Origin and Development
A slang dictionary published in 1893 defined "gook" as "a low prostitute". By using the word to refer to Filipinos, the Marines may have been expressing contempt for native women and accusing them of promiscuity. Early usage may have been influenced by the word "mak mak" or "gugu", also applied to Filipinos by the Marines. "Gugu" originated as a mocking imitation of Filipino speech (cf. barbarian). "The Marines who occupied Nicaragua in 1912 took to calling the natives gooks, one of their names for Filipinos", according to H. L. Mencken. Marines serving in Haiti in 1915 to 1920 used the term to refer to Haitians.
In Frank Capra's Flight (1929), the word was used by a U.S. Marine stationed in Nicaragua. It was later used in the Korean War movie The Steel Helmet (1951) as well as in numerous movies and books depicting the Vietnam War.
A folk etymology suggests that "gook" refers to the Korean word "국" (國) meaning "country." According to one explanation, American soldiers during the Korean War were often confronted by Korean soldiers and civilians and would hear them say, "미국" meaning "America." (For a derivation, see 美國.) The American soldiers supposedly interpreted this expression as "Me gook?", meaning "I am a gook?" in broken English.
In the U.S., "gook" refers most particularly to Communist soldiers in the context of the Vietnam War. It is generally considered highly offensive. In a highly publicized incident, Senator John McCain used the word to refer to his former captors, then apologized to the Vietnamese community at large. "I hate the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live… I was referring to my prison guards and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend."
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