scalawag

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.^[1][2][3] It is perhaps an alteration of Scottish scallag “farm servant, rustic”, influenced by wag “joker”,^[4][5] or, in the sense of a worthless animal, an allusion to Scalloway in the Shetland Islands and the small Shetland ponies.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A disreputable fellow (1839 in Etymonline, in American English; 1848 in Barnhart).^[5][4][2]

Semantic evolution

An early sense was an undersized, ill-fed or worthless animal (1854).^[5] From 1862 the word was used as an insult for white Southerners who opposed the Confederacy,^[5] and during Reconstruction for native Southerners who supported the Republican reconstruction governments, as distinguished from Northern carpetbaggers.^[1][5][2][3]

Timeline

• 1839 – a disreputable fellow.^[5]
• 1848 – Barnhart's date.^[4]
• 1854 – a worthless animal.^[5]
• 1862 – an anti-Confederate white Southerner.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A rascal, scamp or reprobate.
2. In U.S. history, a white Southerner who supported the federal government during Reconstruction, often for personal gain.

Word family

• scalawaggery
• scalawaggy

Related words

• scallywag
• carpetbagger
• scamp

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster and Random House also give the spelling scallywag, which the OED treats as the main form.^[2][3][6]

References

1. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press