beaner, n. U.S. slang.
Brit. /ˈbiːnə/, U.S. /ˈbinər/
[‹ bean n. + -er suffix1.]
1. An impressive or excellent thing; an outstanding example of its kind. Now rare.
| 1911 Dial. Notes 3 541 Beaner, term of appreciation or compliment; equivalent to fine or excellent. ‘That new dress is a beaner’, ‘That story is a beaner’. 1940Harold Teen in Chicago Tribune 19 Jan. 16/2 (comic strip) ‘Have I got a secret 'at's a beaner—’ ‘I have no time to listen to secrets even if they are beaners.’ 1978 I. Doig This House of Sky (1992) 183 It'll be a beaner if I can get 'er harvested in this christly weather. |
2. derogatory and offensive. Also with capital initial. A Mexican (or Mexican-American) person. Cf. bean-eater n. 2.
J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1994) I. 112/2 records an oral use from c 1965.
| 1969 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1985) I. 182/2 Beaner. 1983 R. Thomas Missionary Stew xvii. 147 You know how the beaners are when it comes to time. 1994 P. Hamill Drinking Life iv. vii. 201 They were afraid the Mexicans would kill me, a gringo..one of the people who called them greasers, spics, beaners, and wetbacks on the cold scary other side of the border. 2002 S. J. Cannell Viking Funeral xxv. 172 My Beaner doctor musta got his license at the Tijuana School of Terminal Agony. |