🐶 A pet's name 🚫 A racist insult

blacky

1 9.9

A rude, offensive name for a Black person that you should never use

noun

Slur

: [insulto despectivo para una persona negra]

You're their little blacky, their little slave boy.

Examples

He was appalled to hear someone use the slur blacky in casual conversation.
The teacher explained why blacky is an offensive slur that should never be used.
Using a term like blacky perpetuates stereotypes and harms individuals.

Surface Forms

blacky singular

blackies plural

Morphology

blacky = black (transparent) = black + y

Formed by the productive suffix '-y' on 'black'; the referential meaning (a Black person) is directly signalled, though the resulting use is derogatory.

Etymology

Blacky comes from the same parts, black + -y, but when used for a person it became a hurtful slur; it turns a colour into a name in an insulting way, so it should never be used.