Re: Self-Use of Ethnic Insults (was: Re: Ebonic Christmas )

On Mon, 17 Jan 2000 22:09:01 +0100 BP Jonsson <bpj@...> writes:
> >I had a Torah
> >teacher freshie-year in highschool who specifically addressed the
> class
> >as "jews!" for a vocative, *in English* even though the class was
> >conducted in Hebrew, for the specific purpose of getting us used to
> the
> >sound of it.  The Hebrew word _yehudim_ sounds completely
> value-neutral.
> But that's insider use!
.

That's why it's unusual that it's still disconcerting.

> BTW it occurred to me today that the fact that _Schikse_ means
> 'whore' in
> German slang suggests a somewhat tarnished usage of the word among
> Yiddish
> speakers in bygone times...  Or am I wrong that the Hebrew etymon of
> the
> word (dang! where *is* that German etymological dictionary?) was
> originally
> value-neutral, just as was _barbaros_ in Greek, or at least more so
> than
> what it has become.
.

In this case, the word's etymology is very much *not* value-neutral.
It comes from the Hebrew word _shiqutz_ or _sheqetz_, which means
something like "disgusting thing" and is used in some Biblical books to
refer to deities of neighboring nations (most of which involved human
sacrifice, if i remember correctly).  It's similarity to the word
_sheretz_, "small creeping animal" probably doesn't help much, either.

> "Buddhist" is hardly value neutral to Buddhists, or to non-Buddhist
> fundamentalists of various descriptions.
.

I just used that as an example because previously someone else had used
it as an example of an ethnic/religious/nationality/etc. name that
doesn't have a built-in shock value.

> /BP
>
>  B.Philip Jonsson  <mailto: bpj@...> <mailto:

-Stephen (Steg)
 "Vorks or miles, it will make no difference when the Stars come out."  ~
_nightfall_