Offensive slang used as a disparaging term for a person from east-central Europe, especially a laborer.
Dialectical variations include:
hunky, c.1896 and honky, c.1946.
Variation in
spelling includes: hunyak. Probably a compound of
Hungarian + Polack.
All these terms are used contemptuously.
When my grandfather immigrated to America, it was
hard for him to
get respect at work, because everyone thought he was just a honyock.