In my entire life (only slightly younger than JAD) I don’t remember ever seeing “Ginger” for a redhead anywhere except in cartoons. And except for the “South Park” episode, they were all British or Australian (as in “Ginger Meggs”).
If Americans use the word that way, I suspect it is either regional (like fice, mahoff, antigoggling, or gum bands) or preserved in some families, perhaps of redheads themselves.
(A little Googling pretty much confirms that the word, especially intended as a slur, is British.)
In my entire life (only slightly younger than JAD) I don’t remember ever seeing “Ginger” for a redhead anywhere except in cartoons. And except for the “South Park” episode, they were all British or Australian (as in “Ginger Meggs”).
If Americans use the word that way, I suspect it is either regional (like fice, mahoff, antigoggling, or gum bands) or preserved in some families, perhaps of redheads themselves.
(A little Googling pretty much confirms that the word, especially intended as a slur, is British.)