Selma, Just a shot in the dark. Since the word caneco refers to a tin mug, perhaps, they meant paupers - panhandlers - begging for alms in tin mugs. In Konknni there is a similar metonym - "cuttichhap" - to derogatorily refer to a poor person who has to beg with a cutti or coconut shell.
Cheers, Santosh --- On Sat, 7/11/09, Carvalho <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Antonio, > I too am finding it difficult to trace the exact colloquial > translation of this word but my mother remembers the slur > clearly and I have found a reference made to it, in a 1950 > booklet produced by the Goa League. Peinture a canecos, > means to play the fool, so I am assuming the word canecos by > itself when used as a racial slur, meant stupid. > > Take care, > selma >
