greaser n.1
1. as a racial insult.
(a) (orig. US) a derog. term for a Mexican, orig. as an inhabitant of Spanish California and thus a member of another Latin race.
 | Letter from Frontiers (1868) 298: The terrific yells and shouts of the maddened Texans carried fear to the hearts of their enemy; and the pervading sentiment among the defeated and disorganized ‘Greasers’ was, ‘sauve qui peut’ [DA]. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Living Age 25 Sept. 619/2: Perhaps I did feel a little weak in the jints when I seed the officers unbuttonin their shirt collars, and the men throwin away their canteens and haversacks, as they was marchin rite strait up to them ar works, whar the greasers was waitin for us, every devil with his gun pinted and his finger on the trigger. | |
| Annals of S.F. 506: [illus. caption] Colored population – Greaser, Chinaman, and Negro. | |
| Night Side of N.Y. 32: A Portuguese sailor took her away from the man she was dancing with – a South American greaser, I guess. | |
| Luck of Roaring Camp (1873) 206: He inveighed bitterly against the system of ranch-holding by the ‘greasers,’ as he was pleased to term the native Californians. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld) 19 July 5/3: Keep off my leg, will you, you d—d Greaser. | |
| ‘US Army Sl. 1870s–1880s’ [compiled by R. Bunting, San Diego CA, 2001] Greaser A Mexican. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Camps in the Rockies 357: The crew are recruited from the detested ‘greasers,’ viz., half-breeds, or a mixture of the native Indian and imported Spaniard. | |
| Lancaster Gaz. 22 Feb. 4/3: I should say it was Spanish Sam, alias Greaser. | |
| ‘Tamales’ in Rolling Stones (1913) 250: What boots it if we killed /Only one greaser. | |
| Mirror of Life 13 Oct. 14/2: Mexicans are noted for their cowardice [...] A ‘greaser’ marched boldly up to the cashier's desk, and presenting a revolver he demanded all the available cash [etc]. | |
| Life In Sing Sing 258: Getting the rags from a greaser. Buying counterfeit paper money from an Italian. | |
| Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 302: Could any half Navajo and half Greaser ask for more? | |
| Cowboy Songs 223: The Mexicans use it in all that they cook. / Just dine with a Greaser and then you will shout, / ‘I’ve hell on inside as well as the out!’. | |
| Adventures of a Boomer Op. 9: I just arrived back from ‘The Land of Greasers and Tarantulas,’ New Mexico. | |
| (con. 1917–19) Nineteen Nineteen in USA (1966) 385: There were big dancehalls with greasers dancing with their hats on. | |
| Street Corner Society (1955) xx: The Italian-born are known to the younger generation as ‘greasers’. | |
| Courtship of Uncle Henry 119: Nicko’s just a dirty bloody Greek. [...] Nicko’s a dirty greaser! | |
| (con. 1944) Gallery (1948) 32: [of an Italian] She didn’t really care for the language, which made her think of gooey kisses pressed by some greaser on the neck of his sweating mistress. | |
| From Here to Eternity (1998) 157: Maybe you aint a Jew, maybe you’re a stinking greaser. | |
| On The Road (1972) 262: Dig all the foolish stories you read about Mexico [...] crap about greasers and so on. | |
| Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1969) 300: Tribes of studs, tribes of rakes, tribes of IntelFinks even, tribes of greasers. | |
| You Flash Bastard 206: ‘You’d better give us Mr Leggat’s whereabouts,’ Pownall said, ‘so we can check out your alibi.’ The greaser stood for it. | |
| Muscle for the Wing 197: The Mafia is just all these short tubby greasers. | |
| Always Running (1996) 37: A deputy spied the boy and called out: ‘Get down here. . . you greaser!’. | |
| (con. 1946) Big Blowdown (1999) 83: [of an Italian] I told him you were a greaser, but that you were all right. | |
| Right As Rain 298: Those dead greasers down the tunnel were getting ripe. |
(b) a Spaniard, or an object pertaining to Spain, e.g. a vessel.
| Slaver’s Adventures 142: ‘She looks like a greaser, and they don’t stop long arter a fire’s on board.’ The man meant she was a Spanish ship, and manned by Spaniards. [Ibid.] 391: Let’s imbibe all round, and drink confusion to the greasers. | |
| (con. 1920s) Big Money in USA (1966) 818: The miners most of them greasers or hunkies. | |
| Close Pursuit (1988) 21: You want someone with Spanish? [...] Stradazzi. Looks like a greaser too. | |
| Rent Boy 49: Greasers from Brooklyn trapped in a John Travolta time warp. | |
| Chopper 4 180: Abos, spooks, coons, slopes, chows, dagos, spags, spics, greasers and wogs – and whatever other third world gin jockey or porch monkey that came along. |
(c) the Spanish language.
| Border and Buffalo (1938) 297: I could now talk a little ‘Greaser’ and make understandable signs [DA]. |
(d) a native of the Middle East or the Indian subcontinent.
| ‘Rare Bengal Tiger’ in et al. Our Lives (1982) 109: I’d be called Paki, Greaser and various other insults. | |
| Midnight Examiner (1990) 41: Terrorists driving cabs these days. Middle East greasers. |
2. a fellator or fellatrix.
| in Limerick (1953) 207: Indentured at six / As a greaser of pricks, / One may rise to be fitter and turner. |
3. a 1950s Teddy Boy, his hair larded with Brylcreem or a similar unguent.
| Subculture 44: Teds, greasers. | |
![[SA]](/static/img/flags/sa.png "South Africa") | My Traitor’s Heart (1991) 48: He [...] hailed one of his tattooed, ducktailed nephews. The judge and the greaser drove to a dismal industrial region. | |
| My War (2006) 18: My long hair was slicked back like a switchblade-packing greaser. |
4. (N.Z.) a fall, a setback; esp. in phr. come a greaser, to fall (lit. or fig.).
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | informant in DNZE (1998). | |
| Kiwi-Yankee Dict. 27: come a greaser: (A) Have bad luck (of any kind) (B) To fall off as from a bike, skis, etc. | |
| Beaut Little Bk NZ Slang n.p.: It’s a well-known fact that Kiwis have their own way of talking, and without a guide you can easily come a greaser. Have a gink at this beaut little book, and you won't need to feel a nong any more. | |
| Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 93: greaser A heavy fall, often in the phrase to come a greaser. |
5. a finger.
| Skyvers I ii: You take your greasers off me. |
6. (orig. US) a member of a motorcycle gang or (California) a hotrodder.
| S.F. Examiner 26 Jan. I/14: Less-favored individuals called ‘Greasers’, who indulge in such gauche activities as drag-racing, putting grease on their hair, smoking marijuana and dancing the Twist. | |
| Current Sl. IV:1 9: Greaser, n. Gangster, ‘hood;’ a shady type [...] A motorcycle rider with long greasy hair. | |
| Scully 38: She was going up the hill to the Cemetery [...] to meet some fellers on motorbikes. Greasers. | |
| Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In 99: Please park next to me so that I can shout loud remarks about your virility to the greasers in charge of keeping hippies in line. | |
| Powder 470: [He] beat him with his own studded belt because it was a ‘greaser’s belt’. | |
| Guardian Rev. 31 Mar. 23: Trailer-park greasers who make BB guns in shop class. | |
| (con. 1972) What It Was 34: The famous fight between three badass white greasers and a dozen or so motivated colored. | |
| ‘Hot Rod Heart’ in Life During Wartime 104: Karen kissed Bobby with a wicked grin, silencing the hoots and whistles from the greaser crowd. |
7. (US campus) an old-fashioned person, whose style harks back to 1950s youth cults.
| Campus Sl. Oct. 3: greaser – derogatory term for the Archie Bunker [i.e. white US working class] stereotype. | |
| ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1–2 60: greaser n Person considered old-fashioned. | |
| diary 18 Aug. Smiling in Slow Motion (2000) 195: HB in the kitchen with greaser’s hair. |
In compounds
(orig. US) a large flashy car, as driven by Mexicans.
| Bonfire of the Vanities 41: The judge [...] comes to work in a greaser yacht. |