Ethnicity and Nationality

[Thomas H. Slone]

Here are some words and phrases for ethnicity (mostly pejorative) and 
nationality that I've collected.  Comments?  Additions?

as bilong sospen: a North Solomonese (pejorative) (Griffin 1989: 26)

blak sospan: a North Solomonese (pejorative) (Slone, 1995: 84)

blakpela waitman: an African-American (Slone, 1995: 84)

bret skin: a person from Port Moresby; a Papuan (i.e., someone from 
ex-British New Guinea) (Slone, 1995: 84)

Buka: 1. a crow   2. a dark-skinned person   3. a North Solomonese 
(pejorative if referring to someone from Bougainville) 4. black; very 
dark (Mihalic, 1971: 78). Buka was once used by colonialists to refer 
to anyone from what is now P.N.G. (Nash and Ogan, 1990: 6). From a 
North Solomons language, meaning "what?" or "who?" (Wheeler and 
Everist, 1988: 301) [Can anyone veryify this or pinpoint the 
language?]

Chimbu, Simbu: 1. someone from Simbu Province 2. other Highlanders 
(pejorative) [Nash and Ogan, 1990: 6, 11]. Joe Leahy remembered in 
Connolly and Anderson (1987: 288), "A lot of mixed races said, 'You 
shouldn't go round with the kanakas, stupid! You're not allowed!' 
They called us names-bush kanakas, cannibals, Chimbus.'"

Franis / Ples bilong ol man wiwi: France (Balzer, 1999: 114). Compare 
to the English use of "wi-wi" (oui-oui) as pejorative for the French 
(Hughes, 1991: 129)

Holan: 1. Hold on! (Mihalic, 1971: 98) 2. Holland (Balzer et al., 1999: 114)

Inglan: England (Balzer et al., 1999: 114)

Jeman / Jerman / Siamani: Germany (Mihalic, 1971: 101; Balzer et al., 
1999: 114)

Kanada: Canada (Balzer et al., 1999: 114)

Kongkong: 1. a Chinese; a Malay (both pejorative)   2. adze (slang) 
3. Chinese taro (a.k.a. "taro Kongkong"). Many of the Chinese in 
P.N.G. originated from Hong Kong. "Kong" may have been Australian 
slang for Chinese (e.g., see Leahy and Crain, 1937: 56).

Niu Silan: New Zealand (Balzer et al., 1999: 114) [better spelled as Nu Silan]

Nu Kaledonia: New Caledonia (Wantok newspaper)

Osenia, Osenia Rijon: Oceania (Wantok newspaper)

retskin: 1. a Highlander (pejorative). Lit. "red skin," as some 
Highlanders have reddish skin (Nash and Ogan, 1990: 9-12) 2. by 
extension, any non-Bougainvillean Papua New Guinean (pejorative) 
(Oliver, 1991: 223)

Siapan: Japan (Balzer et al., 1999: 114)

Solomon Ailan: Solomon Islands (Balzer et al., 1999: 114)

waitskin: 1. a white person   2. a European (Mihalic, 1971: 200)   3. 
a Chinese (pejorative) (Strathern, 1975: 288)  4. an albino. Lit. 
"white skin"

Westen: regional adjective for "Western", e.g., Westen Hailans, Westen Samoa

yeloskin: a person from Milne Bay Province (pejorative) (Slone, 1995: 99)

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References:

Balzer, Trevor; Lee, Ernie; Mülhäusler, Peter; Monaghan, Paul; 
Angelo, Denise & Ober, Dana (1999). Pidgin Phrasebook. Hawthorn, 
Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet.

Connolly, Bob and Anderson, Robin (1987). First Contact: New Guinea's 
Highlanders Encounter the Outside World. New York: Viking Penguin.

Griffin, James (1989). "Bougainvilleans: A people apart." Islands 
Business 15(7): 26-28.

Hughes, Geoffrey (1991). Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, 
Oaths and Profanity in English. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basil 
Blackwell.

Leahy, Michael J., and Crain, Maurice (1937). The Land That Time 
Forgot: Adventures and Discoveries in New Guinea. New York: Funk & 
Wagnalls.

Nash, Jill and Ogan, Eugene (1990). "The red and the black: 
Bougainvillean perceptions of other Papua New Guineans." Pacific 
Studies 13(2): 1-17.

Oliver, Douglas (1991). Black Islanders: A Personal Perspective of 
Bougainville 1937-1991. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

Slone, Thomas H. (1995). Tok nogut: An introduction to malediciton in 
Papua New Guinea. Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal 
Aggression 11: 75-104.

Strathern, Marilyn (1975). No Money on Our Skins: Hagen Migrants in 
Port Moresby. New Guinea Research Bulletin, No. 61. Canberra: New 
Guinea Research Unit, The Australian National University.

Wheeler, Tony, and Everist, Richard (1988). Papua New Guinea: A 
Travel Survival Kit. Fourth Edition. Berkeley, California: Lonely 
Planet.


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