We’ve had a lot of these since Lieberman joined the ticket, no?
Anyway, the local paper in my new home (the Hampton Daily Press) has a feature called ‘Feedback.’ This is a reader’s forum whereby people can telephone, write, or e-mail comments or complaints about the paper. This is apart from the traditional ‘Letters to the Editor’ page. Very amusing – unlike a letter, the comments can be phoned in so the Feedback section features a delightfully large proportion of semi-literate mouth-foamers who would have been weeded out if they had had to actually put their ravings on paper. Anyway, a recent theme with Feedback readers has been the paper’s use of the – some feedbackers believe – offensive word “Jew.” My immediate response (and that of the Feedback editor) was that “Jew” is the proper noun for a person of the Jewish faith and therefore perfectly proper usage. I was going to draft a Feedback letter of my own, but got busy and didn’t get around to it right away. Next day an individual wrote that “any reader of history” would know that “Jew” was offensive because anti-semites have used it as an insult and Hitler forced Jewish people to wear yellow stars with the word printed on them. He also said that calling someone a Jew would be like calling a Catholic a “Cath.” Another person wrote that he considered “Jew” to be the equivalent of “Jap” for a Japanese. The “Cath” and “Jap” analogies are obviously stupid, but what about the other claim? Has anti-semitism poisoned the word “Jew” to the point where it would be considered a slur by a Jewish person? I thought I’d better check before shooting off my mouth.
Obviously “Jew” is not a clipped form of “Jewish person.” The noun “Jew” dates from the Middle-English period, the adjective “Jewish” has only been part of the language since the 16[sup]th[/sup] century. According to my dictionary, both terms derive ultimately from the name “Yehudah” (Judah, one of the sons of Jacob).
I have noticed that most news outlets seem not to use the undorned word “Jew”. “Observant Jew”, “Orthodox Jew”, okay. “Jewish person”, “Jewish candidate”, okay. But never “Jew” alone. They seem to avoid it in a way they wouldn’t avoid terms like “Protestant” or “Catholic” or “Christian”. Maybe it’s just my imagination.
I meant to add that in the last few weeks I have heard a couple of people use “Jewish” as a noun. “Did you hear? Gore’s running mate is a Jewish.” I’d never heard that before. I suppose it is in false analogy with proper words that work as nouns or adjectives (Canadian/a Canadian; Christian/a Christian; Republican/a Republican). My dictionary does not admit “Jewish” as a noun.
The whole thing is silly. Obviously any word can be used as a slur, if spoken that way. But I’ve never heard of this idea that the word Jew itself is offensive.
Gawd,
The word Juden would be a plural of the singular Jude. (The Yiddish equivalents are Yidden and Yid).
It is not the word, but how it is used. But for some reason, it often takes on a feeling to it in English that is a bit brusque. Ironically, it seems to in fact be more neutral in German today (Jude). By the way, the holocaust badges were in the language of the country in which the people lived and too often died, and not necessarily in German.
The word “Jew” as a noun is not an insult (unless joined with the word “bastard”, as in Hillary Clinton, allegedly).
However, there is an insulting verb use of the word “Jew,” coined by anti-Semites via the stereotype of Jews as money-hungry. “To Jew someone” means to cheat someone, or to somehow illegally obtain someone’s money (although I don’t think it’s used to mean actual robbery).
Needless to say, such usage isn’t openly used much in America these days.
Chaim is correct as for the word’s usage differences. However, when used as a verb, it is lower-case J as in “jew.” When speaking of the race, it is capitalized.
I know this because it’s a perfectly acceptable Scrabble play in tournament play, though it was taken out of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary for the third edition for the ggeneral public and schools along with 100+ other “offensive” words.
My feelings on this is another story…
Yer pal,
Satan
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I would add that “Jew” used as an adjective has offensive connotations. Note the difference between “Jew lawyer” and “Jewish lawyer”. To my mind, at least, the former is offensive, regardless of context. (I also believe that referring to race or enthnicity when it is not necessary information is often improper.)
I never considered the use of “Jew” offensive in and of itself; however, it can certainly be used offensively through context or tone (“Jew bastard” or “[money-grubbing] Jew lawyer” as have been mentioned above). I seem to recall the Washington Post using “Jew” all over the place this last month. (Of course, they still use “retarded” instead of the prevalent PC euphamisms, so what do they know?)
My specific question, then, is what do Jewish people think about “Jewfish” (a large Caribbean grouper) or “Wandering Jew” (a plant)? There are probably other uses that are not springing to mind right now.
Also, if I “jew someone down” on a price, meaning that I used shrewd business tactics to my advantage, is this considered offensive in all cases? The reason that I ask is that if I take an example from my own background (i.e., someone saying something about prussian efficiency or germanic organizational skills), I wouldn’t necessarily consider it a put-down. It would depend on tone and context.
I figure you have to listen to it (or read it in this case) in context to see what it sounds/looks like, but if you add an insulting word after the word Jew, then yes, it’s insulting. But by itself, I figure it’s not.
Chaim, I believe that the origin of the term “Wandering Jew” is an old Christian legend. I’ll probably screw up some of the details here, but supposedly, while Jesus was carrying His cross to Calgary, one of the onlookers (a Jew) mocked Him extensively. In retribution, Jesus cursed the man with immortality. The story goes that he’s still walking the Earth, wandering from country to country until the Second Coming, when he can at last rest. I’m not sure if that’s offensive or not.
And sdimbert, I found that hilarious, too, but for the benefit of any less educated Gentiles out there, check out Leviticus 11:9 or Deuteronomy 14:9. ;j
IMO, yes it is. Everytime I hear some highschool aged kid using the term, I take that opportunity to inform him that the very large, vary dark-skinned Mexican looking guy sitting next to them is Jewish, and that he doesn’t appreciate the use of the term
Seriously, I have no idea what the name origin is for the jewfish. It is the widely accepted name for Epinephelus itajara, and has been for as long as I can tell.
Thanks for the replies to my previous post, Chaim et al.
