OCTOBER 2009 Eyeto/Eytie/Eyetalian The Color of Words: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States defines the term eyetalian as: From the first half of the nineteenth century, eyetalian is a mispronunciation of Italian, sometimes jocular but also a deliberate, subtle slur. Lipski (1976, 113) notes that because most people pronounce Italy and Italian without exaggeration, "the exaggerated spelling pronunciation [i.e., eyetalian] may, at least originally, have indicated a desire to ridicule" (Lipski cites James Joyce's line in Ulysses, "The signor Brini from Summerhill, the eyetallyano, papal zouve to the Holy Father, has left the quay and gone to Moss Street"). In any case, both the spelling and the pronunciation are usually taken as offensive. Eytie (also eyetie, itie, among other variants) had World War I and II derogatory use. The meaning of this phrase varies according to context. Jocular in some instances, eyetalian takes on an entirely different connotation in reference to times of war, specifically World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States issued the forced registration of all "enemy aliens." This included more than 600,000 Italians, who were subjected to restrictions and deprived of liberties throughout the course of the war. Not only were they forced to carry identification cards and report all jobs changes, but they were also placed under an 8:00pm-6:00am curfew and forbidden from traveling more than five miles from home. Failure to comply with any element of these restrictions could, and often did, lead to arrest and imprisonment. These legal restrictions infiltrated the larger social realm and had many adverse consequences on Italian-American culture, such as the suppression of Italian language and culture. Anti-Italian sentiment resulted in the abstention of speaking the language in public and Italian parents refrained from teaching the language to their children during this time. It's easy to see how an arguably mild phrase, a subtle slur at worst, could be transformed into something derogatory and blatantly hostile in these conditions. Many Americans remain largely unaware of the injustices endured by more than half a million Italians living in the United States during World War II. Though better publicized in recent documents and exhibitions such as "Una Storia Segreta," (A Secret Story) sponsored by the American Italian Historical Association, this history was suppressed from historical accounts over the past 50 years. Therefore, learning about the contextual meaning of the term eyetalian not only enlightens individuals to the definition of a new word, but it also generates awareness about a little known, important part of American history. SOURCES: Herbst, Philip H. 1997. The Color of Words: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Gender and Sexual Orientation Bias in the United States. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press. Copyright 2009. "When Speaking Italian Was a Crime." About.com. http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa102500a.htm Copyright 2009. "Italian American Contributions." The National Italian American Foundation.  http://www.niaf.org/research/contribution.asp#demographic The Word of the Month feature represents a collaboration between DiversityCentral.com and Intercultural Press, Inc. Each month, we feature a word, term or phrase related to diversity or other aspects of culture selected from sources published by Intercultural Press. Read more: Diversity Quiz: Anti-Semitism Census changes reflect diversity by Elizabeth MacGillivray Diversity Statistics: Immigration to the United States by Emily Sugiyama back to top   Have a comment on our feature Diversity Word of the Month? Write to our Editor in Chief, Barbara Deane.

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