# Is philistine a permitted insult on the board? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 28, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197 "2017-03-28T03:49:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/1 "2017-03-28T03:49:35Z")
I mean in the Pit. One has to be so careful about racist undertones in words and I wondered about this one. The Philistines themselves of course are long gone (although I’m sure their bloodline survives in the Middle East) but Palestine is still very much with us and I wondered how a Palestinian might feel about the term which is after all a derogatory one. I see there’s some debate on the net over this although I can’t find any consensus on it. BTW I have no plans on using the insult myself at present so this is just idle curiosity on my part. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/2 "2017-03-28T03:55:43Z")
I once called someone a Neanderthal, but that was before I realized most of us are part Neanderthal! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/3 "2017-03-28T05:05:32Z")
My Near-East Archaeology side, based on happenings 2000+ years ago, lost interest the present day reared its ugly head. Anybody who bases his nativist definition on people who lived back then is fooling himself regarding who Grandma and Grandpa were fucking. Footnotes: I actually have a degree in this shit. Much like ourselves, our ancestors would sleep with whomever didn’t say no. OR! Philistine was a physical culture. Don’t mean shit, genetically, who bought into it. Can’t be racist. However, as an artistic insult, we mostly know who it covers. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/4 "2017-03-28T05:13:30Z")
And, FTR, it doesn’t refer to any primitive, but to anybody half of the SDMB finds a worthwhile artist. For the rest of us, Thomas Kinkaid was a philistine. No insult to any resident of Philistia intended. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/5 "2017-03-28T06:42:37Z")
How about Luddite? ---
**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:** [March 28, 2017, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/6 "2017-03-28T08:17:57Z")
There’s no cultural continuity between Philistines and Palestinians. Anyone who took offence would be doing it recreationally, not seriously. It’d be like the Swedish objecting to the existence of the Goth music genre… ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/7 "2017-03-28T10:33:19Z")
Certainly could be an insult if it was intended to be. Then again so could “Angel” and “Beautiful”. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/8 "2017-03-28T10:40:14Z")
Also, can’t call someone a cretin in case it might insult people from Crete. That’s not the etymology, but Intent Isn’t Magic. Also racist? Vandal, barbarian, and “filthy stinking moabite dog.” Damn those Moabites. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/9 "2017-03-28T11:55:48Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > And, FTR, it doesn’t refer to any primitive, but to anybody half of the SDMB finds a worthwhile artist. For the rest of us, Thomas Kinkaid was a philistine. No insult to any resident of Philistia intended. The ironic thing is that the rather than being primitive, the Philistines were advanced for their time. They had better metals, better weapons, and better booze. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/10 "2017-03-28T12:39:27Z")
I once had a patient named Philistine. Really. And she had a son named Eunuch. Really and truly. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/11 "2017-03-28T14:42:21Z")
So the family apparently read the Bible. Understanding it, though, seems to be a different story. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/12 "2017-03-28T14:45:43Z")
I have used it in jest on the board. From an historical novel, I believe by Cecilia Holland, for a dandy, smart alec person. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/13 "2017-03-28T20:07:16Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Anyone who took offence would be doing it recreationally, not seriously. It’d be like the Swedish objecting to the existence of the Goth music genre… Or the Minnesota Vikings. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/14 "2017-03-29T22:07:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Also, can’t call someone a cretin in case it might insult people from Crete. That’s not the etymology, but Intent Isn’t Magic. Also racist? Vandal, barbarian, and “filthy stinking moabite dog.” > > Damn those Moabites. I went to college with a woman of Cretan descent. She didn’t object to our use of the word ‘cretin,’ but she insisted that we pronounce it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/15 "2017-03-30T01:08:56Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I went to college with a woman of Cretan descent. She didn’t object to our use of the word ‘cretin,’ but she insisted that we pronounce it correctly. Is it pronounced “FIL-i-steen”? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/16 "2017-03-30T03:04:06Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I once had a patient named Philistine. > > Really. > > And she had a son named Eunuch. > > Really and truly. I call some doozies for my job and am not allowed to laugh. The other day I called a Delores Head. Husband’s name is Dick. Apparently at no point in his life did he insist that people call him Rick. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/17 "2017-03-30T06:04:27Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I went to college with a woman of Cretan descent. She didn’t object to our use of the word ‘cretin,’ but she insisted that we pronounce it correctly. Nor did she have grounds for objection. The word has nothing at all to do with the island of Crete. It’s actually from the word Christian and initially signified a ‘class of dwarfed and deformed idiots found in certain valleys of the Alps and elsewhere’ before acquiring its more general sense of fool. Here’s OED: > [@](#): > > cretin, n. > > Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈkrɛt(ɪ)n/, U.S. /ˈkritn/ > > Etymology: \< French crétin (in Encycl. 1754), \< Swiss patois crestin , creitin \< Latin Christiānum Christian adj. and n., which in the modern Romanic languages (as sometimes dial. in English) means ‘human creature’ as distinguished from the brutes; the sense being here that these beings are really human, though so deformed physically and mentally. (Compare natural.) So, according to Hatzfeld and Darmesteter, the Cagots are called in Bearnese crestiaas. > > One of a class of dwarfed and specially deformed idiots found in certain valleys of the Alps and elsewhere. Also in weakened sense (esp. in form crétin): a fool, one who behaves stupidly. Also attrib. and transf. > > 1779 W. Coxe in Ann. Reg. ii. 92 (note) , The species of idiots I have mentioned…who are described by many authors as peculiar to the Vallais, are called Cretins. > > 1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 239 The Cretin is hardly a human being…They have all immense heads and more immense goitres. > > 1884 W. James Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) 270 Bodily commotions…may be experienced in their fulness by Crétins and Philistines in whom the critical judgment is at its lowest ebb. That surprised me too. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/18 "2017-03-30T14:49:33Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > How about Luddite? Name originating from Ned Ludd of Leicestershire, England – the alleged founder of the workers’ anti-mechanisation movement of roughly two centuries ago. Might upset present-day bearers of that surname, I suppose… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/19 "2017-03-30T15:29:38Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > Name originating from Ned Ludd of Leicestershire, England – the alleged founder of the workers’ anti-mechanisation movement of roughly two centuries ago. Might upset present-day bearers of that surname, I suppose… How would they know? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197/20 "2017-03-30T18:02:49Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I once had a patient named Philistine. > > Really. > > And she had a son named Eunuch. > > Really and truly. I was going to ask what they named the grandchildren, but I realized the question would be like the son - it never would come up. Regards, Shodan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-philistine-a-permitted-insult-on-the-board/783197.md?page=2)