‘Tom’, always with a capital ‘T’, is a common name for a boy or man — short for ‘Thomas’, and usually in the name ‘Uncle Tom’, is an insulting word for a black person and, therefore, not to be used in formal situations. For an article that shows us how this word is derogatory, please click here. ‘Tom’, without the word ‘cat’ is a male turkey (bird) and the male of some other animals, such as ‘cougar’, ‘lion’, etc.

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