Mẽo

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "meo"

Vietnamese

Etymology

Attested since the late 1960s in South Vietnam.

Pronunciation

Noun

Mẽo

  1. (slang, collective, derogatory) Yankees, Yanks
    • 1969, Nguyễn Hoàng Đan, Bùa ngãi trong việc đầu tư thân xác đàn bà, Phóng-Sự, page 29:
      Vì làm ăn đứng đắn, lại giỏi ngoại ngữ, chú tôi được Mẽo thương, Mẽo quí lắm. Và không biết có đấng thông dịch viên nào mách nước không mà mấy thằng Mẽo đánh hơi được nhà chú tôi có gái đẹp. Tụi nó ùn ùn kéo nhau tới.
      Because my uncle was an honest businessman and skillful with foreign languages, the Yanks cherished and liked him very much. And I don't know if it was because of some important translator's doings or not that the Yanks were able to sniff out the pretty girl at his house, which promts them to gather there in great numbers.
    • 1977, Hoành My, “Nhân quyền gì? ”, in Đại Đoàn Kết, number 27, page 32:
      Nay ta hỏi Mẽo mấy câu chơi
      Mẽo dám nhân... quyền gì lên mặt?
      Thử xem Mẽo có dám trả lời
      Hay là Mẽo dở trò ranh vặt?
      Hãy hỏi Mẽo ở xứ Huê Kỳ
      Ai đặt ra luật Mắc Các-ty?
      Và luật Táp Hác-lây ai đặt?
      Những luật này dùng để làm chi?
      Today, I want to ask the Yanks a few questions for fun
      What rights do you Yanks claim that justify your arrogance?
      Let see if the Yanks have the guts to answer
      Or if the Yanks will dodge the questions like spoiled brats.
      Let us ask the Yanks in the US
      Who enacts McCarthyism?
      And who enacts the Taft-Hartley Act?
      What purpose do these laws serve?
    • 2025 April 3, Hu_Truc_Vn, “Thủ tướng chủ trì cuộc họp về mức áp thuế mới của Hoa Kỳ đối với hàng hoá nhập khẩu từ Việt Nam”, in F319‎, VCCorp, archived from the original on 28 April 2025:
      ko lẽ BDS nhà ở cũng bị Mẽo đánh thuế.
      It is inconceivable that the Yanks will impose tariffs on housing real estates.

Usage notes

  • Not technically a slur, but does carry a belittling or derogatory connotation.

References

  1. ^ Robert G. Kaiser (1970) “Many GI's dislike Viet allies: Vietnamese return the animosity”, in United States. Congress. Senate. Foreign Relations, editor, Vietnam: Policy and Prospects, 1970, pages 480-481:
    An American cannot overhear the unguarded remarks of Vietnamese, but one suspects that they regularly return the insults. The basic slang for Americans is "Meo," which the Vietnamese equate with "Yanks," though they say it is a "funny word."
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