noun
pl. -·gos or -·goes[alsoD-]Slang a person, often dark-skinned, of Spanish, Portuguese, or, now esp., Italian descent: a term of hostility and contempt
Origin of dago
probably altered from earlier diego from Spanish Diego, Jamesdago
da·goWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"dago." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 09 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DAGO>.
APA Style
dago. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DAGO
dago
also Da·go
noun
pl. da·gos, or da·goes Offensive SlangUsed as a disparaging term for a person of Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese descent.
Origin of dago
Alteration of Spanish Diego a common male given name ( taken in late medieval times to be a shortening and alteration of Sant Iago Saint James ) from Old Spanish alteration of earlier Diago from earlier Didago probably of pre-Roman Iberian origin and perhaps from or akin to Celtiberian Titiakos of or belonging to the Titii, a Celtiberian tribe of the middle Ebro valIeyTHE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"dago." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 09 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DAGO>.
APA Style
dago. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DAGO
Noun
(plural dagoes or dagos)
- (UK, slang, offensive) A person of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, or other Mediterranean descent.
- (US, Australia, slang, offensive) A person of Italian descent.
Usage notes
- The sense has become less pejorative in recent years, with people of Spanish or Portuguese origin themselves adopting the term.
- Usually a sailor or deckhand. "diego" is the Portuguese nickname for any deckhand and "jack" is the British equivalent.[Citation needed]
- The sense has become more pejorative in recent years, having been considered more acceptable at the start of the 20th century. In the Upper Midwest region of the United States, the term is still used for several Italian-inspired food items with no apparent pejorative connotation.
- The word is used in the term "dago dazzler" (see w:Dago dazzler)
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"dago." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 09 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DAGO>.
APA Style
dago. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DAGO
