# Assuming Jewish word like Gentile is not derogatory; are there other cultures/language with such word/s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433 "2022-10-18T15:10:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/41 "2022-10-19T05:08:46Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > We’d say Midwesterners, but yes. Ohio has a relatively steep dialect gradient going from Cincinnati to Columbus to Cleveland. Only leaving out the most distinctive dialect region in Ohio—the Appalachian region in the southeast—which is far more different from dialects spoken in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati than any of those regional varieties are from each other. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/42 "2022-10-19T05:24:34Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Gweilo is a Cantonese term for Europeans. It was originally derogatory but as I understand it is now regarded as basically neutral. I call bullshit on that. Gweilo means “old ghost” (鬼佬). Ghost _always_ has a negative connotation in Mandarin and Cantonese. There is no Casper the Friendly Ghost vibe. Sure, among friends, it can be akin to “what’s up my n\*\*\*er” among a different ethnic group in the US. But it is never inherently a compliment. FWIW, I lived in HK for about 5 years. “Laowai” (老外) literally means “old outsider”. That said, “old” in Mandarin is an honorific connoting something like “respect due to someone experienced.” Wai is neutral to negative, meaning an outsider that is not Chinese (in Japanese, “gai” is the equivalent with “gaijin” anywhere from neutral to pretty negative). So, laowai is a polite honorific way of addressing someone who is not Chinese, but still carries the connotation that said person is not Chinese (and therefore inherently at least a bit on the negative side) Wai and Gai both are the same character and pretty much the same meaning/connotation, and somewhat factual as it denotes people that don’t look Asian, but depending on inflection and context can be kinda nasty. If I were to compare it to the American experience, it is akin to “she’s black” which can be a completely neutral descriptor, or could be the mark of the beast. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/43 "2022-10-19T05:27:30Z")
English or Aussies will use “septic” instead of Yank or Yankee if they are not being nice. Septic tank is rhyming Cockney for Yank, it’s common vernacular and by extension refers to Americans as “shit”. Nothing like a group of Brits making septic jokes and sniggering to the face of clueless Americans. Classy - not. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/44 "2022-10-19T05:32:20Z")
It’s usually “Seppo” but its one of those expressions that is more talked about than actually used. In other words, it’s the type of thing that appears more as a trivia answer than a reality. I can’t recall any occasion hearing someone use “Seppo” in actual conversation, other than in a conversation about what Aussies allegedly call Americans. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/45 "2022-10-19T05:35:53Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > It’s usually “Seppo” but its one of those expressions that is more talked about than actually used. In other words, it’s the type of thing that is more an answer to a trivial question (such as this thread) than something anyone actually does. I can’t recall any occasion hearing someone use “Seppo” in actual conversation, other than in a conversation about what Aussies allegedly call Americans., I beg to differ. Maybe Seppo isn’t that commonly used these days, but when I had Aussie colleagues in Asia up through 2010 it was common. Maybe you don’t hear it? I haven’t been around Aussies much since 2010 so mayhaps you convicts have learned some manners? ( 😁 I kid, I kid) I used to joke with friends from down under that “yank” was the polite form of “seppo”. 😱 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/46 "2022-10-19T05:40:04Z")
Probably more to tease you than anything I suspect. As to Gweilo, I’m not sufficiently invested or knowledgeable to argue but a quick google suggests it’s hotly debated. As you say in your post, if “not Chinese” is inherently negative, then in a sense it is possible for Gweilo to be neutral while still being negative, if you see what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/47 "2022-10-19T05:40:53Z")
Would you please comment on these videos. I thought it was from _Off the Great Wall_, but it’s from a sister channel, _Learn Chinese Now._ in which Ben talks about different Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) names for foreigners. Also, do you know why he (and Carmen from _Off the Great Wall_) pronounce gwailo, gweilo even though they’re referring to the Cantonese term?. I thought gwei (sounds like way) is Mandarin for ghost. Also, don’t know about hei ren (black person) in Mandarin, but I’ve heard that haak yan (Cantonese) will get you a punch in the face! _Laowai - Foreigner (Chinese Hot Words)_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-62zvoLkiuc/maxresdefault.jpg "Laowai - Foreigner (Chinese Hot Words)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-62zvoLkiuc) _Lao Wai 2.0 More Crazy Chinese Names For Foreigners | Learn Chinese Now_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IRpct4pLjZo/maxresdefault.jpg "Lao Wai 2.0 More Crazy Chinese Names For Foreigners | Learn Chinese Now") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRpct4pLjZo) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/48 "2022-10-19T05:58:59Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Don’t Afrikaners refer to white non-Afrikaners as _Uitlanders_? Generally [not since the South African War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uitlander), and only in their own Republics, where they _were_ foreigners (and non-citizens). This leaves aside the foreign-ness of those Boers, but hey, racists aren’t consistent, news at 11. There _are_ derogatory terms for British-originated White South Africans that Afrikaners still use: _rooineck_ (“redneck”, but not the US class connotation) and _soutie_, short for _soutpiel_(“salt penis”, because they always had one foot in SA and one in England, so their penis dangles in the ocean). But neither of those are ambiguous, really. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/49 "2022-10-19T06:39:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _soutie_, short for _soutpiel_(“salt penis”, because they always had one foot in SA and one in England, so their penis dangles in the ocean). But neither of those are ambiguous, really. Ha. Well that’s one I’ve never heard before. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/50 "2022-10-19T12:01:36Z")
And that’s one colorful derogatory term. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/51 "2022-10-19T12:16:31Z")
> [@Joeu](#): > > I know _gringo_ is always derogatory. Interesting that. Gringo when spoken by a Spanish speaker means American and is derogatory. When spoken by a speaker of Brazilian Portuguese, [it simply means non-Brazilian, of any country](https://braziliangringo.com/gringo-offensive-word-brazil/), and it’s not necessarily derogatory… ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/52 "2022-10-19T12:38:52Z")
> [@Joeu](#): > > I do see your question, and not trying to nitpick, but gentile is not really a Jewish word–neither as a religion or a culture. The word _gentile_ originated as a Latin calque of the Hebrew _גוי_ (i.e., _goy_) which has been used in the sense of “non-Jew” for thousands of years. In this sense, _gentile_ seems very much to be a Jewish word. ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/53 "2022-10-19T14:34:38Z")
Isn’t Anglo also used in much of the Southwest to describe white English speakers in the region. I believe I’ve heard it. New Mexico, Arizona. Not derogatory, or necessarily anyway. In-house, as it were, among Hispanics; it’s the Others (not like us, etc.). Make of it what you please (and all that). As an Easterner, from New England, I’ve seldom encountered such specific designations of people I’ve lived among of my generation (Boomer); and, especially, those younger. My parents used it to describe “old stock” (i.e. usually of British stock) local folk, regardless of whether Mayflower or Colonial era descended. This, I believe, is the original use. This did not particularly have a class designation, as I recall. A Yankee could be a farmer or a tradesman, a schoolteacher or a librarian. Blue bloods and Social Register types were, by virtue of their class, automatically Yankee. Not surprisingly, and FWIW, I noticed that just about everyone I grew up with who had Scandanavian backgrounds (the Carlsons, Lundbaums, Nielsens and Larsons) were, axiomatically, Americans, and socially on a par with middle class Yankees, and didn’t out as something different. ---
**Author:** ![Joeu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joeu/32/2911_2.png) [@Joeu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joeu)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/54 "2022-10-19T15:06:08Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > When spoken by a speaker of Brazilian Portuguese, [it simply means non-Brazilian, of any country](https://braziliangringo.com/gringo-offensive-word-brazil/), and it’s not necessarily derogatory… Wow, thanks! I had no idea, and am interested to learn this. > [@psychonaut](#): > > The word _gentile_ originated as a Latin calque of the Hebrew _גוי_ (i.e., _goy_) which has been used in the sense of “non-Jew” for thousands of years. In this sense, _gentile_ seems very much to be a Jewish word. I’m not following your logic here (maybe my fault). A calque is a translation, basically, and I don’t understand a translation as being the same word. _Flea market_ is a calque of a French phrase, (_marche aux puces_), but nobody would say that Flea market is a French phrase. Conversely, I think everyone would agree that _cul de sac_ is a French phrase, even when it’s used in an English sentence. “This is a beautiful suburban home, located in a cul de sac,” is an example of a French phrase being used in an English sentence. “I’m going to buy some batteries at the flea market,” is an English sentence and I don’t think anyone would say that any word or phrase in that sentence is French. _Goy_ is a Yiddish and Hebrew word (with slightly different meanings and connotations in the two languages), hence Jewish. _Gentile_ is an English word, from Latin, and not a Jewish word. Not an insider term. (To further complicate things, don’t members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints also use the term _gentile_ to refer to non-members? ) ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/55 "2022-10-19T15:08:11Z")
Afrikaans is apparently one of the best languages for insults, the Cape Town slang version even better. I learned everything I know of the language from travelling on public transport, which itself is pretty wild. I do not speak any Afrikaans in public. An example in poor translation: “you are lower than a snake’s shit’s shadow” Apparently Russian also has great insults, but I have never learned any. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/56 "2022-10-19T15:24:36Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > An example in poor translation: “you are lower than a snake’s shit’s shadow” You missed out “…at the bottom of the ocean” which I think rounds the whole thing out nice and poetically. _jy’s laer as slangkak se skaduwee op die seebodem_ ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/57 "2022-10-19T16:49:04Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Yamatunchu How do you pronounce that? I tried looking up the word and getting a pronounciation recording, but when it’s finally needed, I couldn’t find it. (No, Google, I don’t want to know how to pronounce “Yamaguchi.”) It seems to be spelled “yamato-unchu” or “yamatou-nchu” using hiragana / Kanji but the “tunchu” part differs from standard Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/58 "2022-10-19T16:57:35Z")
> [@Joeu](#): > > Conversely, I think everyone would agree that _cul de sac_ is a French phrase, even when it’s used in an English sentence. “This is a beautiful suburban home, located in a cul de sac,” is an example of a French phrase being used in an English sentence. Is “chauffeur” a French word, then? How about “chef”? If I talk about standing on my veranda, watching a tornado disrupt a rodeo, am I using Spanish words in an English sentence? When a language borrows a word from another tongue, that term becomes a word in the borrowing language. Which is why we would say “Reuben and David are having their bar mitzvahs on the same day”, rather than “…their bar mitzvot…” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/59 "2022-10-19T17:47:00Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > E.B. White’s thought on the term “Yankee”: > > > To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. > > To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. > > To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner. > > To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander. > > To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter. > > And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast Pie makes a perfectly acceptable breakfast. Guess I’m a yankee. Back on topic, _any_ word can be derogatory depending on how used and what tone. Is it worse for Mom to call her DIL “that shiksa” than if she calls her “that _woman_”(in a very sneering tone)? I think the negative connotation here is more the tone than the word used. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433/60 "2022-10-19T17:58:52Z")
“Gentile” is a word that means “everybody in the whole world, living or dead or both, who does not belong to this very specific and small tribe,” and that’s pulling an awful lot of semantic weight. I think any word which means “them, not us” is inherently dismissive, which means always potentially insulting but not necessarily derogatory. Shiksa is not a nice word. It’s used for comedic effect _because_ it’s not a nice word, just like so many not-nice English ones are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assuming-jewish-word-like-gentile-is-not-derogatory-are-there-other-cultures-language-with-such-word-s/973433.md?page=4)