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Posted By: BobFrisbeeMay eskimo - 09/01/00 10:25 PM

My adolescent son gives a UC Berkeley freshperson as his citation of authority for the following: "Eskimo" is a term applied by Europeans to Inuit peoples. She says that in the Inuit language the word "Eskimo" is an obscene reference to female genitals. This is NOT the etymology I have found in the Merriam Webster college or other dictionaries. (Although the dictionaries' references to 'one who eats raw flesh' is at least suggestive.)

Any better authorities for the etymology of this word?

BobFrisbeeMay



Posted By: Jackie Re: eskimo - 09/02/00 12:13 AM
Don't DO this to me, BFM! This is the second time today
that I thought I'd lost my mind!
I answered this in Info. and Announcements.


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