wetback
/ˈwɛtbæk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.81 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A Mexican or Central American who illegally enters the United States of America from its southern border.
Derogatory; Slang
Example Sentences
- "1920, Temporary admission of illiterate Mexican laborers: Hearings before the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, 66th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 141, Mr. HUDSPETH. […] I stood here and did all in my power to keep the “wetback” […] from coming across. And I stand here to-day asking for that. The CHAIRMAN. […] What is a “wetback”? Mr. HUDSPETH. You have heard a “wetback” described; he is a fellow that crosses the river surreptitiously."
- "The charges against the U.S. had cited cases of peonage and labor under forced contracts in Maine, Connecticut, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and California. They had revealed that thousands of “wetbacks” (i.e., Mexican laborers who wade the Rio Grande in search of work in the U.S.) lived in squalor and poverty, sometimes were paid as little as $8 a week."
- "He went through a couple of bottles of wine and made a speech denouncing wetbacks and Asian immigrants."
- "A successful wetback, the limo driver was thinking—that was his assessment of his Mexican-American passenger."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wed- Proto-Germanic *wētaz Proto-West Germanic *wāt Old English wǣt Middle English wet English wet Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-der.? Proto-Germanic *baką Proto-West Germanic *bak Old English bæc Middle English bak English back English wetback First used in the 1920s from the presumed effects of swimming or wading across the Rio Grande. Used by the U.S. Government in 1954 with Operation Wetback.