View source for Taig

{{Short description|Ethnic slur}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Taig''', and (primarily formerly) also '''Teague''', are [[anglicisation]]s of the [[Irish-language]] male given name ''[[Tadhg]]'', used as [[ethnic slur]]s for a [[stage Irish]]man. ''Taig'' in [[Northern Ireland]] and the west of [[Scotland]] is most commonly used as a derogatory term by  [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]]s to refer to [[Catholics|Irish Catholics]].

''Tadhg'' was once so common as an Irish name that it became synonymous with [[List of terms related to an average person|the typical person]], with phrases like ''{{lang|ga|Tadhg an mhargaidh}}'' ("Tadhg of the market") akin to "[[the man on the Clapham omnibus]]" or "[[average Joe]]".  In the late 1680s, the [[satire|satirical]] [[Williamite]] ballad ''[[Lillibullero]]'' includes the line: "Ho brother Taig hast thou heard the decree?"  Conversely, the Irish-language name is used defiantly in a [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] poem written in the 1690s: ''"Who goes there" does not provoke fear / "I am Tadhg" is the answer given''.<ref>''{{lang|ga|Céad buidhe re Dia}}'' ("A hundred thanks to God") by Diarmaid Mac Cárthaigh</ref> In 1698, [[John Dunton]] wrote a mocking account of Ireland, titled ''Teague Land – or A Ramble with the Wild Irish''.

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:KAT grafitti in the Fountain.jpg.png|thumb|KAT (Kill All Taigs) and [[Ulster Defence Association]] graffiti in the [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] Fountain area of [[Derry]]]] -->
Although the term has rarely been used in [[North America]], a notable example of such use was when future [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]] and lawyer [[John Adams]] successfully defended the soldiers responsible for the 1770 [[Boston Massacre]] by pleading to the jury that they were being attacked by:
<blockquote>... most probably a [[motley]] rabble of saucy boys, [[negro]]s and [[mulatto|molattoes]], Irish Teagues and outlandish [[Jack Tar|jack tarrs]]. —And why we should scruple to call such a set of people a mob, I can't conceive, unless the name is too respectable for them?<ref>[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/bostonmassacre/adamssummation.html "Summation of John Adams" in Rex v. Wemms]. ''umkc.edu''. Retrieved 15 September 2014.</ref></blockquote>

In the context of [[segregation in Northern Ireland]] and [[sectarianism in Glasgow]], the term "Taig" is used as a derogatory term for a [[Roman Catholic]], used by [[Northern Ireland|Northern Irish]] [[Protestantism in Ireland|Protestants]] and [[Ulster loyalism|Ulster loyalists]].<ref name="WWR">{{Citation |url=http://www.waywordradio.org/taig/ |author=A Way With Words |title=Taig|date=6 May 2004 }}</ref><ref name="CAIN">{{Cite web |author=Conflict Archive on the Internet |title=A Glossary of Terms Related to the Conflict |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/othelem/glossary.htm#T}}</ref> In this sense, it is used in a similar way to the word [[Fenian]], but is more ethnic in terms of abuse against people of Gaelic descent than "Fenian", which more commonly signifies [[Irish republican]]. Extremist loyalists have also used slogans such as "Kill All Taigs" (KAT) and "All Taigs Are Targets" in graffiti.<ref name="CAIN" />

In Scotland, "Tim" is sometimes used as an alternative to "Taig" ("Tadhg" is usually translated as "Timothy" and shortened to "Tim" in English).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/taig/ Dictionary definition of "Taig"]
{{Ethnic slurs}}
{{Religious slurs}}

[[Category:Anti-Catholic slurs]]
[[Category:Anti-Irish sentiment]]
[[Category:The Troubles (Northern Ireland)]]