zip coon, n.

zip-coon
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zip-coon_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2021

# zip coonnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zip coon mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zip coon. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

This word is used in U.S. English.

zip coon is considered offensive.

### How common is the noun zip coon?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1890 | 0.0001
1900 | 0.0001
1910 | 0.00009
1920 | 0.00008
1930 | 0.00007
1940 | 0.00002
1950 | 0.00002
1960 | 0.00005
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

### How is the noun zip coon pronounced?

#### British English

/ˌzɪp ˈkuːn/
zip KOON

#### U.S. English

/ˌzɪp ˈkun/
zip KOON

### Where does the noun zip coon come from?

Earliest known use

1830s

The earliest known use of the noun zip coon is in the 1830s.

OED's earliest evidence for zip coon is from 1833, in Georgia Tel. (Macon).

zip coon is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: Personal name Zip, coon n.1

### Nearby entries

1. zip, n.³ 1962–
2. zip, n.⁴ 1968–
3. zip, v.¹ 1852–
4. zip, v.² 1964–
5. zip, int. & n.¹ 1678–
6. zip-a-dee-doo-dah, int. & adj. 1945–
7. zip code, n. 1962–
8. zip-code, v. 1962–
9. zip-coded, adj. 1963–
10. zip-coding, n. 1964–
11. zip coon, n.1833–
12. zip cuff, n. 1995–
13. zip cuff, v. 1996–
14. Zipf, n. 1936–
15. zip fastener, n. 1925–
16. zip fastening, n. & adj. 1925–
17. zip gun, n. 1914–
18. Ziph, n. 1834–
19. ziphian, n. & adj. 1896
20. ziphiiform, adj. 1891
21. ziphioid, adj. & n. 1861–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by compounding.
Etymons: Personal name Zip, coon n.1
Apparently < Zip, pet form of the male forename Scipio (see note) + coon n.1…
Apparently < Zip, pet form of the male forename Scipio (see note) + coon n.1

### Notes

Popularization of the stock character
The character Zip Coon appears in a minstrel song of that name, first published in 1834 (see quot. 1834); it was widely popularized by the performances (in blackface) of George Washington Dixon (?1801–61), U.S. singer, actor, and newspaper editor, for whom this song became a theme tune.
Origin of the character's forename
The forename of the character may reflect the frequent use of Scipio as a name given to enslaved people of African origin or descent by slave owners in the 18th and 19th centuries, in allusion to the name of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Roman general and statesman. Compare:

1. 1741

   > Run away on the 18th of June last, from the Subscriber's Plantation at Wappoo Creek, two Negro Fellows; one named Scipio, speaks very good English.

   South-Carolina Gazette 2 July
2. 1768

   > He was accompanied by a dark Mulatto Fellow, named Scipio, the Property of Mr. John McMillian of Prince-William County.

   Maryland Gazette 1 December 305/1
3. 1794

   > A Dialogue between a Merchant and his Black Servant, in the actual time of Shaving. M. Do you take off the beard, Scipio.

   Times 11 December 4/1
4. 1800

   > Two Negroes at a tippling shop…‘Tay, mate, (says Scipio) donne be in sich dam hurree.’

   Kentucky Gazette 22 September

For evidence to support the argument that the first element of this word may reflect a shortening of the forename Scipio, compare:

1. 1827

   > ‘It gives his boats hard duty, dusky S'ip...’ The negro had been christened Scipio Africanus.

   J. F. Cooper, Red Rover vol. I. ii. 44
2. 1845

   > While James Crow and Scipio Coon were quietly at work on their master's plantations, all unconscious of their fame, the whole civilized world was resounding with their names.

   Knickerbocker October 332

The Z- of the character's forename may reflect voicing of the initial sibilant of the shortened form Sip in imitation or parody of African American pronunciation.
Origin of the character's surname
The motivation for the use of Coon as the surname of this character is unclear; at the date of the name's first record in the early 1830s, evidence exists to show coon n.1 applied more or less pejoratively to several types of people (compare coon n.1 2), but not with specific allusion to their race. The apparent choice of the animal name as the surname of the stage character may partly reflect a perception (for which there is much early 19th-century evidence) that the hunting of raccoons and possums, especially for meat, was particularly common among African American people; compare also references to these animals in early versions of the song Zip Coon (compare quot. 1834). For a parallel expression in a similar sense and context involving or recalling the name of a wild creature, compare slightly earlier Jim Crow n.1, which is often mentioned alongside the name Zip Coon and may have been a model for its formation.

## Meaning & use

U.S. offensive (now chiefly historical).

1. 1833–
   (The name of) a stock character in minstrel songs and performances portraying a black man represented as a self-important buffoon who is excessively concerned with appearing fashionable, or who overestimates his intelligence or status; (hence a derogatory name for) a black man characterized in this manner.
   The character of Zip Coon (performed by white actors in blackface) is often portrayed as imitating the behaviour and attitudes of white people, with whom he is unfavourably compared.
   For a similarly derogatory portrayal of black men originating in a similar context, see Jim Crow n.1 A.1b.
   In quot. 18331 as a pseudonym used to sign a letter on the subject of the abolition of slavery in the South.
   1. 1833

      > Zip Coon.

      Georgia Tel. (Macon) 31 July
   2. 1833

      > Jim Crow has a rival at the south, in the person of one Zip Coon.

      Boston Morning Post 31 October
   3. 1834

      > O ole Zip Coon he is a larned skoler, Sings posum up a gum tree an coony in a holler.

      Zip Coon (sheet music)
   4. 1847

      > The custom of calling..colored men Sambo and Zip Coon, is founded on the principle that white men are lords of all.

      E. C. Stanton, Letter 1 May in E. Stanton revealed in Letters (1922) vol. II. 16
   5. 1850

      > Do these precious moralists pretend that the appeals for purity, freedom, and temperance, by Lucretia Mott, Dr. Elder, Charles Burleigh, and Henry Wright are clearly immoral, while Jim Crow dances and Zip Coon songs and brandy-bibbing plays are unexceptionably moral?

      Liberator (Boston) 12 July 110/1
   6. 1884

      > The Journal as usual blows off on the subject of the tariff, a subject it knows as much about as the famous ‘Sip Coon’.

      Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Gazette 15 May 4/1
   7. 1975

      > A swaggering, cigar smoking Zip Coon is punched ‘precisely on the middle brass stud which confined his frilled shirt bosom’ by a white man to whom he has refused to yield the sidewalk.

      S. A. Hirsch, Uncle Tom's Companion (D.A. diss., State Univ. N.Y. Albany) 27
   8. 2015

      > It wasn't so much the racist ridicule as the lack of imagination that I found insulting. Where were the zip coons? The hep cats? The mammies?

      P. Beatty, Sellout xxii. 246
   arts U.S. English historical offensive
   1. Jim Crow 1832–
      The eponymous character of the song ‘Jim Crow’ (see sense A.1a) portrayed as part of a theatrical performance by a white person in blackface…
   2. zip coon 1833–
      U.S. offensive (now chiefly historical). (The name of) a stock character in minstrel songs and performances portraying a black man represented as a self-important buffoon who is excessively…
   3. centreman 1870–
      Chiefly U.S. With reference to blackface minstrels: = middleman, n. I.4 (cf. end-man, n. 1, corner-man, n. 1). Now historical.
   4. middleman 1870–
      U.S. A man in the middle of a line of blackface minstrels who leads the dialogue between songs; = interlocutor, n.¹ 3. Now chiefly historical.
   5. interlocutor 1880–
      The middleman of a blackface minstrel troupe, who questions the end-men and acts as compère.
   6. tambo 1884–
      The tambourine-player in a black minstrel troupe. Also, the tambourine played by such a musician.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˌzɪp ˈkuːn/
zip KOON

### U.S. English

/ˌzɪp ˈkun/
zip KOON

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Forms

### Variant forms

#### 1.

1. 1800s
   sip coon
2. 1800s–
   zip coon

#### 2. Also with capital initials.

## Frequency

zip coon typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zip coon is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zip coon, n., 1890–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1890 | 0.0001
1900 | 0.0001
1910 | 0.00009
1920 | 0.00008
1930 | 0.00007
1940 | 0.00002
1950 | 0.00002
1960 | 0.00005
1970 | 0.0001
1980 | 0.0001
1990 | 0.0001
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. coon, n.² & adj. 1848–
   slang (derogatory and offensive). A black person…

zip coon, n. was first published in March 2021.

zip coon, n. was last modified in September 2024.