Dictionary

mill hunky en · NOUN

Etymology

Originated as an ethnic slur for Eastern European immigrants.

Meanings

1. (Pennsylvania, Western, derogatory, ethnic, historical, qualifier:chiefly Pittsburgh area, slur) A blue-collar immigrant steel mill worker, usually of Eastern European heritage.
   • Thinking O’Toole was some uneducated, dumb mill hunky they could walk all over, the Company representatives said, “Whatever, we don’t care.” 2020, Stout, Mike, Homestead Steel Mill, page 96:
   • It is sad to hear people refer to themselves as a “dumb hillbilly coal miner”, or “just an ordinary mill-hunky”. Every person who has spent a lifetime contributing to the organization’s growth deserves to have a well-developed attitude toward themselves, regardless of the level of, of education or their station in life. 1995, Armstrong, William W., “Revitalizing the Work Ethic”, in Catalytic management : success by design, page 100:
   • One minute he was a mill Hunky from Beaver County, the next he was a tycoon. The most successful Polish American in the history of the U.S. 2006, Kuzneski, Chris, Sign of the cross, page 30:

Forms