# Funny, she doesn't look Jewish **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788 "2010-09-06T13:43:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/1 "2010-09-06T13:43:16Z")
Okay, so we all know in _Spaceballs_, when Lone Star says, “Great, just what we need. A Druish Princess”. I always figured this was a pun on “Jewish Princess” but the purpose of the pun remained opaque. I had never heard the latter phrase used until this weekend, so I had no idea that it referenced a popular stereotype. ([Stereotypes of Jews - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish-American_princess) was edifying in that respect.) But in _Spaceballs_, Barf follows the pun up with, “Funny, she doesn’t _look_ Druish.” This phrase (or, more properly, its antecedent, “She doesn’t look Jewish”) appears to be a common trope, dating back well before _Spaceballs_ was written. Does anyone know the origin of the latter phrase? Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/2 "2010-09-06T13:55:12Z")
I saw the title of the thread and was going to post something about _Spaceballs_ that would have been an instant SDMB classic, but I see you covered it in the OP. I am interested to see if anyone has an answer to your question. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/3 "2010-09-06T13:58:20Z")
Probably because Jews are supposed to have large noses(because air is free) so some one who is Jewish with a small nose doesn’t look Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/4 "2010-09-06T14:29:22Z")
The same joke was referenced in _Yellow Submarine_: “You don’t _look_ Bluish…” ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/5 "2010-09-06T14:58:03Z")
I saw a good movie a few years back with William H Macy set in the 40s. He was successful in life until he got a pair of glasses, and then everyone said he looked Jewish. Bam, his life went straight in the shitter. It highlights the fact that I have no clue whatsoever what “Jewish” is supposed to look like. Okay, I’ve heard big noses, but that doesn’t apply to every Jew. What is it about glasses that makes someone look Jewish? My girlfriend is Jewish, but I never would have know if she didn’t tell me. I guess what I’m saying is what does Jewish look like? Is there an objective answer to this, or does everyone think they know when they don’t? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/6 "2010-09-06T15:09:30Z")
It’s weird, but living as I do in a largely Jewish environment, I can usually spot non-Jews right away - and yet, I still can’t define “Jewish” features. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/7 "2010-09-06T15:38:16Z")
Here’s an old thread about it. [http://boardstest.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7094132](http://boardstest.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7094132) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/8 "2010-09-06T16:24:25Z")
I can tell many times who is Jewish and who isn’t. It’s a sort of “goydar”. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/9 "2010-09-06T17:01:46Z")
At home in the States, sometimes I can tell, sometimes I can’t. It’s hard to quantify. I happen to live in a nearly 100% Jewish part of town here in Mexico. Other than catching guys with yarmulkes or seeing women entering the synagogue, there’s really nothing non-Mexican about them. Of course the physical characteristics of Mexicans are much more varied than people who’ve only ever met gardeners expect. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/10 "2010-09-06T17:18:42Z")
I don’t know the answer either, but I have an anecdote. When my daughter was a teen, she went through a phase of dressing all in black. My MIL was upset and said it made her look Jewish. ??? WTF? When I heard the story I wondered what color one would wear to look, oh, Hindu, or Roman Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/11 "2010-09-06T17:24:23Z")
A variation. In an episode of the original _Hawaii Five-O_, the Chinese-American detective introduced himself as Chin Ho Kelly. The woman he was talking to replied, “Funny, you don’t look Irish.” ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/12 "2010-09-06T17:28:20Z")
I thought this thread was going to be about Paula Abdul. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/13 "2010-09-06T18:26:48Z")
Well, when I was growing up, a lot of Jewish males had dark hair, brown eyes, and wore black horn-rimmed glasses. So there was a “look.” But the point of the phrase was that the person being referred to did not the speaker’s stereotype of what a Jew looked like. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/14 "2010-09-06T18:31:26Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > When I heard the story I wondered what color one would wear to look, oh, Hindu Saffron Yellow > [@](#): > > or Roman Catholic. Black and white. Or proper stereotypical colors for your ethnic group. I don’t think my goydar is finely tuned, but it might work better if I were raised in NYC or Israel. There are certain features that probably pique it, but most of these are hallmarks of Ashkenazim, and not Jewish per se. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/15 "2010-09-06T20:05:52Z")
In the movie (not sure about the stage show) Cabaret, there is a skit in a cabaret with Joel Grey dancing with someone in a gorilla costume and singing about the problems with his love life. The “punch line” of the song is “She doesn’t look Jewish at all.” The movie dates from 1972; the Broadway show from 1966. So a phrase like that dates from at least the later of those. Those were based on 1 1951 play, I Am a Camera, which was based on the novel Goodbye to Berlin. I have no idea if the phrase is used therein. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/16 "2010-09-06T20:08:33Z")
I think this is a Jewish expression, from the Jewish community itself. Thus it may be extremely ancient. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/17 "2010-09-06T20:19:23Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s weird, but living as I do in a largely Jewish environment, I can usually spot non-Jews right away - and yet, I still can’t define “Jewish” features. > [@DanBlather](#): > > I can tell many times who is Jewish and who isn’t. It’s a sort of “goydar”. I these two about cover it. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/18 "2010-09-06T20:40:40Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > At home in the States, sometimes I can tell, sometimes I can’t. It’s hard to quantify. > > I happen to live in a nearly 100% Jewish part of town here in Mexico. Other than catching guys with yarmulkes or seeing women entering the synagogue, there’s really nothing non-Mexican about them. Of course the physical characteristics of Mexicans are much more varied than people who’ve only ever met gardeners expect. In all seriousness, can you tell us how that area formed? There simply aren’t that many Jews worldwide as a total worldwide percentage. I think the perception gets distorted because the vast majority of them live in the U.S. and Israel alone (well over 80% of the total out of about 13 million or so) but they are very visible. I know there are some Ethiopian Jews off black ancestry but I don’t know anything about Mexican ones especially if they are ethnically Mexican. I like to learn about scattered groups and I am sure others do as well. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/19 "2010-09-06T20:48:32Z")
There’s an old story about a Jewish guy who went to China many decades back around this time of year, and for those who are not Jewish, this is High Holidays time, and even the most minimally observant go to services … so he wanted to find a synagogue and did, and in it were a bunch of Chinese people praying the same service that he knew and he joined right in. After the service the congregants came up to him and asked why he was there and how he knew their prayers and he explained that he was Jewish and was grateful to have a place to pray. To which they responded: “Funny, you don’t look Jewish.” Now of course I first heard this joke decades ago, before I adopted my daughter from China, who is now, of course, Jewish. And before I learned about the [real history of Jews in China](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_China). Or the Bene Israel Jews of India. Or … I am sure the joke goes back to the Ellis island days but it does reveal a certain Ashkenazi-centric sense of Jewish identity. If you want to read about Jews who do not fit that Ashkenazi stereotype get a copy of [Fragile Branches](http://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Branches-Travels-through-Diaspora/dp/1573221651) or even this cookbook, [The Book of Jewish Food: an Odyssey from the Samarkand to New York](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Jewish-Food-Odyssey-Samarkand/dp/0394532589), which is more interesting for its coverage of the history of diverse Jewsih cultures (seen through the lens of their foods) than for the recipes, as good as they are. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788/20 "2010-09-06T20:52:43Z")
But seriously, in the US there are lots of Jews with Russian/Easter European backgrounds that have a similar look. Not all Jews look like that, and not all people who look like that are Jewish, but I’d say that it’s pretty easy to look at some people and know right off they are Jewish. My test is "does he look like my friend “Donnie Bernstein” or that cute girl in math class “Nancy Greenstein”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-she-doesnt-look-jewish/552788.md?page=2)