Hindoo

Hindoo is an archaic spelling of Hindu, and one whose use today may be considered derogatory.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

References

1. Herbst 1997, pp. 106–107 "Hindu, Hindoo A term borrowed from the Persian word Hindu ... Hindu is used today for an adherent of Hinduism, the common religion of India. ... Hindoo is listed in dictionaries as a variant spelling, but it is one that may lend itself to derogatory use."
2. Dasgupta 1998, p. 121 "I faced repeated and constant racial slurs at school, from "nigger" to "injun" to "Hindoo." I, as one of the few children of color, was the equal opportunity target."
3. University of South Dakota 1989, p. 27 "On the streets, too, simple slur words like "Hindoo" and "Paki" – used almost with impunity in the seventies – underscore how language includes or excludes."
4. Rosenblatt 1999, p. 81 "For example, even though the majority of these newcomers were, in fact, practicing Hindus, by the mid-1960s, anti-immigration agitators had dropped the use of Hindoo as choice slur."
5. Bhatia & Ram 2004 "Not being able to live up to the 'unattainable' images of 'Charlie's Angels' and the golden-girls of 'The Brady Bunch,' and facing 'repeated and constant' racial slurs at school such as 'nigger,' 'injun,' and 'hindoo,' combined with a lack of role models ..."
6. Yule 1989 "I suspect the answer may be the long tradition of using that sort of 'simplified spelling' to indicate the speech of vulgar and low types of people. Nevertheless, there is a sort of visual onomatopoeia; a Hindu has dignity, while a Hindoo seems slightly ridiculous."

Sources

• Herbst, Philip (1997), The color of words: an encyclopaedic dictionary of ethnic bias in the United States, Intercultural Press, ISBN 978-1-877864-97-1
• Dasgupta, Shamita Das (1998), A patchwork shawl: chronicles of South Asian women in America, Rutgers University Press, ISBN 0-8135-2518-7
• University of South Dakota, English Department (1989), "link to article", South Dakota Review (University of South Dakota)
• Rosenblatt, Roger (1999), Consuming desires: consumption, culture, and the pursuit of happiness, Island Press, ISBN 1-55963-535-5
• Bhatia, Sunil; Ram, Anjali (2004), "Culture, hybridity, and the dialogical self: Cases of the South Asian diaspora", Mind, Culture, and Activity 11 (3): 224–240, doi:10.1207/s15327884mca1103_4
• Yule, Valerie (1989), "Children's dictionaries: spelling and pronunciation", English Today 5 (1): 13–17, doi:10.1017/S0266078400003655.