scalawag English · revision 1105

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It is perhaps an alteration of Scottish ''scallag'' “farm servant, rustic”, influenced by [[wag]] “joker”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) or, in the sense of a worthless animal, an allusion to ''Scalloway'' in the Shetland Islands and the small Shetland ponies.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A disreputable fellow (1839 in Etymonline, in American English; 1848 in Barnhart).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ An early sense was an undersized, ill-fed or worthless animal (1854).^(Etymonline) From 1862 the word was used as an insult for white Southerners who opposed the Confederacy,^(Etymonline) and during Reconstruction for native Southerners who supported the Republican reconstruction governments, as distinguished from Northern ''carpetbaggers''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1839 – a disreputable fellow.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – Barnhart's date.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1854 – a worthless animal.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1862 – an anti-Confederate white Southerner.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[rascal]], [[scamp]] or reprobate.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In U.S. history, a white Southerner who supported the federal government during [[Reconstruction]], often for personal gain.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==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.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}