wog

wog1 wo(hook)g. slang. Origin uncertain: often said to be an
acronym, but none of the many suggested etymologies is
satisfactorily supported by the evidence.

1. A vulgarly offensive name for a foreigner, esp. one of Arab
extraction.

   * 1929 F. Bowen Sea Slang 153 Wogs, lower class Babu shipping
     clerks on the Indian coast.

   * 1932 R. J. P. Hewison Essay on Oxford 5 And here the Ethiop
     ranks, the wogs, we spy.

   * 1937 F. Stark Baghdad Sketches 90 When I return, Nasir fixed me
     with real malignity in his little placid eyes. `I knew she
     wanted me to go,' he said. `I could see what she was thinking.
     They call us wogs.'

   * 1942 C. Hollingworth German Just behind Me xiii. 258 King Zog
     Was always considered a bit of a Wog, Until Mussolini quite
     recently Behaved so indecently.

   * 1944 [see come v. 39 e].

   * 1955 E. Waugh Officers & Gentlemen ii. 323 He turned up in
     western Abyssinia leading a group of wogs.

   * 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Apr. p. vi/3 We have travelled some
     distance from the days when Wogs began at Calais.

   * 1965 [see Commie].

   * 1982 J. Savarin Water Hole i. iv. 42 He hated Arabs... They
     were all wogs to him.

2. The Arabic language.

   * 1977 P. Raymond Matter of Assassination vi. 63, I can't speak
     Wog and don't seems to be getting anywhere.

   * 1982 W. Haggard Mischief-Makers xiv. 157 `I've picked up a few
     words of wog, sir.'.. The driver spoke terrible barrack-room
     Arabic.

3.

a. attrib. passing into adj.

   * A. 1963 J. Lusby in B. James Austral. Short Stories (1963) 236
     Wog chappie scuttling around seeking safe side of the beast.

   * 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 234 We were hawking,
     and getting treated like bleeding wog brush salesmen.

   * 1973 Daily Tel. 31 May 3/2 Judge Sheldon heard that trouble
     started..when white girlfriends of coloured soldiers..were
     taunted by members of the Royal Scots as `wog lovers'.

   * 1977 Drive Sept.-Oct. 112/2 Any foreign car, even a Ferrari or
     a Mercedes, is a wog motor, unless it's a Yank.

b. Comb.

wogland

wogland derog., a foreign country.

   * 1961 [see nig, nig sb.3].

   * 1967 J. Munro Money that Money can't Buy ii. 24, I don't live
     in Wogland [sc. Spain] because I like it.

Hence also

wogger

'wogger;

woggy

'woggy a.

   * 1922 Joyce Ulysses 740 She called him wogger.

   * 1922 Joyce Ulysses 741 She may have noticed her wogger people
     were always going away.

   * 1973 M. Catto Sam Casanova iv. 75, I met some kid in a
     night-club here, does some sort of Woggy belly-dance.

   * 1979 Reese & Flint Trick 13 100 That woggy fellow..was cleaning
     up.
Another meaning entirely: 
wog (C. 1700) M`Alpie Cert. Cur. Poems (1828) 6 ``For we declair it wnto 
yow, The man hes gott the wog.''
wog (1934) Bulletin (Sydney) 31 Oct. 20/4 ``Buckley's fluke..is a wog 
that enters the nostrils of these snakes during hibernation. ''
wog (1941) C. Barrett Coast of Adventure iii. 51 ``Jolly little 
people..popping into old jam tins a miscellany of wogs-from bull-ants to 
scorpions and centipedes. ''
wog (1953) A. Upfield Murder must Wait xxi. 191 ``The wogs flying about 
the light. ''
wog (1964) R. Braddon Year Angry Rabbit i. 9 ``But find the wog, find the 
super-myxomatosis, the whatever-it-may-be that kills today's rabbits. ''
wog (1976) D. Francis In Frame viii. 126 ``A beastly stomach wog, so he 
couldn't come.''
And the offensive form, sorted by date:
Wog in the Oxford English Dictionary
wog 1922 Joyce Ulysses 740
She called him wogger. ''
wog 1922 Joyce Ulysses 741
She may have noticed her wogger people were always going away. ''
wog 1929 F. Bowen Sea Slang 153
Wogs, lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast. ''
wog 1932 R. J. P. Hewison Essay on Oxford 5
And here the Ethiop ranks, the wogs, we spy. ''
wog 1937 F. Stark Baghdad Sketches 90
When I return, Nasir fixed me with real malignity in his little placid eyes. `I knew she wanted me to go,' he said. `I could see what she was thinking. They call us wogs.' ''
wog 1942 C. Hollingworth German Just behind Me xiii. 258
King Zog Was always considered a bit of a Wog, Until Mussolini quite recently Behaved so indecently. ''
come 1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target 95
Don't come at that, you Wog..bastard. ''
Herrenvolk 1947 Penguin New Writing XXXI. 157
He referred to them [sc. Sinhalese] in their presence as `wogs'..and forced them to admit his herrenvolk creed . ''
wog 1955 E. Waugh Officers &. Gentlemen ii. 323
He turned up in western Abyssinia leading a group of wogs. ''
wog 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Apr. p. vi/3
We have travelled some distance from the days when Wogs began at Calais. ''
nig 1961 C. Willock Death in Covert i. 11
Like many of these nigs, he could shoot. Dammit, back home in steaming wogland he probably did nothing else. ''
wog 1963A. J. Lusby in B. James Austral. Short Stories (1963) 236
Wog chappie scuttling around seeking safe side of the beast. ''
Commie 1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate i. 13
After all, one might speak in that manner of the Wogs or the Commies.''
reffo 1965 Listener 2 Sept. 339/2
Australians..had their full quota of terms such as wogs, dagos, and so on, and refugees were commonly referred to as `bloody reffos'. ''
wog 1967 J. Munro Money that Money can't Buy ii. 24,
I don't live in Wogland [sc. Spain] because I like it.''
wog 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 234
We were hawking, and getting treated like bleeding wog brush salesmen.''
oppo 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 101
He's dotty on them Wog gods, aren't you, Stubby, me old oppo? ''
pisser 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 37
He was pulling your pisser, Wal. Malaria's no worse than a cold to the Wogs, is it, Bamber? ''
ring 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 105,
I can't take this sodding shitting Wog beer... Makes me spew my ring every time! ''
nig-nog 1972 D. Onyeama Nigger at Eton x. 199
The word `wog'..was one racial name which I always seemed to fear at Eton. Together with `nig-nog', it was the term of abuse which..I did not, to start with, understand the meaning of. ''
wog 1973 Daily Tel. 31 May 3/2
Judge Sheldon heard that trouble started..when white girlfriends of coloured soldiers..were taunted by members of the Royal Scots as `wog lovers'. ''
wog 1973 M. Catto Sam Casanova iv. 75,
I met some kid in a night-club here, does some sort of Woggy belly-dance. ''
woodwork 1974 M. Innes Appleby's Other Story iv. 30
At least we can tell this bloody wog to crawl back into the woodwork. ''
wog 1977 P. Raymond Matter of Assassination vi. 63,
I can't speak Wog and don't seems to be getting anywhere. ''
wog 1977 Drive Sept.-Oct. 112/2
Any foreign car, even a Ferrari or a Mercedes, is a wog motor, unless it's a Yank.''
wog 1979 Reese &. Flint Trick 13 100
That woggy fellow..was cleaning up.''
wog 1982 J. Savarin Water Hole i. iv. 42
He hated Arabs... They were all wogs to him.''
wog 1982 W. Haggard Mischief-Makers xiv. 157
`I've picked up a few words of wog, sir.'.. The driver spoke terrible barrack-room Arabic.''