zipperhead

A racial slur referring to people of East Asian descent, coined by US soldiers during the Korean War. There are multiple proposed origins, but the most commonly accepted is that it if enemy Asian soldiers were shot in the head with high-powered weapons, their heads would split as if they had been "unzipped". Another origin could be that when enemy soldiers were ran over by military Jeeps, there would be tire tracks on them that resembled zippers. It's violent origin makes it a particularly derogatory pejorative.

It is often shortened to zip, though zip as a racial pejorative may have separate origins of its own

Veteran Joe: "Those goddamn zipperheads are taking over our neighborhoods and stealing our jobs!"

by PCone November 14, 2009

zipperhead

Coined during the korean war and became widely popular during the vietnam war. Referring to the way the head of an asian enemy tended to split open when shot in the middle of the forehead. This splitting is due to the frontal skull suture found in mongoloid bone structure. massive directed trauma to the forehead will often cause the skull to split along the suture line causing the head to appear as if opened by a zipper.

The zipperheads were overrunning our position.

by jreb333 March 13, 2011

Zipperhead

A racial slur coined by US soldiers during Korean War because if Asians were shot in the head with high-powered weapons, their heads would split as if you unzipped them.

Hey Louie, hand me that gun, I just saw me a zipperhead

by SlammySammy June 23, 2006

zipperheadtute

A made up word that is considered a cuss word in Ragnarok Online.

That novice is a zipperheadtute.

by Tenterhook Heart May 12, 2006

zipperhead

A zipperhead is a derogatory term for Asians. Mean but funny at the same time.

Zipperheads are usually bad drivers, from what I hear

by nagyfasz April 11, 2005

zipperhead

A person who has undergone decompression surgery to relieve pressure on the brain stem and to allow the cerebral spinal fluid to flow properly. Ususally as a result of trama or a condition known as Arnold Chiari Malformation in which the brain can become herniated down the spinal cord. The resulting scar looks like a zipper up the back of the head.

I went through decompression and I am proud to be a zipperhead.

by vermat101 December 24, 2008

Zipperhead

This term was started during the Vietnam conflict to describe a Vietcong tactic.
After killing a GI in combat, the Vietcong split a soldier's head with a machete, then insert a live hand grenade with the pin removed. Replacing the helmet hides the booby trap.
When medics come to recover the dead, moving the body will cause the helmet to fall off and release the grenade, killing or maiming anyone in the immediate area.
Zipperhead describes the mutilation that the Vietcong inflicted on fallen soldiers.

Fuckin Zipperheads got another one of our boys.

by Wotboa March 30, 2011