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28-04-2008, 01:01 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Not friggin' Lamma no more!
Posts: 1,557
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by jgl  Any idea how the Aussie term "wog" started? I assume that it started up around Melbourne. | Until 1973 Australia had a white-only immigration policy, so the term used mainly as a racial slur in Britain was applied to ethnic European immigrants of the post-WWII "populate or perish" era. By now it has greatly lost its sting, and many ethnic Australians have reclaimed it as a jocular term, with some cleverly riffing on it (e.g. 'clog wog' for a Dutchman, 'frog wog' for a Frenchman). Since the 70s, the wog label has been extended to include newer immigrants arriving from the Middle East and other parts of Asia, and many have come to identify strongly with it, facing resistance from more assimilated European wogs who harbor racist and anti-Muslim attitudes. The term is almost completely unknown in the United States and Canada, but in Britain it remains extremely offensive, somewhat akin to 'nigger'. |
28-04-2008, 01:06 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Siu Lam - Born under the glow of the Victorian Southern Cross
Posts: 948
| | My grand father ran a lot of the high tension wires along the Snowy Mountain Hydro Electric Scheme from the hume Weir in Victoria. During the 1950's my grand father worked with a lot of italian immigrants who were asked to work on that project as per the free passage agreement in place at the time.
From what i know, WOG refered to anybody in Australia who was of Southern European ethnicity, and not the British version of the meaning as such. It doesnt abreviate to anything like other forms of the term. The British version which refered to brown people and a shortening of the word Gollywog, which today is a PC removed word from English language mainstream vocab.
I'd say it refered to people who had dark curly hair etc.
The Australian version is very loosely based on the previous British example, historically.
The word wog in Australia these days isnt termed as offensive, most people who of southern european ethnicity refer to themselves as wogs. Watch the movie the WOG BOY and the very successful stage show, Wogs out of work, made famous by Melbourne comedian Nick Giannopoulos. Careful, swear words used by Tony the yugoslavian farkin, in the video clips below..lol wogs out of work
Last edited by Skyhook : 28-04-2008 at 01:29 PM.
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28-04-2008, 01:15 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 85
| | | I remember "wog" from high school and it was used for greeks and italians in a derogatory manner unless you were one..."they" would say it stood for "Welcome Overseas Gentleman"...lol...
But now because of clever use from some Melbourne-based comedians it really did lose all its negative power probably starting with their "Wogs out of Work" comedy show which did really well.
Claireax - LOL!!! We use FOB and giggle at the same thing..."ooh lookit here honey, a genuwine Ming vase and they only want $100"... |
28-04-2008, 01:17 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 85
| | | the best/worst part for me being an expat is with every new country we move to, we become part of the FOB before we can start laughing at the memory of what we were like when we first got there... |
28-04-2008, 01:36 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 85
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyhook The word wog in Australia these days isnt termed as offensive, most people who of southern european ethnicity refer to themselves as wogs. Watch the movie the WOG BOY and the very successful stage show, Wogs out of work, made famous by Melbourne comedian Nick Giannopoulos. | SNAP!  lol |
28-04-2008, 01:37 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Siu Lam - Born under the glow of the Victorian Southern Cross
Posts: 948
| | | Ha ha mumto2 lol Touche ! |
28-04-2008, 01:55 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 584
| | I think the more common term used in HK is "crazy gweilo"  |
28-04-2008, 01:59 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Siu Lam - Born under the glow of the Victorian Southern Cross
Posts: 948
| | Cheesin Gwei lo, Gwei po, Gwei Jai, and Gwei Mui mah
Farn Gwei even, although hardly anybody uses that phrase any more, mainly baby boomer and beyond age groups.
Last edited by Skyhook : 28-04-2008 at 02:06 PM.
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28-04-2008, 02:19 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Siu Lam - Born under the glow of the Victorian Southern Cross
Posts: 948
| | This video is all about if WOG is offensive or not in 2008
For anyone interested
Great to see an old mate John Mangos ( ex-GTV-9) give his opinion about this subject. Go the Mango !
Last edited by Skyhook : 28-04-2008 at 02:27 PM.
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28-04-2008, 10:12 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Fanling Age: 27
Posts: 225
| | | Wikipedia seems neutral, not specifically Asian.
The Wikipedia article I referred to in the first post a few years ago referred specifically to people from an Asian dependency settling in Western Nations. However if you read the current article it is amazingly neutral and refers to any immigrant settling into any target culture.
So, if the Wikipedia is to be taken 'verbadem' then are us expats "FOB's"? And if the Wikipedia article is neutral and factual (surely all things on the Internet are factual *haha*) then are the less assymilated we are with Chinese language and culture, the more "FOBBie" we are?
The word FOB is also certainly alive and well in Australia and used to talk of immigrants from Asia. I found a tension between my FOB friends in Australia and my banana friends also in Australia - do you think such tension arises in Hong Kong between those of us expats who are more assimilated and those of us who wish to stay in our gwailo hangouts?
This is deep and philosophical, no harm intended in by any means. | | Tools | Search | | | | | Rate This Thread | | | All times are GMT +8. The time now is 12:01 PM. | |
