greaseball
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From grease + ball; possibly derived from the fact that Italians and Italian-Americans are stereotyped as having greasy or greased-up hair.
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]greaseball (plural greaseballs)
- (US, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of Italian descent especially, but also used pejoratively to refer to people of Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, other Mediterranean, or Latin American descent.
- 1982, Stephen King, Survivor Type:
- Do you think I wanted to walk across that stage and get my diploma and look down and see that fat greaseball sitting there? […] I got into a fraternity, too. It wasn’t one of the good ones, not with a name like Pinzetti, but a fraternity all the same.
- (slang) A mechanic.
- (slang) A biker, a tough.
- (slang) A rocker or metalhead, especially one who listens to 1950s rock and roll or 1980s thrash metal.
Translations
[edit]person of Italian descent — see wop