wog

n

1.

British a foreigner. The word was first used to refer to dark-skinned inhabitants of other countries and is still usually employed in this sense. First recorded in the late 19th century, some people believe the term is derived from the ini-tials for 'Westernized Wily Oriental Gen-tleman', a condescending euphemism supposedly applied to Indians or Arabs working for the

British colonial authori-ties. An equally plausible source is the word 'golliwog' (originally 'golliwogg'), denoting a black doll with curly hair; a character invented by the children's writer Bertha Upton in the late Victorian era. The word is common in Australia and not unknown in the USA.

'The only reason I was opposed to them calling me a wog was because I realise that in this country the word is used ad-versely against dark-skinned people.' (Marsha Hunt, Oz magazine, July 1969)

2.

the wog

Australian an alternative version of wog gut