# Why Jew"ish"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 11, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020 "2011-02-11T14:06:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/1 "2011-02-11T14:06:14Z")
It almost sounds insulting, like you’re saying the person is like a Jew but not quite. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other race, religions or cultures that end in “ish”. Is it related to or of the same origin as Yidd"ish"? ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/2 "2011-02-11T14:09:46Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > It almost sounds insulting, like you’re saying the person is like a Jew but not quite. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other race, religions or cultures that end in “ish”. Is it related to or of the same origin as Yidd"ish"? Brit-ish, Ir-ish, Scot-ish, Engl-ish… [-ish suffix](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-ish) ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/3 "2011-02-11T14:11:51Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > It almost sounds insulting, like you’re saying the person is like a Jew but not quite. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other race, religions or cultures that end in “ish”. Is it related to or of the same origin as Yidd"ish"? I’m English and I’m also British, I know people that are Scottish, Irish, Danish and Swedish as well. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/4 "2011-02-11T14:11:56Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Brit-ish, Ir-ish, Scot-ish… :smack: OK, the top of my head is pretty shallow. So, why Brit-ish, etc? Have we bastardized the “ish” to mean “like”? ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/5 "2011-02-11T14:12:19Z")
Scottish? Swedish? Finnish? Danish? And if we’re not requiring that the “-ish” is added to a noun designating the person, there’s Spanish, Irish, and so on. Or did I misunderstand? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/6 "2011-02-11T14:14:22Z")
So it’s a European thing? ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/7 "2011-02-11T14:16:33Z")
Spanish, Turkish, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Polish, Cornish? Wiktionary [says](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ish) it’s Proto-Indo-European, which is a mouthful but makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/8 "2011-02-11T14:18:18Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > :smack: OK, the top of my head is pretty shallow. So, why Brit-ish, etc? Have we bastardized the “ish” to mean “like”? -ish just comes from the old English suffix used to form collective. Someone from Spain is therefore Spainish. Now it’s used to indicate likeness in an approximate way, so we might say “Portugal is a bit Spain-ish”. In Kent there’s a tradition that anyone born on the west side of the River Meadway is a Man of Kent and anyone born on the east side is a Kentish man (presumably you have to be male). ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/9 "2011-02-11T14:19:15Z")
Stylish, freakish, boorish, hawkish, standoffish, ghoulish… ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/10 "2011-02-11T14:25:38Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > :smack: OK, the top of my head is pretty shallow. So, why Brit-ish, etc? Have we bastardized the “ish” to mean “like”? > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > So it’s a European thing? _sigh_ There was a link in the first post after your OP that answered your question. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/11 "2011-02-11T14:28:25Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > _sigh_ > > There was a link in the first post after your OP that answered your question. That was the result of an edit. I didn’t go back and reread the post. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/12 "2011-02-11T14:28:54Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > _sigh_ > > There was a link in the first post after your OP that answered your question. To be fair, I edited that link in later… :o ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/13 "2011-02-11T15:56:08Z")
And “Yiddish”, etymologically, _is_ “Jewish”…Yid (a pejorative now), from German Jude, “Jew”. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/14 "2011-02-11T16:34:23Z")
Lots of responses, but no one addressed this part of the OP: > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I can’t think of any other race, religions or cultures that end in “ish”. No one has mentioned races, like Blackish or Aboriginish. Or cultures like Arabish or Deafish. Or even religions, like Buddhish or Baptish. All we have are nationalities, like Polish and Finnish. Could this be an argument for Jewish being a nationality? ---
**Author:** ![Godinama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@Godinama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godinama)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/15 "2011-02-11T16:47:39Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Lots of responses, but no one addressed this part of the OP:No one has mentioned races, like Blackish or Aboriginish. Or cultures like Arabish or Deafish. Or even religions, like Buddhish or Baptish. > > All we have are nationalities, like Polish and Finnish. Could this be an argument for Jewish being a nationality? What about Kurdish? ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/16 "2011-02-11T16:59:19Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > All we have are nationalities, like Polish and Finnish. Could this be an argument for Jewish being a nationality? From _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_, quote is off the cuff from memory. “{Bloody Moors.} Aziz – what kind of a name is that? Welsh?” “Moorish!” ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/17 "2011-02-11T17:02:21Z")
I would argue that eg Polish and Turkish are ethnicities, and Jewish can be an ethnicity (although it isn’t necessarily). ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/18 "2011-02-11T17:06:47Z")
Go fish! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/19 "2011-02-11T17:11:09Z")
Jewesque ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/20 "2011-02-11T17:18:43Z")
You could call a new convert a “Jewbie”… “You lit the candle for the wrong night, ya jewb!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020.md?page=2)