Sean, who is originally from Ireland, wonders if the term narrowback, which usually refers to second- or third-generation Irish-Americans, is considered a slur against the Irish. He also references an earlier conversation of ours about the term skinnymalink and shares a rhyme he remembers from childhood that includes that word. There are many other versions of that rhyme, including one in the book The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren by Iona and Peter Opie. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Narrowback Irish”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hey, Martha, how are you doing today?
Well, I’m doing well.
Who is this and where are you calling from?
This is Sean calling from Reno, Nevada.
Sean, welcome to the show.
How can we help?
About a year and a half ago, you had a lady call from the Midwest to the East Coast, and she called a better word about skinny malink. We grew up, you know, 50 years ago, we grew up in the north of Ireland, actually playing a game called hopscotch. And we always played it to that word, skinny malink. And I couldn’t remember it. And I had to go back to my sister in Ireland last year and ask her, what? And I went, skinny malink, malogian legs, big banana feet. Went to the pictures and couldn’t find a seat. When he found a seat, he fell fast asleep. Skinny malink, malogian legs, big banana feet. And I thought, I guess, that’s the way it went, you know, right? I was going, Christ. I took my, obviously, my older sister, who’s a vice principal in a primary school, and she taught that to all the kids in her school as well.
But the real question that I was calling up about was, we had a sense, you know, I know I would drive over the Sierras to the Bay Area, you know, every couple of times a year, and we’d go to watch a game of football called Gaelic football, which is actually very different than, you know, American football or anything else. But anyway, afterwards we would go to a den of iniquity, you know, or a pub in the Bay Area, you know, as you do, you know, if you’re an Irishman. But always we would be chatting about people and they would go, oh, he’s a narrowback. And I always wondered, was that saying narrowback, was that like a Bay Area saying or was it just truly an Irish saying or was it said in other different communities, if you know what I mean? You know, I mean, was it said to so it really meant I mean, it wasn’t derogatory in any terms at all. It was actually very friendly, but it really meant that there was a second or third generation Irish American that actually didn’t have the broad back that maybe his grandfather would have had. And he probably had a professional job rather than working on the roads or working on whatever they did. I was wondering, did you know the terminology of where it came from? Is it truly just an Irish saying or is it actually used in other communities?
Yeah, you’re right. It’s not a great insult at all. I think people have tried to turn it into one, but it never really stuck, and the Irish-Americans have long used it amongst themselves, although I think it’s kind of fallen out of fashion. And you will occasionally find it in old newspapers referring to someone who’s never done hard labor, whether they’re Irish-American or not. And sometimes you’ll find it referring to commissioned officers during World War I who went from being office clerks to officers and didn’t have the stamina to keep up with the enlisted men. And it’s kind of the same idea. These are people who have never really done, never had to dig ditches, you know, never had to do hard labor. It was occasionally used to refer to people who were in favor of alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, but not often. But the earliest I can find it is in the early 1920s to refer to Irish Americans. And it’s exactly as you refer to it. It’s exactly as you mention it. It’s just the idea that these are people who really have never had to carry a hod loaded with bricks up scaffolding in order to help build buildings. They’ve never had to build the back muscles to do the heavy lifting and the hard labor that their fathers and their grandfathers did.
So it is an Irish-American thing?
Mostly. It’s almost always mostly used among Irish and Irish-Americans. But it’s American. It’s an American term. You won’t often find it used in Ireland except by people who are talking about Irish-Americans. All the records show that it is widespread and has been used across the country since the 1920s. Probably earlier than that. So it’s not specific to California or the Bay Area. And like I said, it has fallen out of fashion. It’s less frequently used now because the Irish don’t come to this country in the numbers that they once did. And when they come now, they usually come for professional purposes and not to do the hard labor jobs like they did in the last century.
I love your show. I like listening to it a lot. When you mentioned the word skinny malenka a couple of years ago, I had to stop the car. I was driving the car. I go, God, I built this for you.
Thank you so much, Sean, for your call. It came from that poem. All right, guys, have a good one. Take care now.
Thanks, Sean.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
There are versions of that rhyme that Sean shared with us all over, and one of them is in one of my favorite books, The Lore and Language of School Children by Iona and Peter Opie.
Yes. Skinny Malinky, long legs, big banana feet. Went to the pictures and fell through the seats. 877-929-9673.
