ofay
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unknown; perhaps from an African language (possibly Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)).[1] Pig Latin for foe, though popularly posited, is probably not accurate.
A possible point of origin is Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary, where the word is defined as "Policeman or law enforcement, 'The Man'".
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]ofay (plural ofays)
- (US, ethnic slur, slang) A white person.
- Synonyms: honky, whitey; see also Thesaurus:white person
- 1983 May, Kurt Busiek, “The Chemistro Connection”, in Power Man and Iron Fist, volume 1, number 93, Marvel Comics Group:
- You get outa my alley, Lucas -- and take that ofay with you, hear?
- 1997, Don DeLillo, Underworld:
- The rival, the foe, the ofay, veins stretched and bulged between white knuckles.
Adjective
[edit]ofay (comparative more ofay, superlative most ofay)
- (US, ethnic slur, slang) White; white-skinned.
- 1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN:
- “You better tell your little ofay kid friend move along.”
- 1984. Anthony Burgess, Enderby's Dark Lady:
- ‘Baby,’ April Elgar said, ‘you may be an uptight ofay milk-toast limey bastard, but you ain’t no fag.’
- 1959. Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun:
- Everything is strictly peachy keen, as the ofay kids say.
References
[edit]- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “ofay”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms with unknown etymologies
- English terms derived from Yoruba
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- English ethnic slurs
- English slang
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives