dago

Alteration of diego (“Spaniard”), from Spanish Diego (common Spanish name) by law of Hobson-Jobson.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdeɪɡəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪɡəʊ

dago (plural dagoes or dagos)

1. (UK, Ireland, slang, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, or other Mediterranean or Latin descent.
   • 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXVIII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:

     And all foreigners to him were "dem bloody dagoes"—for, according to his theory, foreigners were responsible for unemployment.

2. (US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, slang, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of Italian descent.

   Synonyms: Eyetie, goombah, greaseball, guido, guinea, wog, wop

   • 1932, Dorothy L Sayers, chapter 10, in Have His Carcase:

     Sort of dago fellow; leads the orchestra down at the Winter Gardens ... You know the sort, all lah-di-dah and snakeskin shoes.

   • 1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 19:

     "Matilda's making us omelettes, that all right, Miss Tomson."
     "Are they going to reek."
     "Dear me, I hope not. I instructed her to leave out particularly strong ingredients."
     "Just so I don't leave here smelling like a dago."

• The word has sometimes been reclaimed in recent years by its targets, with people of Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Greek origin themselves adopting the term. In the Upper Midwest region of the United States, the term is used for several Mediterranean-inspired food items.
• The term may have originated following British or American encounters with Portuguese and Spanish sailors. "Diego" is the Portuguese nickname for any deckhand. After transforming into "dago" in English and becoming a common term for Spanish and Portuguese people, the slur expanded in usage to then also refer to Southern Italian immigrants, another Mediterranean and Latin ethnic group.
• The Hill in St. Louis, an Italian-American enclave, is often referred to colloquially as "Dago Hill."
• Due to the traditional association between Catholicism and Italy, the word has sometimes been used to refer to Catholics as well, regardless of ethnicity.

• dago bomb
• dago dazzler
• dago red

• Goad, Goda, doga, goad

• IPA^(key): /daˈɡo/ [dʌˈɡɔ]
• Hyphenation: da‧go

dagó (inchoative daggoowé)

1. (stative) be few

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “dago”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /daɡo/ [d̪a.ɣ̞o]
• Rhymes: -aɡo, -o
• Hyphenation: da‧go

dago (masculine allocutive zagok or zegok, feminine allocutive zagon or zegon)

1. Third-person singular (hura) present indicative form of egon (“to be”).

dagọ

1. genitive singular of dahku

dago

1. genitive plural of dag