# Is "Hebe" a racial slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 18, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098 "2012-09-18T19:32:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/41 "2012-09-19T04:48:54Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Yes, this, thank you. Plus the thread was started by an uber-troll who was uber-trolling again. Do we need to discuss every banning, or the dumb thread(s) leading up to it, ever? If you’d like to pretend this is a “When it’s okay to use certain sluts thread,” stop pretending now, because it’s an old discussion that’s been had before. Dude was trolling, was banned, huzzah. I’m just intrigued because last time we had this discussion a lot of people spent a lot of time typing out how something isn’t a slur if a member of the group in question says it isn’t but this time the response is universal that it’s a slur. Did all those posters from the earlier thread take a 24 hour lunch or what? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/42 "2012-09-19T06:20:21Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Seeing as this thread proves there are actual Jewish people who claim they don’t think it’s a slur, how, pray tell, did you determine this? I saw no poster prior to your post who claimed to be Jewish and also claimed that they did not consider it a slur. What prompted you to make this claim? > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I’m just intrigued because last time we had this discussion a lot of people spent a lot of time typing out how something isn’t a slur if a member of the group in question says it isn’t but this time the response is universal that it’s a slur. Did all those posters from the earlier thread take a 24 hour lunch or what? Aside from the satiric e-zine reference, (in which the term is used ironically–thus relying on the fact that it is a slur to make their point), what Jews do you find saying it is not a slur? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/43 "2012-09-19T06:34:25Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I’m just intrigued because last time we had this discussion a lot of people spent a lot of time typing out how something isn’t a slur if a member of the group in question says it isn’t but this time the response is universal that it’s a slur. Did all those posters from the earlier thread take a 24 hour lunch or what? Not an unworthy conversation, and one I’ve engaged in at least twice on this board, but this thread seems to be framing it around whether or not cync did anything inherently wrong using offensive language by telling the Hebes/Heebs “O hai!” My response is dude, whatever. If you want to ask when ethnic slurs are appropriate, please don’t create it in this context, asking if what she did was so terrible, because in this case, the word in question was definitely a slur, as it came from a super troll. If you want to have the slur discussion, have it, but don’t be like “Why was this thread closed? When is it okay to use slurs here?” It’s definitely not okay when coming from posters like her. And, fwiw, the ‘r’ and ‘t’ being so close together on the keyboard isn’t ordinarily a problem, but it sure as shit as making the word ‘slur’ difficult to type for me. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/44 "2012-09-19T07:31:07Z")
I always thought Hebe was a pretty good-looking Chinese singer (image search it). Good thing nobody asked me if I like Hebe. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/45 "2012-09-19T13:57:23Z")
Hebe (pronounced with two syllables) is also the [Greek goddess of youth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebe_%28mythology%29). Referring to her would be unlikely to result in getting a warning. (Reconsiders: Do I really want to throw down that gauntlet? Oh, what the hell.) ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/46 "2012-09-19T14:21:47Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Unlike the other two words though, I’ve never heard a Jewish person use it affectionately or make any attempt at “reclaiming” it. I have, and I was actually thinking of Heeb magazine as well, which someone already mentioned (and which had a print edition until a couple years ago). ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/47 "2012-09-19T15:36:25Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Whoa, whoa… It’s always okay to use sluts… Oh thank god. I got really sad for a minute there. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/48 "2012-09-19T16:33:59Z")
Nothing to new to add, but will re-emphasize (and, trust me, I’m Jewish) that ‘Hebe’ is not unlike the ‘n-word’. That is, yes, it _is_ used among members of the tribe but when spoken by a non-Jew it’s almost always considered derogatory at best. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/49 "2012-09-19T18:56:14Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I grew up in an area with a fair portion of Jews. I don’t remember hearing anyone use “Hebe” there, and first remember hearing it on TV from Archie Bunker. It came across as a bit crude and impolite, but not mean and derogatory like “kike.” I came in to mention the Archie Bunker references. IMO, it was a slur, though he respected the professionalism of his attorneys – “… Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz, and Sons, seven savage Jews that’ll pick your bones clean.” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/50 "2012-09-19T20:16:54Z")
I (and my wife) obviously are hold a minority view on this. (“Racial”, “Religious”, “Ethnic” it’s all the same to me. In 44 years in Quebec I have gotten used to everyone mixing up those words all the time.) Perhaps, as one poster suggested, it is something that Jews can freely use among themselves that outsiders cannot. Still there are real slurs, e.g. the k-word, that I would never, ever use. Anyway, I asked a question and it is answered so I wouldn’t mind seeing this closed. ---
**Author:** ![Freakenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b782af/32.png) [@Freakenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freakenstein)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/51 "2012-09-19T21:25:43Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Hebe (pronounced with two syllables) is also the [Greek goddess of youth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebe_%28mythology%29). That was My first thought, but I’m not Jewish and I may even not know any ( it’s not My business anyway ). > [@Emiliana](#): > > Be a bummer of a first name (e.g. Hebe de Bonafini). In Finland ‘Kike’ is usual nickname for very common female names ‘Kirsi’ or Kirsti’ and of course there’s [‘Kike’ Elomaa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kike_Elomaa) and she’s pretty right wing for a Finn ( in The U.S. she’d still be ‘a commie’ ). The Jewish connection AFAIK is almost unknown, so if some Finn tries to log here with a username Kike, she might do it perfectly innocently. It’s pronounced differently anyway - like ki(ck)-ke(vin). I think [Enrique Sola](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Sola) is similar case. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/52 "2012-09-19T22:03:29Z")
“Kike” (pronounced more or less Kee-kay) is also a fairly common nickname in Spanish, such as National Geographic photographer [Kike Calvo.](http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/experts/kike-calvo/detail) I’m surprised he doesn’t use a different spelling, since he’s based in New York. Sometimes here in Panama you see big billboards that say _KIKE!_ because that’s the nickname of a local politician. It still makes me do a double take. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/53 "2012-09-19T22:12:14Z")
So if someone is only attracted to Jews, are they a Hebeophile? \>\_\> d&r ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/54 "2012-09-20T05:12:02Z")
Dopers, smartest message board posters in the world, of course they told of _Heeb_ magazine and the Greek goddess of youth before I even saw the thread let alone got a chance to post. Good job, chaverim. Just want to [reiterate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=3056666&highlight=Jews#post3056666) [as I’ve done before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/report.php?p=11937657): The word _Jew_ is perfectly legitimate and non-derogatory _as a noun_. The noun part is important. Just don’t use it as a verb or adjective, because that makes it a slur. This is an objectively verifiable fact of the English language, and you don’t have to be Jewish to know that. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/55 "2012-09-20T07:46:43Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Just want to [reiterate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=3056666&highlight=Jews#post3056666) [as I’ve done before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/report.php?p=11937657): The word _Jew_ is perfectly legitimate and non-derogatory _as a noun_. The noun part is important. Just don’t use it as a verb or adjective, because that makes it a slur. This is an objectively verifiable fact of the English language, and you don’t have to be Jewish to know that. “You know, I was having lunch with some guys from NBC, so I said, ‘Did you eat yet or what?’ And Tom Christie said, ‘No, JEW?’ Not ‘Did you?’…JEW eat? JEW? You get it? JEW eat?” – _Annie Hall_ (1977) ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/56 "2012-09-20T10:09:24Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Hebe (pronounced with two syllables) is also the [Greek goddess of youth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebe_%28mythology%29). > > Referring to her would be unlikely to result in getting a warning. (Reconsiders: Do I really want to throw down that gauntlet? Oh, what the hell.) Greeks have a goddess of youth? I thought the popularity of youth was relatively… young. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/57 "2012-09-20T10:55:39Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Greeks have a goddess of youth? I thought the popularity of youth was relatively… young. Tell that to Ganymede, Zeus’ catamite and a symbol of the “popularity of youth” [to some ancient Greeks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretan_pederasty). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/58 "2012-09-20T11:54:40Z")
So it’s OK if I start a GQ thread entitled “Any luck with [hebes](http://www.perryhillnurseries.co.uk/Catalogue/Shrubs/Hebe.htm)?”? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/59 "2012-09-20T13:24:24Z")
Just to add another vote, I’m Jewish and definitely consider “Hebe” to be an insult. Not quite as bad as “kike,” but only in the sense that “jungle bunny” is not quite as bad as “nigger.” And while blacks sometimes do use “nigger” to each other, I have NEVER heard anyone Jewish use the term “Hebe” to another Jew. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Mods, I have another and different issue to pick about this (and other) banishments, not revolving around the actual merits or the banning itself, but regarding the habit of issuing a warning and then banning without further notice. I’m not sure exactly what your issue is, but generally speaking\*, we don’t ban until someone has (a) racked up multiple warnings for the same (or similar) offenses; (b) had a period of suspension; and (c) continues the misbehavior. In this instance, we followed protocol: **cynyc** has received many warnings, was supsended for a month back in June, and continued the inappropriate behaviors. - There are obvious exceptions, like spammers, who get insta-ban. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098/60 "2012-09-20T14:12:14Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Just to add another vote, I’m Jewish and definitely consider “Hebe” to be an insult. Not quite as bad as “kike,” but only in the sense that “jungle bunny” is not quite as bad as “nigger.” And while blacks sometimes do use “nigger” to each other, I have NEVER heard anyone Jewish use the term “Hebe” to another Jew.. This matches my experience as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hebe-a-racial-slur/635098.md?page=4)