Is "grease monkey" a racist term?

Post by **Lord Zombiac** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:42 am

I've used it all my life to refer to any shade tree mechanic, regardless of race, but someone once displayed shock at my using the term "grease monkey" once because it was racist.

I didn't even know that "eenie meenie minee moe" was racist until I heard Dwight Yoakum use the original (not "tiger") words in "Sling Blade."

Really kind of shocking to me.

I wonder if I'm just as ignorant of the term "grease monkey."

Post by **[Syl]** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 7:07 am

It's certainly not racist. Stereotypical, sure, and possibly derogatory depending on context, but not racist. You could maybe stretch it to classist. Trades aren't a protected class, though, so it's not like it could get you in trouble.

Post by **CovenantJr** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:54 pm

I agree with Syl. I don't see how the term is in any way connected to race.

Post by **[Syl]** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:52 pm

"Porch monkey," on the other hand, is still up for debate.

Post by **Vraith** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:00 pm

Me Da's been a grease monkey pretty much all his life...so unless it's a slur against the Scots, it ain't racist.

Post by **aliantha** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:30 pm

Not racist, as far as I know. (My dad was a professional grease monkey.

)

I once had someone call me on my use of the term "Chinese fire drill," which is a game in which the driver stops the car and everybody has to get out, take a lap around the car, and get back in. I'd never thought about it before that.

Interesting fact about "eeny meeny": we used the racist version when I was a kid (40 or so years ago, now) and didn't think anything of it. I first heard the "tiger" version when my kids used it, after learning it from their friends. Times change -- for the better.

Post by **danlo** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:45 pm

Never heard of it as racist-we called our local Italians "Greasers" in Jersey and even though many of them were grease monkeys it was a reference to what they used in their hair-see Travolta circa. '78. A grease monkey is simply a mechanic:

grease monkey
n. Slang
A mechanic, especially one who works on motor vehicles or aircraft.

Post by **Reisheiruhime** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:59 pm

Grease monkey - not racist.

Porch monkey - VERY racist.

The person you were talking to probably just confused the terms.

Post by **sindatur** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:34 pm

Putting this reply in the right thread

(And I don't even have the evils of drink to blame it on this early in the day)

Grease Monkey - Classist, not racist

Greaser - Not Racist, folks of any stripe can and do wear their hair greased back

Some folks use a variant of Wet Back and say Grease Back, which is very racist (or at least Xenophobic)

EDIT-Added an "E" to the end of Strip

Post by **Vraith** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 7:18 pm

sindatur wrote: Grease Monkey - Classist, not racist

Heh...but it's kinda like "the N-word." Part of me Da's career was fixing various heavy machines for construction co. The guys doing work can call one a "grease monkey"....guys in ties...well, really shouldn't.

Oh...and you don't have to be a stripper to be a greaser.

/whistle.

Post by **sindatur** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 7:29 pm

Vraith wrote:Oh...and you don't have to be a stripper to be a greaser.

/whistle.

Fixed (Though it was funnier the other way

)

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:19 pm

Filthy Scots!!!

Post by **Vain** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:25 am

I think if your friend called someone a grease monkey instead of a porch monkey then they're probably not very bright. Grease monkey is a mechanic otherwise.

Post by **peter** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:14 pm

What about 'Couch Potatoe'

Post by **danlo** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:34 pm

Now that's bad!

Post by **sindatur** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:10 am

danlo wrote:Now that's bad!

I can't believe you'd embarass me like this, posting pictures of my youngest Cat Child and what he gets up to while I'm at work, I've shown this evidence to my husband and told him he needs to quit his day job and supervise them better. If you have pics of his skinny Twin sister doing worse things, please IM them to me, don't embarass me further by posting them

HEHE, looks just like my 1 1/2 year old male, he has a twin sister, that's Siamese Skinny. I'm often having to reset the remote Control settings because the lay on the couch (And the remotes), LOL

Post by **Avatar** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 7:24 am

Yeah, any kind of mechanic can be called a grease monkey, either in a derogatory sense, or an affectionate one.

--A

Post by **JazFusion** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:53 am

Back in Texas, I'd only heard the term used in describing a mechanic. But up here in New Hampshire, where there is a large Italian population, it's also used as a derogatory term; as well as "greaseball".

I guess for a large part of the 20th century, the low class Italian-Americans and Italian immigrants used to where their hair in a pompaduer style, with lots of hair product. I guess their hair was greasy, and that coupled with their social status put a new spin on the term "grease monkey".

Although if you really want to piss off an Italian, call them a greasy wop and watch the switchblades come out. Just ask Welsh Assembly member Alun Cairns.

Post by **sindatur** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:08 am

Greaseball, sure. But coopting Grease Monkey to be an insult for their hair grease in taking it pretty far

Sure, Mafioso guys can be called Gorillaz, but, that would be Grease Gorillaz, which doesn't flow right

IMHO

Post by **JazFusion** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:39 am

sindatur wrote:Greaseball, sure. But coopting Grease Monkey to be an insult for their hair grease in taking it pretty far

Sure, Mafioso guys can be called Gorillaz, but, that would be Grease Gorillaz, which doesn't flow right

IMHO

I'm just going by what my husband's family tells me. They're Italians from Long Island. I don't want to get shanked one day while I'm down there.

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Kevin's Watch

Is "grease monkey" a racist term?

Is "grease monkey" a racist term?