# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/21 "2011-02-12T00:46:29Z")
> [@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? “Jewish” is just as much a “race” as “Polish” or “Finnish”. The adjectives’ application to ethnicities (or races, or cultures, or nations, or whatever you want to call them) usually predate their application to citizenships. Countries tend to be named for their dominant ethnic group, not the other way around. There were Finns before there was a Finland, Uzbeks before there was an Uzbekistan, etc. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/22 "2011-02-12T03:20:55Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > It almost sounds insulting, like you’re saying the person is like a Jew but not quite. “Not the whole hog.” --Jonathan Miller. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/23 "2011-02-12T14:52:45Z")
Flemish. ---
**Author:** ![pollyannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pollyannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pollyannah)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/24 "2015-05-13T19:36:39Z")
I was wondering the same thing. I looked up the root of Jewish, and my question still wasn’t answered. So I put the question in Google, "Why Jew ish, Yid ish, Am ish. There are no countries by these names. Being English only means you’re from England. I don’t feel like the question was answered. I assumed it just happened over time, but I wondered why it became a name that meant one was " like a Jew ". I don’t mean to offend, but was curious. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/25 "2015-05-13T20:44:37Z")
> [@pollyannah](#): > > I assumed it just happened over time, but I wondered why it became a name that meant one was " like a Jew ". Because -ish doesn’t always mean “like a”, it also means “is a”. Someone Swedish is a Swede, not like a swede. Words and parts of words can have multiple meanings. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/26 "2015-05-13T22:00:17Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Flemish. I always clear my throat when I get that. And I’m not a moderator. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/27 "2015-05-13T23:07:37Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > > [@Lust4Life](#): > > > > Flemish. > > I always clear my throat when I get that. > > And I’m not a moderator. 😃 What a Walloon! ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/28 "2015-05-14T00:44:43Z")
> [@pollyannah](#): > > I was wondering the same thing. I looked up the root of Jewish, and my question still wasn’t answered. So I put the question in Google, "Why Jew ish, Yid ish, Am ish. There are no countries by these names. Being English only means you’re from England. I don’t feel like the question was answered. I assumed it just happened over time, but I wondered why it became a name that meant one was " like a Jew ". I don’t mean to offend, but was curious. Other way 'round. England is so called because it’s where the Angles live. The “-ish” suffix indicates “of or belonging to, of the nature or character of”, and there are similar formations in all the Germanic languages. So an individual member of the nation of Angles was English, an individual member of of the nation of the Scots was Scottish, and so forth. Likewise the language associated with the nation of Angles was English. So “Jewish” = of or belonging to, of the nature or character of, Jews. The sense of “_approaching_ the nature or character of, but not quite there” (a reddish colour, we’ll eat around elevenish) is a later development. It only occurs in English. In German the same sense is expressed with the suffix _-lich_. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/29 "2015-05-14T01:04:59Z")
Amish ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/30 "2015-05-14T01:28:06Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > What a Walloon! What an Ultrawalloon! ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/31 "2015-05-14T01:35:52Z")
panache45 season! ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/32 "2015-05-14T02:53:24Z")
It also seems to be the case that in English, it is a little bit more genteel to say someone “is Jewish” rather than “is a Jew”, and similarly for other ethnicity that have an adjectival and noun form. Probably because so many ethnic slurs use the “is an \” form. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/33 "2015-05-14T03:25:21Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > It also seems to be the case that in English, it is a little bit more genteel to say someone “is Jewish” rather than “is a Jew”, and similarly for other ethnicity that have an adjectival and noun form. Probably because so many ethnic slurs use the “is an \” form. That structure is not limited to ethnic slurs, it’s used for insults in general. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/34 "2015-05-14T12:32:56Z")
Zombish, zombieish, or zombyish? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020/35 "2015-05-14T12:52:03Z")
Funny, you don’t look Bluish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-jew-ish/571020.md?page=1)