Ginny [hard g]

Question

My fiance uses ginny as a slang term for Italian American, and I never heard of it, though Google shows that it is a popular girl's name and a type of doll.
http://www.wwvisions.com/craftbb/ginnydolls.html
Joanne

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Joanne Marinelli typed thus:
[nq:1]My fiance uses ginny as a slang term for Italian American, and I never heard of it, though Google shows that it is a popular girl's name and a type of doll.[/nq]
Ginny is a common UK diminutive for Virginia. I've known a small number of ladies called Ginny, although Virginia is no longer a common name. I see from my company directory that we only have one Virginia, out of about 10,000 UK staff (I don't know the male/female ratio).
Soft G, as in Gerry.

David
==

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]My fiance uses ginny as a slang term for Italian American, and I neverheard of it, though Google shows that it is a popular girl's name and a type of doll.[/nq]
That's because you're spelling it wrong mate.
g-u-i-n-e-a

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]My fiance uses ginny as a slang term for Italian American, and I neverheard of it, though Google shows that it is a popular girl's name and a type of doll. http://www.wwvisions.com/craftbb/ginnydolls.html Joanne[/nq]
Guinea is how it's usually spelled, it's an epithet demaning Italians by implying they are less than white.
WOP is another term for Italian Americans, it sounds bad but it comes from the stamp placed on the entry forms of many coming here it stands for "without papers".
many poor immigrants didn't have any documentation when they came.

Never eat at an Italian resturant south of Philly or west of Chicago.

Real Italians call it red gravy not tomato suace.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Joanne Marinelli typed thus:[/nq]
[nq:2]My fiance uses ginny as a slang term for Italian ... is a popular girl's name and a type of doll.[/nq]
It's spelled Guinea or something like that, and has something to do with the origin of New Guinea, but probably not British, French, Duch Guiana.
Checking, I see it is the African coast from Gambia to Angola, including the country of Guinea-Bissau. Much of the area was explored by Portugal and colonized by France. It also was a unit of British coinage, equal to one pound and one shilling, because the gold for it came from Guinea. There is also the Guinea fowl, the Guinea peach, the Guinea Current, Guinea Corn, Guinea grass and more.

I forget who the term referred to when I was little, yeah, probably Italians, and, I'm sure your fiance doesn't know this, but should before he meets your parents or grandparents, then it was meant to be offensive. And if your fiance learned the word from his parents, they probably don't know it was offensive either, and he should tell them before they meet your parents.
I think I've heard other words that once were used as insults that no longer are, but I can't think of a recent example, just Yankee where the change was 100's of years ago. ()Although, as we discussed here, that got a new negative meaning in England during WWII (as well as a new positive one), and some other countries since then.)
[nq:1]Ginny is a common UK diminutive for Virginia. I've known a small number of ladies called Ginny, although Virginia is ... have one Virginia, out of about 10,000 UK staff (I don't know the male/female ratio). Soft G, as in Gerry.[/nq]
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]It's spelled Guinea or something like that, and has something to do with the origin of New Guinea, but probably ... from Guinea. There is also the Guinea fowl, the Guinea peach, the Guinea Current, Guinea Corn, Guinea grass and more.[/nq]
Just in case anyone is accidentally misled by the above: New Guinea is not in Africa, it is north of Australia.

Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]My fiance uses ginny as a slang term for Italian American, and I never heard of it, though Google shows that it is a popular girl's name and a type of doll. http://www.wwvisions.com/craftbb/ginnydolls.html Joanne[/nq]
Spelled "guinea", and it's strongly impolite. The usual origin given is the country in Africa, with the implication that Italian-Americans are as inferior as non-whites, but I find that unsupported and unconvincing.
My equally unsupported and unconvincing conjecture is that it arises from some characteristic mispronunciation in Italian-accented English (Italian consonants can be so soft that "k" sounds "g" to ears not accustomed to Italian), but I wouldn't know what word would hypothetically be mispronounced that way.
For an example of a word where the accent origin is clear, though, see "goombah".

Chris Green

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]It's spelled Guinea or something like that, and has something ... peach, the Guinea Current, Guinea Corn, Guinea grass and more.[/nq]
[nq:1]Just in case anyone is accidentally misled by the above: New Guinea is not in Africa, it is north of Australia.[/nq]
Thanks.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]My fiance uses ginny as a slang term for Italian ... a popular girl's name and a typeof doll. http://www.wwvisions.com/craftbb/ginnydolls.html Joanne[/nq]
[nq:1]Spelled "guinea", and it's strongly impolite. The usual origin given is the country in Africa, with the implication that Italian-Americans ... that way. For an example of a word where the accent origin is clear, though, see "goombah". Chris Green[/nq]
The only thing I knew was that it was an insult he self-referenced, and not that it was a corruption of New Guinea. He is the one who is biracial actually, Latino-Italian, and is much more comfortable with the home boys than I, and hails from the Bronx, which may explain why I never heard it. At least to my knowledge, "ginny* is not common slang in Philadelphia's Italian neighborhoods.
Joanne

Ginny [hard g]

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