Jackanapes again...

[MASCARO at humnet.ucla.edu]

Good corrective, davemarc.  

The problem w/ *jackanapes* is that the
 etymology doesn't explain the rascist usage, which seems to have
 only been late 19th century  (supported by Hawthorne's 
apparent ignorance of any racial component in his Pyncheon comment).
Back when we talked about this, someone had a good source tracing
 it to some Aryan hate group, and I wondered how far it had spread in
general usage.  I'm no thesaurus, but no dope neither, and it was news
 to me when I was accused of a racial slur.  I've still only seen the 
examples from the White Supremacist loons, hardly the arbiters
 of standard usage (I hope).

john m
************************
davemarc corrects--
>> 
>To paraphrase a post of mine that crept its way into Lineland (thanks for
>the proof, Jules, and thanks to Jules and Peter for their restraint over
>the past weeks!), I take exception to the assertion that the list misses
>"dear old" Steelhead.  Maybe I almost half-miss him.  Naturally, I miss the
>intelligent and idealistic side (say, the "head"), but I just don't miss
>the bullying and treacherous side (say, the "Steel").  What I miss are the
>people who unsubscribe under the heat of his flames.
>
>Anyway, it's pretty clear to me that "jackanapes" has a significant racist
>application.  But my humble Random House Dictionary (which, yes, would
>classify Fidel Castro as a dictator) finds its origin in "Jakken-apes, lit.
>jack (i.e. man) of the ape, nickname of William de la Pole (1396-1450),
>Duke of Suffolk, whose badge was an ape's clog and chain."  Sounds
>O'Neillesque to me....