gink

English

Etymology

Unknown but possibly from similar senses of kink or geck. Cf. geek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɪŋk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

Noun

gink (plural ginks)

1. (originally US slang) A guy, a fellow, especially (derogatory) a foolish, unworldly, or socially inept man; a goof.
   • 1913 November 4, Harry Truman, “Letter from Harry S. Truman to Bess Wallace, November 4, 1913”, in Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum‎^[1], archived from the original on 2020-09-20, page 1‎^[2]:

     You know, I've always thought that the best man in the world is hardly good enough for any woman. But when it comes to the best girl in all the universe caring for an ordinary gink like me, well, you'll have to let me get used to it.

   • 1914 October – 1916 July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Mucker, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., published 31 October 1921, →OCLC:

     […] so if any of you ginks are me frien's yeh better keep outen here so's yeh won't get hurted […]

   • 1931, Grace Hegger Lewis, Half a Loaf‎^[3], page 189:

     Don't see a movie in it myself, but those Hollywood ginks will take anything.

   • 1934 May 2, George Herriman, Krazy Kat, Wednesday, comic strip, →ISBN, page 125:

     [Asian sage:] You have a great, great fear of Officer Pupp. Ain't you, mouse? / [Ignatz:] Yes. / [Asian sage:] I can tell you how to overcome it. / [Ignatz:] Tell me. / [Asian sage:] Gimme dime, I tell. / [Ignatz:] Here it is. / [Asian sage, walking away from an aghast Ignatz:] Don't be afraid of the big gink. / [Officer Pupp, incoming:] Gink? What gink?

   • 1973, Richard Cowper, Clone‎^[4], Doubleday, page 33:

     No wonder the country's on its bloody knees! You ginks are a bloody disgrace to the human race!

   • 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section I, page 16:

     Adrian felt that it was he who had brought Tom into notice and popularity, that Tom was his own special creation. The silent spotty gink of the first year had been transformed into someone admired and imitated and Adrian wasn't sure how much he liked it.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:person, Thesaurus:man, Thesaurus:friend; Thesaurus:dork, Thesaurus:fool

References

• “gink, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Anagrams

• King, king