, pp. 52–74 in Project MUSE
• Kennedy, Randall. Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word (Pantheon, 2002)
• Mencken, H. L. "Designations for Colored Folk." American Speech, 1944. 19: 161–74.
• Wachal, Robert S. "Taboo and Not Taboo: That Is the Question." American Speech, 2002. vol. 77: 195–206.

Dictionaries

• Erin McKean, ed. The New Oxford American Dictionary, second edition. (Oxford University Press, 2005)
• Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2002)
• John A. Simpson, Oxford English Dictionary Additions Series. ISBN 0-19-861299-0
• Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, ed. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. (Oxford University Press, 2004)