coon

coon
coon (n.) short for RACCOON (Cf. raccoon), 1742, American English. It was the nickname of Whig Party members in U.S. c.1848-60, as the raccoon was the party's symbol, and it also had associations with frontiersmen (who stereotypically wore raccoon-skin caps), which probably ultimately was the source of the Whig Party sense (the party's 1840 campaign was built on a false image of wealthy William Henry Harrison as a rustic frontiersman).
The insulting U.S. meaning "black person" was in use by 1837, said to be ultimately from Port. barracoos "building constructed to hold slaves for sale." No doubt boosted by the enormously popular blackface minstrel act "Zip Coon" (George Washington Dixon) which debuted in New York City in 1834. But it is perhaps older (one of the lead characters in the 1767 colonial comic opera "The Disappointment" is a black man named Raccoon). Coon's age is 1843, American English, probably an alteration of British a crow's age.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Coon — may refer to: Coon, a racial slur used in the United States to refer to black people Coon, an abbreviation for fur from raccoons and racoon dogs Coön (Κόων, Κόωνος), a Trojan warrior who fought in the Trojan War Coon cheese, is the trademark of a …   Wikipedia

  • Coon — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Carleton S. Coon (1904–1981), US amerikanischer Anthropologe Gene L. Coon (1924–1973), US amerikanischer Drehbuchautor und Fernsehproduzent Jabez Coon (1869–1935), australischer Politiker Jeremy Coon, US… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • coon|y — «KOO nee», adjective, coon|i|er, coon|i|est. Slang. wary and clever; shrewd. ╂[< coon + y1] …   Useful english dictionary

  • Coon — (k[=oo]n), n. (Zo[ o]l.) A raccoon. See {Raccoon}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • coon — [ kun ] noun count 1. ) INFORMAL a RACCOON 2. ) OFFENSIVE an offensive word for a black person in a coon s age INFORMAL in a very long time …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Coon — COON, ónis, Græc. Κόων, ωνος, (⇒ Tab. XXXI.) Antenors ältester Sohn, ein gar tapferer Soldat, verwundete den Agamemnon selbst durch die Hand, als er dessen Bruder, Iphidamas, erleget hatte. Indem er aber diesen noch darzu bey dem einen Beine… …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • COON — primogenitus filiorum Antenoris, qui cum Iphidamantis fratris mortem, ab Agamemnone illatam, vindicare vellet, mediam eius manum subter cubitum lauceâ trausfixit, atque ita ab eo interfectus est. Homer. Iliad …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • coon — [ku:n] n informal [Date: 1700 1800; Origin: raccoon] 1.) AmE a ↑raccoon 2.) taboo a very offensive word for a black person. Do not use this word …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • coon — ► NOUN 1) N. Amer. short for RACCOON(Cf. ↑raccoon). 2) informal, offensive a black person. [ORIGIN: slang use of sense 1, from an earlier sense ‘(sly) fellow’.] …   English terms dictionary

  • coon — ☆ coon [ko͞on ] n. 1. short for RACCOON 2. Slang a black person: a term of contempt or derision …   English World dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”