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dago
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Etymology
Alteration of diego (“Spaniard”), from Spanish Diego (common Spanish name) by law of Hobson-Jobson.
The term originated among sailors from the Northern United States, first attested in Boston in 1838. "Diego" is the Portuguese nickname for any deckhand.
After transforming into "dago" in English, the word gradually came to denote any southern European in a generic manner. From there, the word spread to England by the 1890s, and to Australia by the interwar period. In Australia, it has undergone a narrowing in scope, now chiefly meaning "Italian", following a mass migration of Italians to Australia post-WW2.
Pronunciation
Noun
- (obsolete, naval slang, often derogatory, originally US) A crewman who speaks Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian.
- 1838, "A Man-of-war's-man" (pseudonym), Maritime Scraps, Or, Scenes in the Frigate United States During a Cruise in the Mediterranean..., Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.:
- The man-of-war’s-man, in sporting his money in those places, fancies himself perfectly at home; and he that dares for a moment to interrupt or oppose him, be he Dago or shipmate, will inevitably meet with a rebuff for his uninvited and indecorous intrusion; but coincide with him, extol the merits and virtues of the turpentine gin with which he is inflating himself, and you are as welcome, and will meet with as spirited and hearty reception, as great a quantity of the “precious stuff,” more or no money, as though you were his revered and legitimate brother.
- 1887, William Elliot Griffis, Matthew Calbraith Perry: a Typical American Naval Officer, page 65:
- JAMES, the Spaniard’s patron saint, has been compelled to lend his name as “Iago” to innumerable towns, cities and villages. From Mexico to Patagonia in Spanish America, “Santiago,” “San Diego,” “Iago” and “Diego” are such frequently recurring vocables that the Yankee sailor calls natives of these countries “Dago men,” or “Diegos.” It is his slang name for foreigners of the Latin race. It is a relic of the old days when he knew them chiefly as pirates.
- 1897, Herbert Elliott Hamblen, On Many Seas: The Life and Exploits of a Yankee Sailor, page 351:
- He had that treacherous snarky look, characteristic of all these Mediterranean nations, known to Yankee sailors by the generic name of Dago. However, as long as he behaved, I used him well, but I didn't trust him.
- 1899, St. George Rathborne, A Bar Sinister: A Tale of Love and Adventure, page 193:
- “As you please. Now what is wrong? Are we sinking? Has she sprung a leak? Does the dago crew mean to mutiny and murder us in our bunks?”
The major actually smiled.
“How readily you leap to a conclusion, my dear boy! but I am happy to say that, as far as I know, the little vessel is staunch, and the dark-skinned sons of Italy comprising the crew have not the slightest intention of doing us the least injury.”
- (US, England, ethnic slur, somewhat dated) A person of Southern European descent.
- 1906 February 16, “[arrests for a larceny]”, in The Sun, New York City, U.S.:
- Detective J.J. McVea of the Charles street station, who arrested the boys, says that the robbery of the safe was a remarkable one and showed no trace of amateurism. It was committed by four boys. Besides Lyons and Murphy, he says, there were in it Albert Moquin, 14 years old, of 68 West Third street, and one whom Lyons calls “Oscar the Wop,” or “Oscar the Dago.”
- 1918 May 23, Cornelius M. Steffens, “Democracy in America”, in The Continent, volume 49, number 21:
- When American troops are brigaded with the French, and fight side by side with the British, and realize that the line they hold is also held by the People of India, Portugal, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia and other countries they realize what brotherhood means.
Can a true American ever again call an Italian a “Dago”? The resistance of the Italians is relieving the pressure on the western front, now intensified by the defection of Russia. The people of the world are neighbors on the battlefields of Europe. Should they not even more be “brothers in Christ”? Christians need to be reminded occasionally that one cannot be a true follower of Christ and not be friendly with peoples of other nations, no matter what their tongue or color or skin. Dubuque College by educating young men of thirty nations to be preachers of righteousness to their fellow countrymen is helping to demonstrate true democracy.
- 1925, Agatha Christie, The Secret of Chimneys:
- Oh, well, I didn’t really do anything this time. Just pulled the Dago out of the river. Like all Dagos, he couldn’t swim.
- 1932, Dorothy L Sayers, chapter 10, in Have His Carcase:
- Sort of dago fellow; leads the orchestra down at the Winter Gardens ... You know the sort, all lah-di-dah and snakeskin shoes.
- 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXVIII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:
- And all foreigners to him were "dem bloody dagoes"—for, according to his theory, foreigners were responsible for unemployment.
- 1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 19:
- "Matilda's making us omelettes, that all right, Miss Tomson."
"Are they going to reek."
"Dear me, I hope not. I instructed her to leave out particularly strong ingredients."
"Just so I don't leave here smelling like a dago."
- (Australia, ethnic slur, somewhat dated) A person of Italian descent, more specifically.
- 2000, Filton Hebbard, Branigan: A Novel, page 128:
- There were Greeks and greasy Greeks, there were Chinese and Chinks, there were English and Pommies, but most of them clung to legitimacy. But with the Italians it was different. There were no Italians. All Italians were dago bastards.
[...]
Branigan had never worried, his position had been unique. But with most others, it was different. If, on returning from holidays their jobs had been filled by previously unemployed Australians, it was bad enough. But if their positions had been filled with Italians, the dago bastards came in for a flurry of fists.
- 2000, Filton Hebbard, Branigan: A Novel, page 158:
- ‘Oh, well,’ Branigan shrugged, as he got about his shower. ‘Good or bad, I reckon he’s pretty easy with you. You’re about the only Dago I know who hasn’t stuck with his family, and yet he helps.’
Ivo’s eyes flashed. ‘I don’t like you calling me Dago.’
‘Why?’ Branigan was lathering up his body, nude, unabashed in the usual manner. ‘What’s it mean? Dago?’
‘I dunno, it Italian name. Me Slav, Yugoslav. I tell you that long time ago.’
‘You’re all the same to me,’ Branigan grinned. Ivo was as Italian as Rome.
‘Bah.’
Usage notes
- The word has sometimes been reclaimed in recent years by its targets, with people of Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Greek origin themselves adopting the term. In the Upper Midwest region of the United States, the term is used for several Mediterranean-inspired food items.
- The Hill in St. Louis, an Italian-American enclave, is often referred to colloquially as "Dago Hill."
- Due to the traditional association between Catholicism and Italy, the word has sometimes been used to refer to Catholics as well, regardless of ethnicity.
Derived terms
Translations
person of Italian descent — see wop
Anagrams
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Afar
Pronunciation
Verb
dagó (inchoative daggoowé)
Conjugation
References
- E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “dago”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
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Basque
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Verb
dago (masculine allocutive zagok or zegok, feminine allocutive zagon or zegon)
Northern Sami
Noun
dagọ
Old Saxon
Noun
dago
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