I’ve been pondering over the distinction between using jew vs jewish. Trying to see how it work in comparison to other tags, I mean.
For example, you could say either:
Beth is a Christian.
or
Beth is Christian.
And I don’t think either is at all offensive. (On the face of it, I mean, you can always load your tones to make anything an insult.)
Similarly for denomination tags: a Lutheran/Lutheran, a Baptist/Baptist, an Episcopalian/Episcopalian, a Morman/Morman.
OTOH, I see a definite difference between saying Beth is a Black vs. Beth is Black.
So… why is using the noun form only sometimes offensive?
Note: I’m not saying that it isn’t – clearly at least some people are offended by it – I’m just trying to figure out what the general rule is.
But maybe I’m getting out of Cafe Society territory.
I understand that, but the same distinction could be said of Christian vs. “a Christian”, and neither form is offensive. I just did some Googling, and found that apparently both forms are acceptable for some other religions. For example:
John is a muslim. AND John is muslim.
John is a Buddhist. AND John is Buddhist.
John is a Wiccan. AND John is Wiccan.
Is the difference just that the noun and adjective forms have different spellings/pronunciations?
I could have sworn I’ve heard practicing, dedicated Jewish people refer to a Jewish person as “a Jew.” I can’t give any specific examples, but my vague notion is of hearing it in a scholarly context, like a rabbi discussing that Jesus “was a Jew” or something. Using it as an adjective (“That Jew carpenter”) on the other hand, is offensive across the board, IME.
Anyway, about the show - very funny. As an atheist civil libertarian, I found it comforting that two major characters were presented as non-believers without it being a big thing, and yet very amusing the ridiculous lengths people went to to avoid denominational references to the winter season.
And I guess maybe I’m getting old myself, because I was reflecting on how hot Anthony Michael Hall has gotten (disregarding the silly mustache and gym clothes) and how you would never have guessed if you only knew him from Sixteen Candles.
Of course, if you yourself are a Member of the Tribe, you can call your brother-in-law a worthless yid, but that would be totally unacceptable from someone else.
During the show - even before the discussion here - I was very interested in the question of whether “A Jew” is offensive. Rather than continue the highjack, I have started a thread in IMHO for feedback. Link. I am “a lazy man’s athiest” btw.
I’m very open about my enormous skepticism towards God. I’m a simple guy, and I barely have a chance to look like the intelligent one. Sometimes I’m too open.
One of the things I like about this show are the throwaway lines and background dialogue. It reminds me of Arrested Development that way.
For instance, this week when “A-team” guy is waiting for Jeff to show up for the fight and chattering with his crew. A mate asks him what they’ll do if Jeff doesn’t show and he says, “I guess we’ll go to Applebees. I’m gonna get in a fight tonight one way or the other.”
You’re in luck! hulu is currently showing all 12 episodes that ran already, including the pilot.
I just saw the latest episode yesterday and it has now moved past 30 Rock to become my favorite show. I loved the slow reveal of everyone all bruised up at the end and enjoying the holiday spirit. Merry happy everyone!
I also liked when Pierce was all happy he finally hit Jeff in the face and Jeff told him that he’d been hit in the face like 4 times in the fight beforehand, LOL.
I watched NBC’s Community marathon tonight and I have to say, this show is pretty freaking funny. And thanks to this thread, it’s answered a few of my nagging questions like where are all the just out of high school kids. Although making Annie a high school kid seems ridiculous seeing as how she’s really in her mid 20s and looks it (and smoking hot by the way).
Donald Glover, who plays Troy, was supposed to be in the same class as Annie, and he’s 26. Gillian Jacobs, who plays the worldly, Britta, is a whole year older.
Exactly. It was driving me nuts that no one on the show (or even in the background) appeared to be 18. But apparently they’re part of the main cast. I had no idea seeing as how both Annie and Troy look like two people in their mid 20s.
