A non-derogatory word for black male, used by blacks and whites alike (even in mixed company), prevalent in the U.S. military in the 1960s and 1970s. As a member of the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam, I heard it constantly and it was used and received with the same sort of attitude as one might use "dude" today, except for the distinguishing fact that it did indeed refer to race, without being racist.
Hey, Jackson, how come you splibs only smoke Kools? I don't know any of us white guys who do.
101๐ 16๐
In the mid 60's, while in the Marine Corps, the term splib was used commonly among black and white marines. It was not used in a pejorative way by either blacks or whites but as a "hip", descriptive way of identifying a person, usually a male, of the negro race, such as in the phrase "splib dude". Likewise the descriptive and non-pejorative term "chuck" was used to describe a white person, however it was also used to describe the Viet Cong (VC), such as in "Victor Charlie", "Charlie" or just "Chuck" In fact, one might get vanilla or chocolate creme filled cookies that were included in the field "C" rations. These were commonly referred to as "chuck" or "splib" cookies.
The corporal is that splib dude
307๐ 75๐
At North Texas State University, 1964, splib was the common word for black African Americans used by the jazz crowd. Gray, or gray dude, referred to whites on a similar level. These were in common usage among many civil rights activists as well.
I did not perceive it as derogatory at the time, more a hip code-word among the jivers (those speaking jive-talk).
That splib band had a lot of soul; the gray dude couldn't keep up.
109๐ 36๐
When I was a military brat in Germany in the 60s, splib was the accepted use for blacks, it was not derogatory at all. On the other side of the coin, 'chuck' indeed was the term for whites, and you even heard 'chuck white' to describe someone who was white.
To describe a group of blacks you would simply say they were all splibs.
78๐ 26๐
"Splib" was a widely-used term in the military in the Sixties, notably in WestPac (Western Pacific), for African-Americans. It was DEFINITELY pejorative. "Special liberty" was defined in the manual as "liberty granted outside of regular liberty periods for unusual reasons," and black sailors and Marines were supposedly notorious for asking for special liberty chits for any reason they could think of, to avoid work.
"Some drunk splib came off liberty last night and took a swing at the Marine at the guard station, so he's cooling off in the brig."
7๐ 4๐
An African-American who acts like a fool publicly.
Dammit, every time Keyshawn scores he has to act like a splib!
67๐ 97๐
A derogatory term for African Americans. AKA coon, woog, etc.
Shut the hell up you f*ing splib.
55๐ 83๐