Hurston's Glossary of Harlem Slang

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on May 01, 2009 at 15:43

In Reply to: Hurston's Glossary of Harlem Slang posted by Smokey Stover on May 01, 2009 at 15:26:

: : Zora Neale Hurston's - Glossary of Harlem Slang
: : Slang terms circa 1930's

: : aalbc.com/ authors/harlemslang.htm

: : I was looking for a definition of "butt-sprung" and found it at this site.

: Thank God for small lists. In going from top to bottom I found "Jig" and "Zigaboo." During summers in the 1940s and '50s, near my home in Tinytown, I worked alongside black migrant laborers from Jamaica and the Bahamas harvesting onions. The local white townspeople called the black workers "jigaboos," a term I had not heard previously and have not heard since. I don't know if the workers were aware of the term. I had plenty of conversations with ny co-workers, but that never came up.
: SS

I'm sorry to report that "jigaboo" is still alive and kicking among the white British working classes, right up there with "nig-nog" and "jungle bunny", though possibly only among the middle-aged and upwards; it might strike the younger generation as a bit passé. (VSD)

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