This is one of those words you just avoid using, as an American, because it’s an insult to persons of Italian descent in the United States. That may be due to an association with some of the trivia related in this article?
I’m old enough to tell you what I was doing when Kennedy was assassinated, grew up in the former world headquarters of the KKK (Indiana), and this is news to me. I vaguely recall that the term could be derogatory, but forgot who was supposed to be insulted.
The article mentions 'guinea men' to refer to the trading ships that shuttled between Britain, South America and 'Guinea', but I can't help but imagine a hypothetical breed of six feet tall, dapperly clothed, bipedal guinea pig.
