Jump to content

Gook

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Laws dr (talk | contribs) at 19:10, 29 November 2009. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

U.S. Marines destined for the Philippines (1898). The word "gook" may have been coined by U.S. Marines in the early twentieth century.

Gook(Gee) is a derogatory term for Asians, used especially for enemy soldiers.[1] Its use as an ethnic slur has been traced to U.S. Marines serving in the Philippines in the early 20th century.[1] The earliest recorded use is dated 1920.[2] Prior to the Vietnam War (1965–73), "gook" was U.S. soldiers' jargon used to refer to any non-American.[3][4]

A slang dictionary published in 1893 defines "gook" as "a low prostitute."[5] Marines fighting in the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) and the Moro Rebellion (1902–13) used the word to refer to Filipinos.[1][6] This alteration of meaning may reflect contempt for native women and an accusation of promiscuity.[7] Early usage may have been influenced by the word "goo goo" or "gugu," also applied to Filipinos by the Marines.[1] "Gugu" originated as a mocking imitation of Filipino speech.[7][1] (Compared to "barbarian".) "The Marines who occupied Nicaragua in 1912 took to calling the natives gooks, one of their names for Filipinos," according to H. L. Mencken.[8] In 1920, U.S. Marines in Haiti were using the term to refer to Haitians.[2] In Frank Capra's Flight (1929), the word was used by a U.S. Marine stationed in Nicaragua. It was later used in the Korean War movie The Steel Helmet (1951)[9][nb 1] as well as in numerous movies and books depicting the Vietnam War.[nb 2]

A folk etymology suggests that "gook" refers to the Korean word "국" (國, pronounced kuk) meaning "country."[nb 3] According to one explanation, American soldiers during the Korean War were often confronted by Korean soldiers and civilians and would hear them say, "미국" (Miguk, meaning America). The American soldiers interpreted this expression to mean, "I am a gook."[6] These explanations ignore the fact that there are many examples of the word's use that pre-date the Korean War.[1][2][6][7]

In the U.S., "gook" refers most particularly to Communist soldiers in the context of the Vietnam War. It is generally considered highly offensive, on par with nigger. In a highly publicized incident, Senator John McCain used the word to refer to his former captors, then apologized to the Vietnamese community at large.[10] "I hate the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live…I was referring to my prison guards and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend."[10]

A 1969 article by Robert G. Kaiser, described the usage of the word gook as it applied to the war in Vietnam; "Gooks- or dinks, or slopes- are major figures in the Vietnam war who often don't get their name published in the papers. They are in GI argot, the Vietnamese people. Gooks can be friendly or hostile, ours or theirs."[11]

In 2003, The Gook, a Vietnam War painting by Roger Shimomura, was displayed at the Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle.[12]

The word was applied to insurgents by Rhodesian soldiers during the Rhodesian Bush War (1964–1979)[citation needed]

Citations

  • 1893 Slang and its Analogues, GOOK, subs. (American). A low prostitute. For synonyms, see BARRACK HACK and TART.[5]
  • 1920 The Nation, The Haitians in whose service United States marines are presumably restoring peace and order in Haiti are nicknamed "Gooks"...[2]
  • 1923 Le Slang, gook, a tramp: low:[13]
  • 1935 American Speech, Gook, anyone who speaks Spanish, particularly a Filipino.[6] [Note: This incorrectly assumes that Filipinos speak Spanish.]
  • 1945 The American Language, The Marines who occupied Nicaragua in 1912 took to calling the natives gooks, one of their names for Filipinos.[8]
  • 1947 New York Herald Tribune (2 Apr.), The American troops...don’t like the Koreans – whom they prefer to call ‘Gooks’ – and, in the main, they don’t like Korea.[6]
  • 1951 The Steel Helmet (movie), Sergeant Zack: You talk more like a dog face than a gook. Short Round: I am no gook. I am Korean![9]
  • 1960 Dictionary of American Slang, gook Generically, a native of the Pacific islands, Africa, Japan, China, Korea or any European country except England; usually a brown-skinned or Oriental non-Christian.[3]
  • 1967 Doobie Doo, A gook in the purest sense is anybody what ain’t American.[4]
  • 1968 The Guardian (23 Feb.), The Gooks [ Vietcong ] hit from bunkers and the Marines had to carry half the company back.[6]
  • 1979 M*A*S*H (TV show), "Go ahead, shut me up so I won't tell anybody how you save your gook friends!"[16]
  • 1981 With the Old Breed (World War II memoir), "There's an old gook woman in there that's been hit in the side real bad."[17]
  • 1987 Full Metal Jacket (movie), "We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out."[19]
  • 1996 They call me Gook (Poetry), "...Where are you from? / Me come From Cambodia. / South America!? / Ughhh...No. / Eh, Gook, show me your Kungfu! / All slanted eyes people are Bruce Lees./... They call me Gook."[21]
  • 1998 America 1900 (Documentary)[22], "...Americans looked down on the Filipinos as people who were uncivilized. The term "gook" originated in the Philippine insurrection. "[23]
  • 2000 John McCain' refer to his Vietnamese wartime experience, “I hate the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live… I was referring to my prison guards and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend.” [10]
  • 2004 Team America: World Police (movie), "I was so sure the ultimate terrorist was Middle Eastern, but I didn't realize he was a goddamn Gook. I'll never be a racist again."[25]

Notes

  1. ^ For another pre-Vietnam Korean reference, see The Hook (1963).
  2. ^ These movies include Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Hamburger Hill (1987), Good Morning Vietnam (1988), and Strawberry Fields (1997). See also the novel Word of Honor (1985) by Nelson DeMille, p. 590.
  3. ^ "Gook, the American racial epithet for all Asian Americans, is actually the Korean word for 'country.'" (Cao, Lan and Himilce Novas. Everything You Need to Know About Asian-American History. New York :Plume, 1996.)
    "A bastardization of the Korean hankuk (Korean), or mikuk (American)" (Robert G. Lee, Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture (1999))

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Dictionary.com gook.
  2. ^ a b c d Seligman, Herbert J., "The Conquest of Haiti", The Nation, July 10, 1920.
  3. ^ a b Wentworth and Flexner, Dictionary of American Slang, (1960).
  4. ^ a b Karp, Ivan, Doobie Doo 1967, p. 97.
  5. ^ a b John S. Farmer and W. E. Henley, Slang and its Analogues, Past and Present (1893).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Pearson, Kim, "Gook".
  7. ^ a b c Roediger, Dave, "Gook: the short history of an Americanism" Monthly Review, March, 1992.
  8. ^ a b Dickson, Paul, War Slang, (2004), p. 29. Dickson cites Mencken's The American Language, Supplement 1 (1945).
  9. ^ a b The Steel Helmet, 1951.
  10. ^ a b c Ma, Jason, "McCain Apologizes for ‘Gook’ Comment", Asiaweek,, February 24, 2000.
  11. ^ Kaiser, Robert G. (Oct 20, 1969). "Friend or Foe, He's still a GOOK". St. Petersburg Times. pp. 15-A. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  12. ^ Revenge of the Meat Space
  13. ^ Manchon, J., Le Slang, Lexique de L'anglais Familier Et Vulgaire (1923). Cited in A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (1984) by Eric Partridge and Paul Beale, p. 489, "gook".
  14. ^ "Soldiers revive "gook" as name for Korea reds", Los Angeles Times, Aug. 6, 1950, p. 6.
  15. ^ Racial Epithet by John C. A, Watkins, New York Times, May 11, 1968
  16. ^ M*A*S*H, "Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys" (1979).
  17. ^ Sledge, Eugene Bondurant, With the Old Breed (1981), p. 287.
  18. ^ Salute To Liberty Weekend, Mike Royko The Bryan Times, July 14, 1986
  19. ^ Full Metal Jacket, 1987.
  20. ^ Jacob's Ladder script-transcript, 1990.
  21. ^ They call me Gook (Poetry) By Sophear, Lowell, MA. Khmer Voice In Poetry
  22. ^ "The American Experience" America 1900 IMDB
  23. ^ Transcript of America 1900 PBS Online
  24. ^ The Face of the Enemy The Washington Post, August 22, 1999
  25. ^ "Memorable quotes for Team America: World Police" (2004).
  26. ^ "Memorable quotes for Gran Torino"
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gook&oldid=328634673"