red man
5
9.9
- noun
- Slur
- Historically, the red man was a slang term that many found offensive when referring to a male Native American.
Examples
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When the white man and the red man exchanged diseases, seven out of ten died.
Fiction book (1993) -
I understand people in the East have great sympathy for the noble red man, as they characterize him.
Fiction book (1993) -
Hey, what makes the red man red?
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What made the red man red?
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What makes red men red?
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The red man was blood, perhaps, and the white lady was then -- what?
Fiction book (1993) -
The red man put down the bow, picked up the fire stick, and became the best warrior in the forest.
Fiction book (1992) -
Now you know why the red man's red
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The real true story of the red man
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"It is in the marriage of the red man and the white lady that the Philosopher's Stone is born," he read.
Fiction book (1993)
Surface Forms
Morphology
red + man
The intended sense (‘an offensive term for a Native American’) is not a straightforward composition of 'red' (a colour) + 'man' (adult male); taken literally the phrase simply describes a man who is red or wearing red. Recognizing the MWE’s racist, historical meaning requires cultural and historical knowledge of English racialized terms, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would not reliably infer this sense.
Etymology
Red man may come from early European settlers who called some Native people 'red' because of skin tone or clothing, so the words red and man formed a simple label. Today the term is used to mean 'a Native American' but is seen as disrespectful and 'offensive', so it is now outdated.