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mooneas
[< Algonk.: Cree]
Derog., especially in Indian parlance
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Spelling variants:Various spellings
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
1n.
a newcomer; tenderfoot; greenhorn.
Quotations
<i>c</i>1880
There was always an extra cake put on for appearance, and it was a sure sign of a "tenderfoot" or a "moonias" to eat that extra cake.
1908
If a monias (a greenhorn) took the bow pole . . . the orders of our steersman, Cyr, were amusing to listen to.
1959
He was constantly involved in some transportation difficulty, and earned for himself among the half-breeds and Indians such unflattering appellations as "moonias" and "kipooch," epithets reserved for blundering tenderfeet.
1966
. . . I was the assistant surveyor and the moneas (tenderfoot) of the outfit.
2n.
a European; a white man.
See: Moniyas
Quotations
1885
. . . we came upon the main trail and saw the track of boots, which the Indians at once said were "Moneasses," or men of the east, unaccustomed to mountain travelling.
1913
I ordered him to get out immediately, which he did promptly, amid the jeers of the people before whom he had been bragging how he could "play over a Moonyass" a minute before.
1956
Mooneas is the Cree word for White Man. He obtained the sobriquet due, not to his blood, but to his grey eyes.
1963
A moonias--a white man--sees but a great thundercloud black and menacing. . . .