I always heard it referred to as "ding dong ditch" in the 90s. But I'm Canadian and my only exposure to American terminology was sanitized thru TV broadcasting rules. Was there some kind of racist/sexist/homophobic term floating around or something?

Am American from that time frame. We called it ding dong ditch, and so did everyone else I ever heard.

I grew up in Kentucky in the 80s and I grew up calling it a racial slur... and there was no shame around my neighborhood in calling it that because that's just what it was called. I had no idea what the word meant until years later and now looking back on it I'm disgusted at all of the adults in my neighborhood who let us call it that.

Last week I watched O Brother Where Art Thou with my almost 10 year old daughter and at one point in the movie after it had been said a few times my daughter turned an looked at me and asked "What does 'negro' mean?"... and with that I feel like I've done a good job at stopping institutional racism in my family line.

All I know is that you are supposed to say you are looking for spare knickers if you get caught.