History The term 'Gin' to refer to indigenous females

[kfc1]

Came across the use of this term in a newspaper article as late as 1939 this morning and it shocked me a little to be honest - I had thought it was a term that was well out of use in normal conversation by that time.

What's the origin of the term? I know it was used to refer to aboriginal females who were (or thought to be) used for sex by white males but why that term? Is it slang for something?

When did it stop being used? Most people my age would have never heard the term unless they have an interest in history.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

I can't believe that you thought that it would have been out of use by 1939.

When I was first living and working in WA in the late 80s it was a very commonly used term where I was.

Fast forward to now and it still gets a run, but nowhere near as much as back in the 80s.

 

[kfc1]

I've honestly never heard it used in a conversation. What would the context be these days? or back in the 80s?

 

[Danny Cullen]

Believe it or not this term was used frequently at quiz nights in cryptic quizzes for WA towns. Skinny aboriginal woman = Narrogin. Two aboriginal women = Gin Gin. Haven't heard it for a fair while though.

 

[Todman]

I believe it comes from the word picaninny. picaninny> ginny > gin.

from Wikipedia.

Pickaninny (also picaninny or piccaninny or picinniny) is a term in English which refers to children of black descent or a racial caricature thereof. It is a pidgin word form, which may be derived from the Portuguese pequenino[1] (an affectionate term derived from pequeno, "little"). The term pickaninny has also been used in the past to describe aboriginal Australians. At one time the word may have been used as a term of affection, but it is now considered derogatory

 

[pokerspiv]

Commonly used as a racist slur to this day.

 

[RisingPhoenix]

Commonly used as a racist slur to this day.

My word.

The amount of people I have heard use the term 'gin jockey' would blow your mind.

 

[kfc1]

Seems like a WA thing?

 

[RisingPhoenix]

Seems like a WA thing?

Here we go.

It might be a term with it's roots in WA, but that doesn't suggest Western Australians are inherently more or less racism than any other Australian's.

 

[kfc1]

Here we go.

It might be a term with it's roots in WA, but that doesn't suggest Western Australians are inherently more or less racism than any other Australian's.

Does that sound like something I'd imply? Please.
I'm just trying to learn more about this term. I asked if it is a WA thing because I've never heard it before over east but 3 or 4 different WA posters are saying its fairly commonly used.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Haven't heard it used for years myself, but I'm sure it still is. Not that it's any worse than the other words that are used.

 

[RisingPhoenix]

Haven't heard it used for years myself, but I'm sure it still is. Not that it's any worse than the other words that are used.

Older blokes of the type fond of drinking emu export out of a can are still fond of it, but definitely dying out.

 

[telsor]

Can't say I've heard it.

 

[Lester Burnham]

Only time I ever heard it was by an ocker bloke who came from NT, was into indigenous rights, collected aborigine art etc, then disparaged a former work colleague by calling him a gin f.......

 

[Pie eyed]

Seems like a WA thing?

Common language in Queensland since I can remember and not always derogatory.

 

[scon]

Still quite common in certain circles.Like a lot of terms they denote and connote so can be used as a derogatory term but not necessarily
Same with 'ginning around' can be negative as in 'pretending to be productive' or a more neutral 'not doing anything in particular.
I'm pretty sure it's an Aglicised version of the Aboriginal for woman in one or other or several Aboriginal lingos.Anglo version of something like 'diyin'.

 

[scon]

Yip.Here's one version of its etymology;suggesting it entered the lingo from NSW.
gin3
dʒɪn/
noun
Australian offensive
noun: gin; plural noun: gins

1. an Aboriginal woman.

Origin

from Dharuk diyin ‘woman, wife’.

 

[Sydney Bloods]

never heard it sydney refer to anything other than card games and s**t alcohol.

 

[raskolnikov]

There is a town not far from me called Gin Gin. One of the streets in our town is Coon St. There's been a lot of talk about changing it but it hasn't happened yet.

 

[Tasmaniac]

Heard it from a South Aussie, not something I'd heard of before then.

Of course as a Tasmanian we supposedly wiped out our aboriginals, so no surprise if I hadn't come across it before.

 

[RisingPhoenix]

Heard it from a South Aussie, not something I'd heard of before then.

Of course as a Tasmanian we supposedly wiped our our aboriginals, so no surprise if I hadn't come across it before.

Shame they didn't get to Jackie Lambie.

 

[Tasmaniac]

Shame they didn't get to Jackie Lambie.

I don't mind a bit of Tassie eccentricity in our people, but I draw the line at full blown crazy.

 

[Admiral Byng]

Still in common use around here, in impolite circles.

 

[Kram]

An older saying but still around and most definitely derogatory/racist.

 

[Ruck Machine]

Gin = AboriGINal