(below info widely available on news feeds today. I used The Daily Caller's article, edited for brevity)

"During an interview on radio station KRBD Tuesday, 79-year-old Republican Congressman Don Young (Alaska) said, 'I used to own — my father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes. You know it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.

"By Thursday night, Young had come under substantial fire for using the term 'wetbacks' — a pejorative term for Mexican farm workers — and issued this statement:

“'During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California,' Young said. 'I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.'”

Was there "another way" the term 'wetback' was used, say in the early '50's when Rep Young would have been in early adulthood?

I was around in the '50s and never heard the word used as an approbation.

Back then it meant "illegal immigrant," not just Hispanic farm worker. It originated from people crossing the Rio Grande. IOW, the congressman admitted to hiring illegals.

That's an interesting question, Bethree. In looking for some answers, I came across this Wikipedia website, which quotes a NYT's report from the 1950s that said,

quote:

"The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican 'wetbacks' to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government."

I am thinking that even the 1950s the NYTs wouldn't be politically incorrect. So I am wondering if he was right.

I couldn't get to the OED tonight to check out what it says, and that might have an answer. Etymology.com (I know! I know! Not the best!) says that it's from the 1920s and originates from the notion of wading the Rio Grande.

quote:

originates from the notion of wading the Rio Grande.

So it's a misnomer. They should have been "wetfeet."

The word (lyric "the wetback movement have just begun") occurs in the English lyrics (link) of the 1955 Pancho López by Lalo Guerrero (1916-2005) the famous Chicano guitarist and songwriter. I believe the term started around the '40s. More research would be necessary to determine the context and pejorativeness of the term. I have certainly heard it used as an insult in the '60s and '70s growing up in the wine country of Sonoma and Napa counties. BTW Guerrero did not get permission to use the music for his parody, and later he turned over 50% of his proceeds to Disney.

Very interesting, folks, thanks.

I thought Young's remark so hilarious (in light of the prior week's confab of Repub's discussing how they needed to repackage their message esp to please Latinos) that I made this picture

quote:

wetback

The OED Online attests it from 1929:

1929 Foreign Affairs Oct. 101 The peon walks or swims across..and is welcomed by his countrymen here as a ‘wet back’.

Well, that's interesting. It's similar to the Rio Grande scenario.

This is another subject, but your use of attests is timely because Shu and I have recently been talking about it. I had to use the word on a form I was creating for work, and Shu said the word came from men placing their right hand on their testicles when swearing before a court of law. However, this site says that linguists are not sure how testis came to refer to a body part. I do like the Roman perspective, though.

And because women were not allowed to speak in court, we never got to coining the word breastify.

Latin for "witness" was testis, which was the same word as "testicle". Online Etymology Dictionary suggests

quote:

... usually regarded as a special application of testis "witness" (see testament), presumably because it "bears witness" to virility ...

It does then mention some other hypotheses.