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bohunk stereotype

bohunk stereotype

9.9
A negative idea about Eastern European workers as unskilled or rough
  • noun
  • /boʊhʌŋk ˈstɛrəˌtaɪp/
  • Slur
translation icon : [estereotipo ofensivo sobre personas de Europa central y del este]
  • The bohunk stereotype was commonly invoked in early 20th-century American newspapers to describe immigrant workers.

Examples

  • Sociologists have studied how the bohunk stereotype influenced public perceptions of immigrant communities.

  • The bohunk stereotype often misrepresents hardworking immigrants.

  • His views unfortunately reflected the outdated bohunk stereotype of Eastern European laborers.

  • Many people still believe in the bohunk stereotype today.

  • His views unfortunately reflected the outdated bohunk stereotype of Eastern European laborers.

  • Sociologists have studied how the bohunk stereotype influenced public perceptions of immigrant communities.

  • The bohunk stereotype was commonly invoked in early 20th-century American newspapers to describe immigrant workers.

Surface Forms

Morphology

bohunk + stereotype

This is a straightforward noun+noun composition: 'bohunk' (a slur for Central/Eastern Europeans) combined with 'stereotype' (an oversimplified belief) yields 'a stereotype about bohunks.' There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Bohunk stereotype may come from mixing old names for people from parts of Europe, especially Bohemian and Hungarian, used by Americans in the early 1900s. Because it was a short, rude name for immigrant workers, bohunk stereotype came to mean a negative idea that they were 'unskilled' or 'coarse'.