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Slur of the Day: T words from the British Isles

Tan
(Ireland) a British person, a derogatory term for British people, derived from the Black and Tans, the nickname for an auxiliary British Army unit deployed to Ireland in the 1920s and which gained a reputation for brutality.
Taffy or Taff
(UK) a Welsh person. First used ca. 17th century. From the River Taff or the Welsh pronunciation of the name David (in Welsh, Dafydd).[183] Children’s rhyme: “Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief”. Generally considered offensive[citation needed] when used by an English person, although it has appeared in such family-friendly series as Dad’s Army, where it was used as a lighthearted nickname.
Thicklips
(UK) a black person.[28]
Touch of the tar brush
(British) derogatory descriptive phrase for a person of predominantly Caucasian ancestry with real or suspected African or Asian distant ancestry.[193]
Tinker / tynekere / tinkere / tynkere, -are / tynker / tenker / tinkar / tyncar / tinkard / tynkard / tincker
a. (Britain and Ireland) an inconsequential person (typically lower class); (note that in Britain, the term “Irish Tinker” may be used, giving it the same meaning as example b.)
b. (Scotland and Ireland) a Gypsy [origin unknown – possibly relating to one of the ‘traditional’ occupations of Gypsies as travelling ‘tinkerers’ or repairers of common household objects][191]
c. (Scotland) a member of the native community previously itinerant (but mainly now settled) who were reputed for their production of domestic implements from basic materials and for repair of the same items, being also known in the past as “travelling tinsmiths”. The slur is possibly derived from a reputation for rowdy and alcoholic recreation. Often wrongly confused with Gypsy/Romany people.
Taig (also Teague, Teg and Teig)
a vitriolic slur used by loyalists in Northern Ireland for members of the nationalist/Catholic/Gaelic community. Derived the Irish name Tadhg, often mistransliterated as Timothy.[184][185][186]
Teuchter
(Southern Scotland) somebody from the north of Scotland or rural Scottish areas. Used as a derogatory term to cause offense.[189]
Teapot
(British) A black person. [19th century][188]

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Posted 03 Jul 2015 by theaveeditor in Misc.

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