Really this is a factual question, but I have posted in GD for fear it might cause some excitement.
Any word might be spat out as an epithet. In modern American usage, may I still use the word Jew as a neutral term? My wife cautioned me against it noting the word is no longer playable in Scrabble.
So which is more correct;
“Ä cowboy, a steelworker and a Jew walk into a bar…” or,
“A cowboy, a steelworker and a Jewish person walk into a bar…”
Believe it or not the answer is “It Depends”. It is context driven and to some degree who is saying it and how they’re saying it.
Both your examples have a good chance of being derogatory as two occupations are being contrasted to a religion or ethnicity.
Example from Community:
Annie: Shirley, you are a guilt machine
Pierce: And annie knows a thing or two about guilt, am I right Jew?
Annie: Say the whole word.
Pierce: Jewey?
Troy: You would never catch a Jehovah’s Witness saying “jewey.”
Pierce: It comes with the birthday cake you never got.
or
I personally find it highly offensive, although over the years I’ve seen it used on this board a few times by people who identify as Jewish, and don’t have a problem with it.
Where I grew up my siblings and I were sometimes called this before being beaten up. I’ve also heard it used to mean haggling over a price.
So, just my personal opinion and experience.
Not much of a debate on my end.
Used to mean haggling a price down is of course offensive. No question.
But saying my wife is Jewish which makes my kids Jews shouldn’t be I hope.
“Christian” isn’t in the Scrabble dictionary either.
Here’s a pretty good podcast from On the Media about this exact issue. It covers the history of the word “Jew” in English, alternatives, the difference between its use in-group and out-group, the question of whether gentiles’ avoiding the word is a sign of discomfort with Jew(here I pause trying to figure out whether to end this word with “-s” or “-ish people”, and figure I’ll stick with this noncommittal parenthetical comment), etc.
Different experiences with the word will get you different opinions. I can only speak for myself when I say that hearing the word makes me uncomfortable.
As the OP pointed out tone has a lot to do with it, and I hope your kids never have to hear that word used in anger against them.
I’m a Jew. I don’t think the word is derogatory at all. But when I was harassed as a child, the word was “kike”. The people who called me a Jew were mostly other Jews, and used the word respectfully.
I can attest that I live in a community of Jews who embrace that noun.
I have met Jews who are less comfortable with it. But they would be fine with another Jew calling them that.
I’ve always reacted badly to people who twist to say “Jewish person” when “Jew” is the natural word because, yeah, i think it shows that they think there’s something wrong with being a Jew. But in my mellow middle age, i recognize that there are some Jews who prefer that, and gentiles are in a tough spot.
Used as a verb it is always derogatory. Don’t use “Jew” as a verb unless you want to be an ass.
In addition to what @puzzlegal writes above about using “Jew” as a verb, note that the term is usually considered to be derogatory when used as an adjective. So if you don’t mean to denigrate the referent, don’t say “I heard it from some Jew lawyer”, but rather “I heard it from some Jewish lawyer”.
Agreed. It’s a perfectly cromulent noun, but that’s the only polite form it takes.
I’m a Jew. Always have been. I came into this thread presuming that the OP was asking about using “jew” as a verb, which is certainly derogatory. (But I must admit that as a child, I used the verb “gyp”, and did not learn about its reference to an ethnic group until I was an adult. So I am quite willing to cut slack for people who might honestly not realize what Jews are.)
I am surprised - shocked even - to learn that “Jew” and “Christian” are no longer valid in Scrabble. Can someone please let us know the current Scrabble status of “American” and “Russian”?
I have heard that some people feel “Jewish person” to be preferable to “Jew”. I suspect that this may come from a political correctness that considers “Jew” to be a label, and “Jewish” merely descriptive. I can understand that, and I even agree. I am a Jew; I generally dislike labels, but being a Jew is an essential part of my identity., and I am happy to be one. Other people will feel differently, and they are certainly entitled to that.
I’m a Jew; to be derogatory, say I’m not a Jew.
Which makes me wonder why the lawyer needs a descriptor at all? What does ‘Jewish’ add to the information?
Use your imagination; I provided only minimal context to construct a comprehensible example. The sentence could well occur in some dialogue about a legal matter where ethnicity is relevant.
I believe that “Jew” and “Christian” (as well as “American” and “Russian”) are not valid Scrabble words because they are always capitalized (which is one of the few prohibitions for Scrabble words).
I always remember this because one time when playing, my dad had drawn the first play and his initial rack of boards spelled out our family name so we all agreed that that was worthy of making exceptions to the “common word” and “always capitalized” rules.
Jew is not derogatory when it is a noun. It is derogatory when used as an adjective.
Okay: He is a Jew, and also a lawyer. He is well paid.
Not okay: He is a Jew Lawyer. He makes a lot of Jew money from his job.
And I’d say that a joke that starts "a Jew walks into a bar … " is quite likely to contain an offensive stereotype. Probably best not to say it at all.
Old Rabbi Joke this reminds me of: “is he a Jew?” “Well… he’s Jew-ISH”.
As a secular Jew for who English was not a first language - I generally say “Jewish Person”. I associate people saying Jew with one of two groups:
Chabadnicks, who say it in a celebratory way. Obviously not offensive but always feels old-fashioned to me.
non-Jewish anti-semites.
I feel uncomfortable when people who aren’t Chabad say “Jew” because to me it feels alienating. YMMV.
Eta: and obviously noun is the only part of speech that’s even up for debate.
Many jokes of this sort originate with Jews themselves, and while they may contain stereotypes (often preoccuptions with health, frugality, or annoyances), they are intended as light-hearted self-deprecation, or as a way of making fun at those very stereotypes. There have been entire volumes (scholarly and otherwise) collecting and analyzing this sort of Jewish humour. (You can always check out Wikipedia’s coverage of the topic for an overview and pointers to secondary sources.)
Given this, I’m not sure it makes sense to advise against repeating these jokes simply on the basis that they contain the word “Jew”. Perhaps a better way of assessing the appropriateness would be to ask why you are telling the joke in the first place, and whether the audience is likely to appreciate it in the spirit it was originally intended as opposed to it reinforcing any negative prejudices of theirs.
The same Hebrew word - “Yehudi” - is used both for “Jew” and “Jewish”, so as a Hebrew speaker I don’t really see the distinction between them. That said…
They’re both equally offensive, first because they imply that unlike other people, Jews are defined by their religion and their ethnicity first, and second because they imply that cowboys and steelworkers can’t be Jewish.
Also of course Arabic. Cousins and all that.
Thank you all. I have to admit the use of “jew” as a verb or adjective slipped my mind.
Maybe it’s because Yehudi reminds me of Jewish while Jew reminds me of the Arabic Yahud which is often spat out as a slur.