Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

Born in the waning years of the 19th century, the word fink has lived a colorful life in American English slang.

The earliest citation of the word comes from the 1892 Homestead strike staged by the workers at Pennsylvania's Carnegie Steel Co. The word fink was applied as an insult to the 300 armed Pinkerton detectives hired to break that strike. Some word watchers suggest fink is a rhyme of the Pink in Pinkerton, surname of Allan Pinkerton, founder of his National Detective Agency in Chicago in 1850.

In the early decades of the 20th century, fink was adopted by prison convicts to denote a disloyal inmate who revealed insurgency plans to prison authorities. The word slowly worked its way into America's slang vocabulary as a synonym for "squealer" or "snitch." This leads some lexicographers to surmise that the moniker was taken directly from the German language, where fink means "finch," a metaphor for one who "sings" or tattles on another.

In the 50s and 60s, American students enthusiastically embraced fink as a general term of abuse for someone considered offensive, contemptible or unreliable. But fink was not insulting enough for some; real losers were branded ratfinks.

Radio Script > Fink