Words and Phrases.
WHEN MR BERNARD SHAW' broadcasts to-night he will probably indulge in a few home-thrusts against New Zealanders. It is to be hoped that they will be taken in good part, as the Americans took Mr Shaw's happy line in “ The Applecart” that “ an American is a wop pretending to be a Pilgrim Father." The origin of wop, an Italian, is cloaked in mystery. Mostly, however, American slang has an interesting derivation. “Limey” for a British sail-3r or a British sailing ship is directly traceable to the fact that all British ships served lime-juice to their crews daily. American ships did not do so. Dago for a Southern European is from the Spanish name Diego (Jago or James). Rube and hick are names for rustics. Mexicans call Englishmen or Americans gringos. which is a corruption of the Spanish Gricgo (Greek) and probably refers to the difierence in language. Even British people speak of anything unintelligible being Greek to them. TOUCHSTONE.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19340412.2.101
Bibliographic details
Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20278, 12 April 1934, Page 8
Word Count
162Words and Phrases. Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20278, 12 April 1934, Page 8
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