Talk:wog

Re 4. (Australia) A minor illness

In Australia in the 1960s the term "wog" did not mean an illness itself, but the microbe that caused it. It meant what "bug" meant in the UK.

There was no assumption about the severity of the illness. It was more likely to be used when the actual agent of infection was not known, and that was more likely to be when the illness was minor.

I migrated from the UK to Australia in 1963, at age 17, and heard "wog" often at school. I don't speak for current usage as I haven't heard it for a long time.

By the way, this usage of "wog" is probably why Australians say "wop" where the English say "wog".

Jim hill au 14:17, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Etymologies
This needs to be split into at least four separate etymologies. 86.131.89.40 18:01, 3 March 2009 (UTC)


 * That was me. Now done. Equinox ◑ 00:41, 5 March 2009 (UTC)