# To Jew someone down **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099 "2004-11-22T13:36:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/21 "2004-11-22T20:53:57Z")
A student in my small boarding school used this phrase routinely as well as maintaining a “J-List” (short for Jew List, natch) of people who owed him money. He was required to research and write an analysis of both terms, incorporating an analysis of _The Merchant of Venice_, along with an epigraph explaining the incident. Oy! ;j ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/22 "2004-11-22T22:40:49Z")
I think we must replace negative ethnic verbs with positive ones. To do my part, I shall italian my girlfriend tonight. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/23 "2004-11-22T23:30:41Z")
> [@](#): > > To do my part, I shall italian my girlfriend tonight. You’re going to throw her into a garden and toss olive oil and herbs at her? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/24 "2004-11-22T23:31:55Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > No. _Jew_ as verb only appears in English in the middle of the 19th century (and I am not aware of it appearing as a verb in other languages). The meaning to haggle with the modifier “down” does not appear for some time after the verb (meaning to cheat) originally appeared. The first appearance of _Jew_ as a verb is in 1818: > [@](#): > > A Yankee can Jew a Jew directly. The first appearance of _Jew down_ is 1848: > [@](#): > > I Jewed old Galloway down to 1.50 for ploughs. Quoting from the 1859 _Bartlett_: > [@](#): > > _To Jew_: To cheat. To _Jew_ a person, is considered, in Western parlance, a shade worse than to “Yankee” him. When someone comes into our retail establishment, and says “can I Jew you down” I always respond, “You mean, can I “Protestant you down?” don’t you” They never get it. Hopefully, it dies out as time goes on. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/25 "2004-11-22T23:36:48Z")
I haven’t been able to afford the new OED. The earlier editions cited 1845 for the earliest date and “Jew down” did not appear. It still does not occur until the 19th century and appears to have no association with Genesis. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/26 "2004-11-22T23:49:33Z")
> [@](#): > > To do my part, I shall italian my girlfriend tonight. You’re gonna give her a large fish wrapped in a bulletproof vest? ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/27 "2004-11-22T23:53:24Z")
I had a similar experience as some of the other posters. Small-town midwestern boy, did not know any Jews growing up or really even what they were. One time, my parents and I were at an appliance store (the type where you haggle over prices, not a Best Buy). I really wanted a radio that I had seen, but my parents told me it was too much money and we left the store. Sitting in the car outside the store, I complained that it was a decent deal, I really wanted it, etc. Seeking to teach me a reasonable lesson about bargaining and negotiation, my father tells me that I can get it if I go back into the store on my own and jew the guy down a bit. Naturally, being the roughly 10 year old kid that I was, I walked back into the store alone, went up to the salesmen, and told him, “My dad says if I can jew you down a bit, I can get the radio.” He was actually very kind, and simply said that he could not come down on the price. Even at that time I recognized that he had a strange look on his face and strange reaction to my question. It was only about 5 or 6 years later that I made the connection. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/28 "2004-11-23T00:00:32Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I haven’t been able to afford the new OED. The earlier editions cited 1845 for the earliest date and “Jew down” did not appear. > > It still does not occur until the 19th century and appears to have no association with Genesis. > > 😉 **tom** (and anyone else who’s reading) I have access to OED on-line through a library. I can access it from home. If you(tom) have a Cleveland Public Library Card, you can too. If you only have a Clevenet access, then I don’t think you can. If you have a connection to Cleveland State, then you have access. Just letting others know they may have access. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/29 "2004-11-23T01:07:39Z")
> [@hlanelee](#): > > I was reading my Bible the other day in Genisis. It’s good to go back to the beginning from time to time. I was on Gen. 18: 16-33, where Abraham was interceding on the part of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abe said, “Will you spare the city if you find 50 righteous men?” > > When God agreed, Abraham went on , “What about 45?” The 30 and at last they settled on 10. God agreed to spare the city for the sake of 10 righteous men. And God muttered to Himself, “What a noodge!” ;j ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/30 "2004-11-23T20:52:46Z")
> [@caveman](#): > > I think we must replace negative ethnic verbs with positive ones. To do my part, I shall italian my girlfriend tonight. You gonna put a horse’s head in her bed? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/31 "2004-11-23T21:24:03Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > I went to Governor’s School when I was in high school. I grew up in a very small town in rural middle/east Tennessee, and I had never knowingly met a Jew in my life. I used the phrase in question in front of a very pretty red-headed girl, who promptly informed me what an clod I was. I had heard the phrase, but I had never seen it written down and had no inkling of the whole Jews-are-tight-fisted-Shylock-moneylenders thing. I thought it would be written “Joo you down” and figured that “Joo” was yet another nonsense word coined by my country cousins, like when my grandmother would yell at me to wear a coat when I went outside lest I catch the “Ep-oo-zoo-dick”. > > Later, I found out that “epizoodic” is like “epidemic”, only among farm animals, and that there was a significant outbreak of a epizoodic during the Depression in East Tennessee. Heh. My grandma used to say “remember the starving Armenians!” whenever we kids were over at her place, and refused to eat our beets or greens. I had no idea what it meant. I’m still a little unclear. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/32 "2004-11-23T22:06:24Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > Later, I found out that “epizoodic” is like “epidemic”, only among farm animals, and that there was a significant outbreak of a epizoodic during the Depression in East Tennessee. My grandpa used to joke about getting the “epizoodies”. I wonder if this is where that came from. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/33 "2004-11-24T07:26:41Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > I’ve never heard this expression. Where’s it been used? _curious_ Apparently you’re too young to remember the controversy over Michael Jackson’s [_They Don’t Care About Us_](http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/2662_12.asp). As an item on [this page](http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9606/public.html) says: > [@](#): > > The Anti-Defamation League continues to be active on many fronts. Last year (1995) it got the Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary to remove the previously allowed words “nigger,” “spic,” “dago,” and “jew” (defined as “to bargain with”). My version of the dictionary has a 1978 copyright, and thus includes the now-excluded words, as well as [dozens of others.](http://home.teleport.com/~stevena/scrabble/expurg.html) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/34 "2004-11-24T08:30:20Z")
> [@caveman](#): > > I think we must replace negative ethnic verbs with positive ones. To do my part, I shall italian my girlfriend tonight. Way ahead of you, though it’s been way too long since I frenched a boy. Or greeked him. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/35 "2004-11-24T08:51:18Z")
**caveman** , I _love_ your idea of replacing negative ethnic verbs with positive ones! That would make a great thread! But first I gotta ask you something. You’re going to throw your girlfriend against the wall to see if she sticks? ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/36 "2004-11-24T12:22:39Z")
How strange: > [@](#): > > The Anti-Defamation League continues to be active on many fronts. Last year (1995) it got the Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary to remove the previously allowed words “nigger,” “spic,” “dago,” and “jew” (defined as “to bargain with”). I always assumed that official Scrabble words were basically the dictionary with proper nouns ommitted. Looks like it’s a sanitised version of the dictionary. As for the OP, I’ve never ever heard that expression. Maybe it’s an American thing. ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/37 "2004-11-24T12:28:40Z")
Here in Britain we use the OSW. ALL words are allowed. Hell, it’s a word, it exists, you should be able to play it whether someone likes it or not. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/38 "2004-11-24T13:50:40Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > **caveman** , I _love_ your idea of replacing negative ethnic verbs with positive ones! That would make a great thread! But first I gotta ask you something. > > You’re going to throw your girlfriend against the wall to see if she sticks? No, no, no…you’ve all got it wrong…buncha perverts… 😃 I served her my manicotti with some alfredo sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099/39 "2004-11-24T14:36:29Z")
“Eat yet?” “No. Jew?” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-jew-someone-down/276099.md?page=1)