List of phrases using ethnic or place names as derisive adjectives

Ethnic and place names are often used as derisive adjectives.[1][2]

Most of these derisive adjectives reflect stereotypes about the ethnicity or the place. Most are pejorative and some are offensive.

African dominoes

Dice.[1]

African golf

Craps.[1]

Arizona cloudburst

A sandstorm.[2]

Arizona paint job

An unpainted, weathered pine building.[1]

Arkansas asphalt

A road made of logs.[2]

Arkansas fire extinguisher

A chamberpot.[1]

Arkansas toothpick

A knife with an extra-legal blade.[1]

Aztec hop

Dysentary or diarrhea.[1]

Baltimore beef steak

Liver.[1]

Boston strawberries

Beans.[1]

Bronx cheer.[1]

California Bible

= California prayer book.[1]

California bank notes

Silver and hides used as money.[2]

California breakfast

A cigarette and an orange.[1]

California prayer book

A deck of cards.[1]

California toothpick

= Arkansas toothpick.[1]

Cape Ann turkey

= Cape Cod turkey[1]

Cape Cod turkey

Codfish.[1]

Chicago overcoat

cement shoes or a coffin.[1]

Chicago piano

A Thompson submachine gun.[1]

Chinaman's chance

No chance at all.[2]

Chinese fire drill[1]

Chinese B

A grade inflated to compensate for a student's disadvantage.[2]

Cincinnati quail

= Confederate beef.[1]

Colored peoples'/folks' time

Late.[1][2]

Confederate beef/mule

Fatty salt pork.[1]

Connecticut mile

The distance traveled in one minute.[1]

Curse of Montezuma

= Aztec hop.[1]

Dago red

Cheap red wine.[1]

Dallas special

= Arkansas toothpick.[1]

Detroit iron

An American car.[1]

Detroit sled

= Detroit iron.[1]

Dutch act

Suicide.[2]

Dutch courage

Courage from drunkenness.[2]

Dutch leave

= French leave.[1]

Dutch rub

A kind of torture between children.[2]

Dutch treat[1]

Dutch uncle

An affectionate, older friend, remotely related person, or someone who reprimands severely.[1]

Ethiopian paradise

= Nigger heaven[1]

French inhale

Exhaling smoke from the mouth and then inhaling it through the nose.[1]

French kiss[1]

French leave[1]

Haight Street breakfast

Muscatel and Wheaties.[1]

Indian giver[1]

Indian haircut

A scalping.[1]

Irish banjo

A shovel.[1]

Irish confetti

Bricks and cobblestones thrown during street fights.[1]

Irish pendants/pennants

Rags or laundry hung up to dry on board ship.[1][2]

Irish shift/switch

Describes a politician talking to one person with his arm around another, smiling all the while at a third.[1]

Irish twins

Siblings born within the same calendar year, or within twelve months of each other.

Irishman's buggy

A wheelbarrow.[2]

Irishman's turkey

Corned beef and cabbage.[2]

Jew flag

A dollar bill.[2]

Jew shave

An unshaven face covered with talcum powder.[2]

Jewish overdrive

= Mexican overdrive.[1]

Jewish side-walls

= Mexican side-walls[1]

Jewish time

Late.[1]

Jewish windbreaker

A mink coat.[2]

Jigaboo joy shop

A store which sells chrome accessories for automobiles.[1]

Kansas nigger

An African-American who does not defer to whites.[2]

Kentucky credit card

= Mexican credit card.[1]

Kentucky oysters

= Rocky Mountain oysters.[1]

Kentucky windage

Compensating for wind or misaligned rifle sights by aiming off target.[1]

Mahon soger

A lazy and worthless sailor.[2]

Mexican standoff[1]

Mexican Bogner's

Jeans worn as ski pants.[1]

Mexican breakfast

A cigarette and a glass of water.[1]

Mexican car wash

Leaving an automobile out in the rain.[1]

Mexican cashmere

A sweatshirt.[1]

Mexican chrome

Silver-color paint used to decorate a car.[1]

Mexican credit card

A siphon for stealing gasoline.[1]

Mexican dragline

A shovel.[1]

Mexican filling station

= Mexican credit card.[1]

Mexican fox-trot

= Aztec hop.[1]

Mexican motor mount

Inner tubing used instead of proper parts.[1]

Mexican muffler

A can stuffed with steel wool on an exhaust pipe.[1]

Mexican nose guard

Jockstrap.[1]

Mexican overdrive

Driving downhill in neutral.[1]

Mexican promotion

An increase in rank or title without a pay raise.[1]

Mexican side-walls

Painted tires.[1]

Mexican straight

In poker, any five cards and a sharp knife.[1]

Mexican threads

A stripped bolt forced into a hole to cut new threads.[1]

Mexican toothache

= Aztec hop.[1]

Mexican two-step

= Aztec hop.[1]

Mexican valve job

Cleaning a carburetor with kerosene.[1]

Mexican window shade

A Venetian blind mounted in the rear window of a car.[1]

Milwaukee goiter

A beer belly.[1]

Mississippi marbles

Dice.[1]

Montezuma's revenge

= Aztec hop.[1]

Mountain dew

Moonshine.[2]

Mountain oysters

= Rocky Mountain oysters.[1]

Nigger bait

(Excess) chrome on an automobile.[1]

Nigger fishing

Fishing for low-value fish with a pole and bobber.[2]

Nigger heaven

The cheapest balcony seats in a theater.[1]

Nigger rich

Either rich and ostentatious or rich one day, poor the next.[1]

Oklahoma credit card

= Mexican credit card.[1]

Oklahoma guarantee

No guarantee.[2]

Oklahoma showup

A falsified police line-up.[1]

Oregon beef

Deer killed out of season.[1]

Pennsylvania salve

Apple butter.[1]

Philadelphia lawyer

A crooked lawyer.[1]

Polish air conditioning

Driving with the windows down.[1]

Prairie coal

Cow dung used as fuel.[2]

Prairie oysters

= Rocky Mountain oysters[2]

Puerto Rico Pendleton

An old work shirt.[1]

Rocky Mountain oysters[2]

Rocky Mountain canary

A burro.[1]

Russian roulette[1]

Scotch mist

Dense mist-like rain.[2]

Scotch woodcock[2]

Scotsman's Zoo

A viewpoint from which a zoo can be seen without paying.[2]

Spanish flu

The 1918 pandemic flu. It was associated to Spain since, in other countries, the World War I censorship blocked local reports to preserve morale. [3]

Spanish supper

Tightening of the belt a notch instead of eating.[1]

Swedish headache

Pain from sexual arousal without sexual release (cf. Blue balls).[2]

Texas butter

Gravy made from bacon grease, flour, and water.[1]

Texas oysters

Rocky Mountain oysters[2]

Texas squirrels

Prairie dogs used as food.[2]

Tijuana Bible

Pornographic comic books.[1]

Vatican roulette

Calendar-based contraceptive methods.[1]

Welsh rabbit[2]

West Indian Time

Late.[1]