--- On Tue, 7/14/09, Con Menezes <cmene...@tpg.com.au> wrote:
>
> It is a term used for a " cup" , a tin cup
> (container) at that!
> The Portuguese used it derogatively in
> Mozambique to refer it to Goans!
> All that Canarim bit and Kanara etc are far from what the
> intended word was meant
> to be by the users.
> There you have it!!! Absolutely verified!
>
> Con
--------------------------------------
Now here is an important clue. Menezes says that it was used in Mozambique for
Goans. It is specific to Goans or references of it would exist in Brazil, etc.
So the possibility infact becomes more that its origin might have been the word
Canarin, later to become a racial slur.
Similarly, the word "mal hindi" in the Gulf, benignly means "from India" but
within one generation, it has become a racial slur for the Arabs.
The word "nigger" is a corruption of "negra" the word simply denoting the race.
The British first used it as a slur for their colonial subjects but later on it
gained even greater notoriety in America when it was used for their slaves,
especially referring to runaway slaves. Today ofcourse the word is banned on
television and all civil discourse. Rap musicians have tried to take back the
word by incorporating it in their music. Following the infamous episode where
Don Imus, got fired for using several racial slurs on television, leaders in
the Africa-American community have taken on the rap industry for regressing
Africa-America culture.
Still the word, canecos is so similar to mug, that it indeed might have meant a
common European colloquial usage of the word mug, meaning stupid or a fool.
So the jury is still out there. We must get onto a Portuguese website to fathom
what they meant :-))
Best,
Selma
