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mangia-cake
< Italian mangiare 'to eat' + cake,
Quebec
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:mangiacake,
n. — Ethnicities, derogatory, slang
a term among Italian-Canadians for a non-Italian white person.
Type: 1. Origin — From its original Italian, the term mangia-cake literally translates to "cake-eater". According to Italian-Canadian author Nino Ricci, the term stems from the sweetness and softness of Canadian bread, which, compared to Italian bread, tastes more like cake than bread (see the 2006 quotation). The term is virtually restricted to Canada (Chart 1) and occurs in the internet domains mainly in Quebec (Chart 2), where Italian-Canadians figure in great numbers. It is generally an oral term and has been reported to be in use in Ontario as well. Note in this context the (low) usage in Chart 2 for Ontario.
See also COD-2, which labels the term "Cdn derogatory or jocular (among Italian-Canadians)". Not listed in Gage-5 and ITP Nelson.
See also COD-2, which labels the term "Cdn derogatory or jocular (among Italian-Canadians)". Not listed in Gage-5 and ITP Nelson.
Quotations
1988
In various semantic disguises - "English" (Greek), "Canadian" (Portuguese), "mangia-cake" (Italian, for "cake-eater"),"ghost-man"(Chinese) - the idea of the goy has been a necessary staple of Toronto's ethnic communities. And central to that idea has been the notion of the "other," the external established culture.
1995
To this day the family still talks about how there was not enough food, or even enough chairs for the old people, at what they called the mangiacake, or Anglo-Canadian-inspired affair.
1999
Palladini has shamed the entire Italian-Canadian community. He has truly shown his ignorance. He will never be able to convince anyone that the term "mangia-cake" is a lighthearted, good-intentioned quip. Palladini knows only too well the connotation of the phrase. It has only one meaning: to direct a disparaging, condescending, belittling and offensive slur upon a targeted segment of society.
2002
Mangiacake, an Italian term used to describe a non-Italian who eats lighter white bread, rather than the Italian-style variety, is caustically affectionate.
2006
It is "mangia-cake," a derogatory term for Anglo-Canadians meaning literally "cake eater." The Italian-Canadian novelist Nino Ricci offers the explanation that it dates from the years after the Second World War when Canada was experiencing a second large influx of Italian immigrants. It expresses the scorn of Italians for Canadian bread, which to them seemed so sweet as to be like cake.
2012
I was 10 years old when first introduced to the culinary exotica of a grilled cheese sandwich.
Defying my mother's "NO," I'd gone home for lunch with a mangiacake classmate, intrigued from the very point of crossing the threshold by how "English" people lived. Their houses smelled different. Dogs lived inside.
References
- COD-2
- ITP Nelson
- Gage-5
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 15 Aug. 2012
