See wog in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for wog meaning in English (18.2kB)
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "clog wog"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "wogball"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "wog box"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "woggish"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "wogspeak"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "woggy"
}
],
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "golliwog",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "clipping of golliwog",
"name": "clipping"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "westernized"
},
"expansion": "westernized",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "worthy"
},
"expansion": "worthy",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wily"
},
"expansion": "wily",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wonderful"
},
"expansion": "wonderful",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The origins are not entirely clear. The term was first noted by the lexicographer F.C. Bowen in 1929, in his Sea Slang: a dictionary of the old-timers’ expressions and epithets, where he defines wogs as \"lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast.\"\nThe most common theory is that it is a clipping of golliwog, which was first used as the name of a black-faced doll in Florence Upton’s 1895 book The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. A variety of erroneous folk etymologies exist, with the most common claiming that the word is an acronym for one of either westernized, worthy, wily, or wonderful preceding “Oriental gentlemen”. Another erroneous claim is that it was used in the mid 1800s, with WOGS (meaning Working On Government Service) stencilled on the shirts of Indian workers in Egypt.\nThe Scientologist sense is from the usage of L. Ron Hubbard, who apparently accepted the folk etymology from “worthy Oriental gentleman” but employed the term to mean “common ordinary run-of-the-mill garden-variety humanoid”.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wogs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "wog (plural wogs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English ethnic slurs",
"parents": [
"Ethnic slurs",
"Offensive terms",
"Terms by usage"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "20 9 10 12 8 7 8 7 7 10",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 10 10 12 8 7 9 7 7 11",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "14 11 11 13 6 8 9 7 8 12",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 14 9 8 9 8 10 6 6 10",
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Australian nicknames for people",
"orig": "en:Australian nicknames for people",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 21 11 3 24 2 17 3 2 3",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1889, The American Missionary Volume 43 p. 81",
"text": "'One of the little Indian girls whose name is Polly has just come in to ask, \" Miss D., what is a wog? One white boy called me a polliwog, and I thought a wog must be something bad.\"'",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1921, Lionel James, chapter 18, in The History of King Edward's Horse, page 188",
"text": "\"The King Edward's Horse called the Indian Cavalry 'The Wogs'—which is the diminutive of 'Golliwogs',—a description that was very apt of these dark apparitions in khaki and tin-hats.\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any person who looks in-between \"white\" and \"black\": originally specifically an Indian, but later also broadened to anybody of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-noun-BHUzIHOS",
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"ethnic",
"ethnic"
],
[
"slur",
"slur"
],
[
"Indian",
"Indian"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(British, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) Any person who looks in-between \"white\" and \"black\": originally specifically an Indian, but later also broadened to anybody of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent."
],
"tags": [
"British",
"derogatory",
"ethnic",
"slang",
"slur"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English ethnic slurs",
"parents": [
"Ethnic slurs",
"Offensive terms",
"Terms by usage"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "14 11 11 13 6 8 9 7 8 12",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 21 11 3 24 2 17 3 2 3",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2015, Johnny Lieu, “Cronulla Riots: What happened on one of Australia's darkest days”, in Mashable",
"text": "'Every fucking aussie. Go to Cronulla Beach Sunday for some Leb and wog bashing Aussie Pride ok.'",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Specifically someone of Mediterranean descent."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-noun-ChPxPYgT",
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"ethnic",
"ethnic"
],
[
"slur",
"slur"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) Specifically someone of Mediterranean descent."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"derogatory",
"ethnic",
"slang",
"slur"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Scientology",
"orig": "en:Scientology",
"parents": [
"Religion",
"Culture",
"Society",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "14 11 11 13 6 8 9 7 8 12",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 21 11 3 24 2 17 3 2 3",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1998 December 31, Hartley Patterson, “Documented Membership??”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet), message-ID <76gomd$tae$1@news4.svr.pol.co.uk>",
"text": "So yes, they do keep records, but no they are not 'accurate' in the wog world meaning of the word.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2007 June 21, Dave Touretzky, “date correction for DM's big revelation”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet), message-ID <467ab5da$1@news2.lightlink.com>",
"text": "I'm of course talking about Hubbard's books (including Book One) being extensively rewritten, and Scn's decision to remove any mention of LRH from materials intended for wogs.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2012, Bruce Clark, Love, Sex, Fleas, God",
"text": "At the Org there were mixed feelings towards wogs because, at any given time, there were wogs in our midst. Wogs coming in off the street in search of Scientology services were looked upon favourably […]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person who is not a Scientologist."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-noun-J32LZX-i",
"links": [
[
"Scientology",
"Scientology"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Scientology, often attributive) A person who is not a Scientologist."
],
"tags": [
"attributive",
"often"
],
"topics": [
"Scientology",
"lifestyle",
"religion"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɒɡ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒɡ"
},
{
"audio": "en-au-wog.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg/En-au-wog.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "40 23 36",
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "dago"
},
{
"_dis1": "40 23 36",
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "Eyetie"
},
{
"_dis1": "40 23 36",
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "goombah"
},
{
"_dis1": "40 23 36",
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "greaseball"
},
{
"_dis1": "40 23 36",
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "guido"
},
{
"_dis1": "40 23 36",
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "guinea"
},
{
"_dis1": "40 23 36",
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "wop"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "perker"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"word": "laku"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"word": "bougnoule"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Kanake"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Ölauge"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "ciapaty"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "brudas"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xač",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "хач"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "čúrka",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "чу́рка"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "čurbán",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "чурба́н"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "čučmék",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "чучме́к"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "černomázyj",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "чернома́зый"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "černožópyj",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine",
"offensive",
"vulgar"
],
"word": "черножо́пый"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "blatte"
},
{
"_dis1": "42 10 48",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "babbe"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Florence Upton",
"L. Ron Hubbard"
],
"word": "wog"
}
{
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "golliwog",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "clipping of golliwog",
"name": "clipping"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "westernized"
},
"expansion": "westernized",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "worthy"
},
"expansion": "worthy",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wily"
},
"expansion": "wily",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wonderful"
},
"expansion": "wonderful",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The origins are not entirely clear. The term was first noted by the lexicographer F.C. Bowen in 1929, in his Sea Slang: a dictionary of the old-timers’ expressions and epithets, where he defines wogs as \"lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast.\"\nThe most common theory is that it is a clipping of golliwog, which was first used as the name of a black-faced doll in Florence Upton’s 1895 book The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. A variety of erroneous folk etymologies exist, with the most common claiming that the word is an acronym for one of either westernized, worthy, wily, or wonderful preceding “Oriental gentlemen”. Another erroneous claim is that it was used in the mid 1800s, with WOGS (meaning Working On Government Service) stencilled on the shirts of Indian workers in Egypt.\nThe Scientologist sense is from the usage of L. Ron Hubbard, who apparently accepted the folk etymology from “worthy Oriental gentleman” but employed the term to mean “common ordinary run-of-the-mill garden-variety humanoid”.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wogs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "wogging",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "wogged",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "wogged",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "wog (third-person singular simple present wogs, present participle wogging, simple past and past participle wogged)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"(Of soldiers stationed abroad) to sell something, especially illicit or stolen goods, to the local inhabitants."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-verb-Ea9Jw1Sm",
"qualifier": "WWII slang",
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, WWII slang, obsolete) (Of soldiers stationed abroad) to sell something, especially illicit or stolen goods, to the local inhabitants."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"obsolete"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "14 11 11 13 6 8 9 7 8 12",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To steal."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-verb-V6eOpCNB",
"links": [
[
"steal",
"steal"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, UK, dated) To steal."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"UK",
"dated"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɒɡ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒɡ"
},
{
"audio": "en-au-wog.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg/En-au-wog.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Florence Upton",
"L. Ron Hubbard"
],
"word": "wog"
}
{
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "polliwog",
"3": "",
"4": "a tadpole"
},
"expansion": "Clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”)",
"name": "clipping"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wogs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "wog (plural wogs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"word": "polliwog"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "14 11 11 13 6 8 9 7 8 12",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Clipping of polliwog."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-noun-5xOVMZcW",
"links": [
[
"polliwog",
"polliwog#English"
]
],
"tags": [
"abbreviation",
"alt-of",
"clipping"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Nautical",
"orig": "en:Nautical",
"parents": [
"Transport",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "16 21 11 3 24 2 17 3 2 3",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A pollywog, or sailor who has never crossed the Equator."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-noun-KxS8P1NX",
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
],
[
"pollywog",
"pollywog"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical, slang) A pollywog, or sailor who has never crossed the Equator."
],
"tags": [
"slang"
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɒɡ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒɡ"
},
{
"audio": "en-au-wog.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg/En-au-wog.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "wog"
}
{
"etymology_number": 3,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "polliwog",
"3": "",
"4": "a tadpole",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”)",
"name": "clipping"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown. Probably from Etymology 2, a clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wogs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "wog (plural wogs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A bug, an insect."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-noun-2ks5TwB~",
"links": [
[
"bug",
"bug"
],
[
"insect",
"insect"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia slang) A bug, an insect."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "16 21 11 3 24 2 17 3 2 3",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A minor illness caused by bacteria, virus, intestinal parasite, etc."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-noun-f3LdZJqB",
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia slang) A minor illness caused by bacteria, virus, intestinal parasite, etc."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A toy insect in parts that can be assembled, used in fund-raising games."
],
"id": "en-wog-en-noun-x3t44SVl",
"links": [
[
"toy",
"toy"
],
[
"assemble",
"assemble"
],
[
"fund-raising",
"fund-raising"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia slang, obsolete) A toy insect in parts that can be assembled, used in fund-raising games."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"obsolete",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɒɡ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒɡ"
},
{
"audio": "en-au-wog.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg/En-au-wog.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "wog"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 1-syllable words",
"English clippings",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English initialisms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"English three-letter words",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/ɒɡ",
"Rhymes:English/ɒɡ/1 syllable",
"en:Australian nicknames for people",
"en:People"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "clog wog"
},
{
"word": "wogball"
},
{
"word": "wog box"
},
{
"word": "woggish"
},
{
"word": "wogspeak"
},
{
"word": "woggy"
}
],
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "golliwog",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "clipping of golliwog",
"name": "clipping"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "westernized"
},
"expansion": "westernized",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "worthy"
},
"expansion": "worthy",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wily"
},
"expansion": "wily",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wonderful"
},
"expansion": "wonderful",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The origins are not entirely clear. The term was first noted by the lexicographer F.C. Bowen in 1929, in his Sea Slang: a dictionary of the old-timers’ expressions and epithets, where he defines wogs as \"lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast.\"\nThe most common theory is that it is a clipping of golliwog, which was first used as the name of a black-faced doll in Florence Upton’s 1895 book The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. A variety of erroneous folk etymologies exist, with the most common claiming that the word is an acronym for one of either westernized, worthy, wily, or wonderful preceding “Oriental gentlemen”. Another erroneous claim is that it was used in the mid 1800s, with WOGS (meaning Working On Government Service) stencilled on the shirts of Indian workers in Egypt.\nThe Scientologist sense is from the usage of L. Ron Hubbard, who apparently accepted the folk etymology from “worthy Oriental gentleman” but employed the term to mean “common ordinary run-of-the-mill garden-variety humanoid”.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wogs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "wog (plural wogs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"British English",
"English derogatory terms",
"English ethnic slurs",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1889, The American Missionary Volume 43 p. 81",
"text": "'One of the little Indian girls whose name is Polly has just come in to ask, \" Miss D., what is a wog? One white boy called me a polliwog, and I thought a wog must be something bad.\"'",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1921, Lionel James, chapter 18, in The History of King Edward's Horse, page 188",
"text": "\"The King Edward's Horse called the Indian Cavalry 'The Wogs'—which is the diminutive of 'Golliwogs',—a description that was very apt of these dark apparitions in khaki and tin-hats.\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any person who looks in-between \"white\" and \"black\": originally specifically an Indian, but later also broadened to anybody of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent."
],
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"ethnic",
"ethnic"
],
[
"slur",
"slur"
],
[
"Indian",
"Indian"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(British, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) Any person who looks in-between \"white\" and \"black\": originally specifically an Indian, but later also broadened to anybody of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent."
],
"tags": [
"British",
"derogatory",
"ethnic",
"slang",
"slur"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"English derogatory terms",
"English ethnic slurs",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2015, Johnny Lieu, “Cronulla Riots: What happened on one of Australia's darkest days”, in Mashable",
"text": "'Every fucking aussie. Go to Cronulla Beach Sunday for some Leb and wog bashing Aussie Pride ok.'",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Specifically someone of Mediterranean descent."
],
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"ethnic",
"ethnic"
],
[
"slur",
"slur"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) Specifically someone of Mediterranean descent."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"derogatory",
"ethnic",
"slang",
"slur"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"en:Scientology"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1998 December 31, Hartley Patterson, “Documented Membership??”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet), message-ID <76gomd$tae$1@news4.svr.pol.co.uk>",
"text": "So yes, they do keep records, but no they are not 'accurate' in the wog world meaning of the word.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2007 June 21, Dave Touretzky, “date correction for DM's big revelation”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet), message-ID <467ab5da$1@news2.lightlink.com>",
"text": "I'm of course talking about Hubbard's books (including Book One) being extensively rewritten, and Scn's decision to remove any mention of LRH from materials intended for wogs.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2012, Bruce Clark, Love, Sex, Fleas, God",
"text": "At the Org there were mixed feelings towards wogs because, at any given time, there were wogs in our midst. Wogs coming in off the street in search of Scientology services were looked upon favourably […]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person who is not a Scientologist."
],
"links": [
[
"Scientology",
"Scientology"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Scientology, often attributive) A person who is not a Scientologist."
],
"tags": [
"attributive",
"often"
],
"topics": [
"Scientology",
"lifestyle",
"religion"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɒɡ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒɡ"
},
{
"audio": "en-au-wog.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg/En-au-wog.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "dago"
},
{
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "Eyetie"
},
{
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "goombah"
},
{
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "greaseball"
},
{
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "guido"
},
{
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "guinea"
},
{
"sense": "person of Italian descent",
"word": "wop"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "perker"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"word": "laku"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"word": "bougnoule"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Kanake"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Ölauge"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "ciapaty"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "brudas"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xač",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "хач"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "čúrka",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "чу́рка"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "čurbán",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "чурба́н"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "čučmék",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "чучме́к"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "černomázyj",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "чернома́зый"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "černožópyj",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"masculine",
"offensive",
"vulgar"
],
"word": "черножо́пый"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "blatte"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "an offensive term for a dark-skinned person",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "babbe"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Florence Upton",
"L. Ron Hubbard"
],
"word": "wog"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 1-syllable words",
"English clippings",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English initialisms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"English three-letter words",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/ɒɡ",
"Rhymes:English/ɒɡ/1 syllable",
"en:Australian nicknames for people",
"en:People"
],
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "golliwog",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "clipping of golliwog",
"name": "clipping"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "westernized"
},
"expansion": "westernized",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "worthy"
},
"expansion": "worthy",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wily"
},
"expansion": "wily",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wonderful"
},
"expansion": "wonderful",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The origins are not entirely clear. The term was first noted by the lexicographer F.C. Bowen in 1929, in his Sea Slang: a dictionary of the old-timers’ expressions and epithets, where he defines wogs as \"lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast.\"\nThe most common theory is that it is a clipping of golliwog, which was first used as the name of a black-faced doll in Florence Upton’s 1895 book The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. A variety of erroneous folk etymologies exist, with the most common claiming that the word is an acronym for one of either westernized, worthy, wily, or wonderful preceding “Oriental gentlemen”. Another erroneous claim is that it was used in the mid 1800s, with WOGS (meaning Working On Government Service) stencilled on the shirts of Indian workers in Egypt.\nThe Scientologist sense is from the usage of L. Ron Hubbard, who apparently accepted the folk etymology from “worthy Oriental gentleman” but employed the term to mean “common ordinary run-of-the-mill garden-variety humanoid”.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wogs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "wogging",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "wogged",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "wogged",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "wog (third-person singular simple present wogs, present participle wogging, simple past and past participle wogged)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"English terms with obsolete senses"
],
"glosses": [
"(Of soldiers stationed abroad) to sell something, especially illicit or stolen goods, to the local inhabitants."
],
"qualifier": "WWII slang",
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, WWII slang, obsolete) (Of soldiers stationed abroad) to sell something, especially illicit or stolen goods, to the local inhabitants."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"obsolete"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"British English",
"English dated terms"
],
"glosses": [
"To steal."
],
"links": [
[
"steal",
"steal"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, UK, dated) To steal."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"UK",
"dated"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɒɡ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒɡ"
},
{
"audio": "en-au-wog.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg/En-au-wog.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Florence Upton",
"L. Ron Hubbard"
],
"word": "wog"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 1-syllable words",
"English clippings",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English initialisms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"English three-letter words",
"Rhymes:English/ɒɡ",
"Rhymes:English/ɒɡ/1 syllable",
"en:Australian nicknames for people",
"en:People"
],
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "polliwog",
"3": "",
"4": "a tadpole"
},
"expansion": "Clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”)",
"name": "clipping"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wogs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "wog (plural wogs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"word": "polliwog"
}
],
"categories": [
"English clippings"
],
"glosses": [
"Clipping of polliwog."
],
"links": [
[
"polliwog",
"polliwog#English"
]
],
"tags": [
"abbreviation",
"alt-of",
"clipping"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English slang",
"en:Nautical"
],
"glosses": [
"A pollywog, or sailor who has never crossed the Equator."
],
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
],
[
"pollywog",
"pollywog"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical, slang) A pollywog, or sailor who has never crossed the Equator."
],
"tags": [
"slang"
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɒɡ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒɡ"
},
{
"audio": "en-au-wog.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg/En-au-wog.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "wog"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 1-syllable words",
"English clippings",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English initialisms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"English three-letter words",
"Rhymes:English/ɒɡ",
"Rhymes:English/ɒɡ/1 syllable",
"en:Australian nicknames for people",
"en:People"
],
"etymology_number": 3,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "polliwog",
"3": "",
"4": "a tadpole",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”)",
"name": "clipping"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown. Probably from Etymology 2, a clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wogs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "wog (plural wogs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"English slang"
],
"glosses": [
"A bug, an insect."
],
"links": [
[
"bug",
"bug"
],
[
"insect",
"insect"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia slang) A bug, an insect."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"English slang"
],
"glosses": [
"A minor illness caused by bacteria, virus, intestinal parasite, etc."
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia slang) A minor illness caused by bacteria, virus, intestinal parasite, etc."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"English slang",
"English terms with obsolete senses"
],
"glosses": [
"A toy insect in parts that can be assembled, used in fund-raising games."
],
"links": [
[
"toy",
"toy"
],
[
"assemble",
"assemble"
],
[
"fund-raising",
"fund-raising"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia slang, obsolete) A toy insect in parts that can be assembled, used in fund-raising games."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"obsolete",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɒɡ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒɡ"
},
{
"audio": "en-au-wog.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg/En-au-wog.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/En-au-wog.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "wog"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-24 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (82c8ff9 and f4967a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.