4 ms·

The term “zip gun” predates the slur. “Zip” means “fast”. As in, “I need a gun now, and can’t wait until I can buy one”.

simcop2387 8y ago
I believe it may also be related to the sound the bullets make too. Usually you'd be using lower powered ammo and get less of a bang. See noun form of zip, first definition https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/zip#English https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/zip#English
- Klathmon 8y ago
  That's interesting! I assumed the name was because they tend to be held together with zip-ties.
Rapzid 8y ago
I just had to look this up. I'm amazed I have never come across this meaning of the word before and it was even used in Platoon supposedly?! Previously I had only understood zip in the context of a zipper, the compression, fast, and the zip gun..
- LyndsySimon 8y ago
  The history of racial slurs is pretty interesting, too. For instance, “Nip” is generally considered to be a slur, but it seems to have come to English from the word “Nippon” or “Nihon”. “Nipponese” in English would be “Nihonjin” as best I can tell in Japanese. “Nipponese” was used as far back at the early 19th Century (1), but “Nip”, as a slur, seems to have arisen after WW2. Given the changing nature of language, I guess it’s not surprising to see random unrelated words come to be viewed as slurs. In this case, there’s even misleading “evidence”, given that Nambu pistols in the later years of WW2 were absolutely terrible firearms, due to time and resource constraints as Imperial Japan lost access to imported resources. 1: https://books.google.com/books?id=WiEYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA584&dq=Nipponese&hl=en&ei=fso2TM_2OcGAlAe236jVBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q=Nipponese&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=WiEYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA584&dq=N...
Pinckney 8y ago
Just to add to your comment, the earliest usage of "Zip gun" the OED lists is 1950. The earliest usage of "zip" as a slur is listed in 1968 (and this usage presumably originated during the Vietnam war).

simcop2387 8y ago

I believe it may also be related to the sound the bullets make too. Usually you'd be using lower powered ammo and get less of a bang. See noun form of zip, first definition https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/zip#English https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/zip#English

Klathmon 8y ago
That's interesting! I assumed the name was because they tend to be held together with zip-ties.

Rapzid 8y ago

I just had to look this up. I'm amazed I have never come across this meaning of the word before and it was even used in Platoon supposedly?! Previously I had only understood zip in the context of a zipper, the compression, fast, and the zip gun..

LyndsySimon 8y ago
The history of racial slurs is pretty interesting, too. For instance, “Nip” is generally considered to be a slur, but it seems to have come to English from the word “Nippon” or “Nihon”. “Nipponese” in English would be “Nihonjin” as best I can tell in Japanese. “Nipponese” was used as far back at the early 19th Century (1), but “Nip”, as a slur, seems to have arisen after WW2. Given the changing nature of language, I guess it’s not surprising to see random unrelated words come to be viewed as slurs. In this case, there’s even misleading “evidence”, given that Nambu pistols in the later years of WW2 were absolutely terrible firearms, due to time and resource constraints as Imperial Japan lost access to imported resources. 1: https://books.google.com/books?id=WiEYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA584&dq=Nipponese&hl=en&ei=fso2TM_2OcGAlAe236jVBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q=Nipponese&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=WiEYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA584&dq=N...

Pinckney 8y ago

Just to add to your comment, the earliest usage of "Zip gun" the OED lists is 1950. The earliest usage of "zip" as a slur is listed in 1968 (and this usage presumably originated during the Vietnam war).