Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 10:18:26 -0500

From: Jesse T Sheidlower jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PANIX.COM

Subject: Re: "sand nigger" + similar



We do have some examples of _sand nigger_ 'dark-skinned native of a

land believed to have deserts' from before the Gulf War, but not too

much before; I think mid-1970s is our earliest.



For terms like this we do see a lot of confusion about where people

are actually from. We don't have any _sand nigger_ examples referring

to Indians (aside from Barry's), but we do have _camel jockey_ in that

sense; it normally refers to Arabs. We also have occasional examples

of _raghead_ in equally broad use. Most strikingly we just got in a

cite for _Kurd_ 'an Arab', in the sentence 'the Kurds at the 7-11

wouldn't let me buy any beer'. (The student had defined it as 'an

Arabian [sic]', so there's no chance it was literal.)



In short I wouldn't expect too much consistency or realism from this

type of ethnic epithet.



Jesse Sheidlower

Random House Reference

jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com