Is the term "Jew" offensive to Jewish people? [Archive]

Daliman

02-03-2005, 04:09 AM

I'm thinking it only is if said/meant with contempt, but I can't really be sure. The "niggardly" thread made me think of this.

Also, I was at a company outing for my wife's work and was talking to one of her bosses,(liquor was in abundance, btw), and had mentioned winning a karaoke contest singing "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" by Leo Sayer, but I dressed like The Saturday Night Fever Bee Gee's(everyone thinks that's who it is anyways..), down to the chestal merkin and all. Anyways, I said I couldn't really dress up like Sayer as most wouldn't know what he looked like, and that a proper "jewfro" wig would be hard to come by. Now, I was relatively sure her boss wasn't jewish, nor the black man also listening in, and they thought it was pretty funny, yet my wife was horrified. I didn't say it with contempt or anything like it, and they didn't have a problem with it anyways, but I had always wondered if a jewish person WAS there, am I in the wrong?

Also, is "jewfro" bad? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

P.S. For the poll, I couldn't find a single translation dictionary for hebrew/english online. When I was looking for a Klingon to English dictionary, I found about 20 of them online..

(ok, time for Daliman to get in trouble...)

I guess that means even though the Jews control The business world and Hollywood, THey got nothing on the Klingons when it comes to the internet.... /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

BusterStacks

02-03-2005, 04:11 AM

If "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has taught me anything, its ok to say jew.

eric5148

02-03-2005, 04:15 AM

Jman28

02-03-2005, 04:19 AM

I think you're okay here. I'm Jewish and have no problem with "Jewfro." I can even grow one.

I think that any minority doesn't really like it when people refer to them differently than others (i.e. "I was hanging out with two Jews and a black guy" vs. "I was hanging out with three dudes") but I believe "Jewish person" is more socially acceptable than "Jew."

I personally wouldn't be offended if you said "Jew", unless it was in a situation where someone was cheap, and you referred to them as "such a Jew."

-Jman28

Daliman

02-03-2005, 04:33 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I think you're okay here. I'm Jewish and have no problem with "Jewfro." I can even grow one.

I think that any minority doesn't really like it when people refer to them differently than others (i.e. "I was hanging out with two Jews and a black guy" vs. "I was hanging out with three dudes") but I believe "Jewish person" is more socially acceptable than "Jew."

I personally wouldn't be offended if you said "Jew", unless it was in a situation where someone was cheap, and you referred to them as "such a Jew."

-Jman28

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya, that's obvious. I do say that kinda thing at times, but only to good friends who are Jewish as a joke. Gotta pick yer spots.

housenuts

02-03-2005, 04:37 AM

new york jews in iceland

Daliman

02-03-2005, 04:38 AM

[ QUOTE ]
new york jews in iceland

[/ QUOTE ]

???

SuitedSixes

02-03-2005, 04:39 AM

"Jewfro" is not offensive, karaoke is.

_2000Flushes

02-03-2005, 04:47 AM

[ QUOTE ]
"Jewfro" is not offensive, karaoke is.

[/ QUOTE ]
Awesome.

-2kF

Daliman

02-03-2005, 05:00 AM

[ QUOTE ]
"Jewfro" is not offensive, karaoke is.

[/ QUOTE ]

Only if you suck at it. I, for one, am a Karaoke GOD!

Kinda like being the tallest midget, but it WAS worth about $4g's to me last year, plus netted me a wife.

bisonbison

02-03-2005, 05:20 AM

Jewfro isn't bad, it's funny. "jew" as a verb is really fuc[/b]king lame.

pokerswami

02-03-2005, 05:43 AM

The terms for your missing hairdo are "Hebro" (rhymes with afro) and "Jewdo" (rhymes with hairdo).

eric5148

02-03-2005, 05:51 AM

Loveline caller: I'm expecting a baby in 2 months

Adam Corolla: Have you named it?

caller: No, I can't decide, because I hate normal American names, I want something different, something more... ethnic.

Adam: Ethnic? How about Jewboy?

tek

02-03-2005, 08:00 AM

Is the term Goy offensive to non-Jews? I hope not because that's what we call you guys (when you're not around...) /images/graemlins/grin.gif

zephed56

02-03-2005, 08:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Loveline caller: I'm expecting a baby in 2 months

Adam Corolla: Have you named it?

caller: No, I can't decide, because I hate normal American names, I want something different, something more... ethnic.

Adam: Ethnic? How about Jewboy?

[/ QUOTE ]
DREW: You're Gay!
Ha ha, just kiddin, hope you get it.

spamuell

02-03-2005, 10:31 AM

Is the term Goy offensive to non-Jews? I hope not because that's what we call you guys (when you're not around...) /images/graemlins/grin.gif

It's pretty offensive and I don't think you should use it. It means cattle in the bible. Do you use yok? What about sheigetz?

I don't think Jew as a noun is offensive but I prefer not to use it, just like I wouldn't call someone "a gay" as if that defines who they are rather than just being part of who they are. Yeah, adjectives are better.

Zygote

02-03-2005, 10:40 AM

Words are innate. Context is everything.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 10:45 AM

Re: Goy It means cattle in the bible.

No it doesn't.

Goy is the ancient hebrew word for "nation" It's synonymous with the modern word "Am" (Um), "people", as in "Am YisRa'el" - the People of Israel. As in, there's the Jews (who are one nation) and then there's the rest of the "nations".

In the bible, in fact, it refers to Jews as a goy too - There's a line regarding God's miracles and the rhetorical question is asked "Has anyone ever tried to take one nation and remove them from the middle of another nation?" (Dvarim 4:33) referring to the Exodus from Egypt; Google "Charlton Heston")

In hebrew, it says something like "goy mi'goy" - "a nation from a nation".

In modern America, however, it's become an us and them word for people who like to separate themselves from others. It's like "I went to the Jackie Mason Festival, wow there were a lot of goys there." or "I hope my daughter stops dating that goy and finds a nice Jewish boy".

Kinda offensive, but more like I just wish I could stay in my little Jew-ghetto and let everyone else go about their business.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 10:57 AM

Thanks, Buster

I'm a Jew. End of story.

lucas9000

02-03-2005, 11:31 AM

i hate that this pole requires voting to view the results. i'm not jewish, so i can't vote. but, i am genuinely curious as to the results.

no big deal really, but it's a bit annoying.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 11:35 AM

45 total votes, 6% YES 60% NO 33% MEH

Nottom

02-03-2005, 11:44 AM

I think its ok as a noun and frowned upon as a verb.

Voltron87

02-03-2005, 12:03 PM

I think most of the time the noun form is ok, mostly when used to aviod saying "Jewish person", which is unwieldy. Here is one where it probably should be avoided:

(It's Chanukah season)

Person 1: Have you seen Adam Goldstein around today?

The reply should not be "No, he's a Jew" but rather "No he's Jewish".

The verb form is almost never acceptable.

Beerfund

02-03-2005, 12:25 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Person 1: Have you seen Adam Goldstein around today?

The reply should not be "No, he's a Jew" but rather "No he's Jewish".

The verb form is almost never acceptable.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is the dumbest example you could have possibly used.

Voltron87

02-03-2005, 12:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Person 1: Have you seen Adam Goldstein around today?

The reply should not be "No, he's a Jew" but rather "No he's Jewish".

The verb form is almost never acceptable.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is the dumbest example you could have possibly used.

[/ QUOTE ]

isn't that the point... meh it wasn't worth the time.

maryfield48

02-03-2005, 12:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
i hate that this pole requires voting to view the results.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't you mean "Polack"?

Daliman

02-03-2005, 12:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Person 1: Have you seen Adam Goldstein around today?

The reply should not be "No, he's a Jew" but rather "No he's Jewish".

The verb form is almost never acceptable.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is the dumbest example you could have possibly used.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. I agree with Beerfund... 3rd sign of the Apocalypse, I think.

ethan

02-03-2005, 12:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I think its ok as a noun and frowned upon as a verb.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea. "Jew" is not a verb. "Gyp" shouldn't be, either.

chabibi

02-03-2005, 01:01 PM

i prefer the term heeb

daryn

02-03-2005, 02:25 PM

<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
I think its ok as a noun and frowned upon as a verb.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea. "Jew" is not a verb. "Gyp" shouldn't be, either.

[/ QUOTE ]

man you guys are uptight.

tek

02-03-2005, 02:31 PM

Ok, we also call non-Jewish women Shiksas. Give us the history of that word.

pshreck

02-03-2005, 02:33 PM

Jew is an acceptable term. It is all about context. Lots of the time it is used in a negative manner, and therefore offensive.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 02:39 PM

That's about as offensive as it gets.

Sheigetz is a Hebrew word that basically means "scandal".

Shiksa is Yiddish for a woman who creates scandals. i.e. when they marry a Jewish man and "steal" a man away from the Jewish community. a.k.a. "whore".

I, for one, don't use the word "shiksa", although I am against intermarriage.

However, a goy (!) who marries a Jew and decides s/he wants to be Jewish, I'm all for that. As long as his/her motivation is the community itself, and not just to be accepted/get married.

chabibi

02-03-2005, 02:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
That's about as offensive as it gets.

[/ QUOTE ]
worse than shiksa at least

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 02:49 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think its ok as a noun and frowned upon as a verb.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea. "Jew" is not a verb. "Gyp" shouldn't be, either.

[/ QUOTE ]

man you guys are uptight.

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on man, how would you like to hear your tribe used in such a context?

Next time a guy gets killed by organized crime I'll ask why he dago-ed his life away.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 02:51 PM

What? He's gay. he's a faygele.

I don't see this one. Faygeleh is Yiddish for "baby bird". Kinda implies effimininity.

ethan

02-03-2005, 02:52 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think its ok as a noun and frowned upon as a verb.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea. "Jew" is not a verb. "Gyp" shouldn't be, either.

[/ QUOTE ]

man you guys are uptight.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. Been awhile since anyone called me that. You think it's unreasonable not to want the name of your culture/ethnicity to be a synonym for cheating or stealing? I dunno, makes a lot of sense to me.

tek

02-03-2005, 02:52 PM

My fiance (whom I refer to as The Shiksa) has funny stories from when she goes out for drinks with co-workers and clients.

They know I'm Jewish and say things like she's Jewish by injection and she must get good deals on stuff. They ask her about the differences between R, C and O's. One person said I must be a good lover because I'm circumcised /images/graemlins/confused.gif

I told her way back that I appreciate her acting alive during sex, not going over overdo home repairs and not having to go shopping after /images/graemlins/grin.gif

chabibi

02-03-2005, 02:56 PM

you said so yourself

its all about context

daryn

02-03-2005, 02:57 PM

<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
I think its ok as a noun and frowned upon as a verb.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea. "Jew" is not a verb. "Gyp" shouldn't be, either.

[/ QUOTE ]

man you guys are uptight.

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on man, how would you like to hear your tribe used in such a context?

Next time a guy gets killed by organized crime I'll ask why he dago-ed his life away.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is exactly my point, i don't care, and don't see why anyone else would. why would i say "man you guys are uptight" if i was gonna get upset if someone slurred my race/nationality?

also, in case you didn't know, organized crime is/was a big part of italian culture in italy and U.S. and the mafia originated in sicily, where my family is from.

some things are said for a reason.

Sponger15SB

02-03-2005, 03:03 PM

chabibi

02-03-2005, 03:09 PM

organized crime was also a big part of american jewish culture so you can always say the same thing back to gamblor

daryn

02-03-2005, 03:16 PM

<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
organized crime was also a big part of american jewish culture so you can always say the same thing back to gamblor

[/ QUOTE ]

well i'm sure organized crime has its place in many different cultures, russian, many ORIENTAL cultures /images/graemlins/shocked.gif, etc.

Shajen

02-03-2005, 03:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
...although I am against intermarriage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh?

craig r

02-03-2005, 03:26 PM

I think connotation is very important.

Also, somebody mentioned that "Goy" is offensive. I can't remember why it is, but I know it is a derogatory term. I am Jewish and never use this word to describe "non-jews."

craig

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 03:35 PM

The next time i pay for my pizza with a couple of rolled up tens (not TT(x)) and some delivery boy suggests that I may Jew him on the tip I just might Jew him on the tip.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 03:36 PM

intermarriage: Jew marrying non-Jew.

chabibi

02-03-2005, 03:41 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The next time i pay for my pizza with a couple of rolled up tens (not TT(x)) and some delivery boy suggests that I may Jew him on the tip I just might Jew him on the tip.

[/ QUOTE ]
has this ever really happened?

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 03:42 PM

Yes.

chabibi

02-03-2005, 03:46 PM

there would be a dead pizza man at my house

was it one of the pizza pizza guys
a lot are arabs and hate jews IMO

daryn

02-03-2005, 04:38 PM

<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
The next time i pay for my pizza with a couple of rolled up tens (not TT(x)) and some delivery boy suggests that I may Jew him on the tip I just might Jew him on the tip.

[/ QUOTE ]

you mean (TT)T

daryn

02-03-2005, 04:39 PM

<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
there would be a dead pizza man at my house

was it one of the pizza pizza guys
a lot are arabs and hate jews IMO

[/ QUOTE ]

see this is just dumb. i still say that if you would get THAT upset over something like that, it says a lot about you, and a lot less about the guy using that term.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 04:40 PM

No no not here it happened at a hockey tournament in Detroit like 10 years ago.

We ordered late night pizza to the hotel after getting absolutely trashed (my coach at one point, who also is the father of one of the players, was telling us how much he loved eating out his wife. this story has been rehashed 1000x among the guys who stay in touch). I went out to the front to pick up the pizza, and the guy shows up to the hotel, and over his huge motorola startac cellphone, goes "yeah he jewed me on the tip". I didn't know what to say so I tipped him anyway, but the second I went back inside I was ready to cut his brake line.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 04:43 PM

touche

daryn

02-03-2005, 04:46 PM

<blockquote>In risposta di:<hr />
No no not here it happened at a hockey tournament in Detroit like 10 years ago.

We ordered late night pizza to the hotel after getting absolutely trashed (my coach at one point, who also is the father of one of the players, was telling us how much he loved eating out his wife. this story has been rehashed 1000x among the guys who stay in touch). I went out to the front to pick up the pizza, and the guy shows up to the hotel, and over his huge motorola startac cellphone, goes "yeah he jewed me on the tip". I didn't know what to say so I tipped him anyway, but the second I went back inside I was ready to cut his brake line.

[/ QUOTE ]

the thing is, you know what he meant. do you really think that guy hates jews? it's all about intent. to get that worked up over some dumb comment is just plain silly.

i'm starting to think it's even SILLIER to get worked up over it if the guy is actually an anti-semitic jew-hater! because then, who cares what some obvious [censored] thinks!

life is too short to get worked up over the opinions of obvious idiots.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 04:47 PM

Jews have a strong sense of community, as do Italians IIRC.

Dude can call me whatever he wants. but next time he sees a jew, that jew's gonna get the short end of the stick in any dealings with delivery boy.

how would you feel if you had a once in a lifetime opportunity and needed this particular business partner, but someone wouldn't go into business with you cause he later found out you were a "wop" (suppose your last name wasn't as obvious).

I know im reaching but still.

Gamblor

02-03-2005, 04:50 PM

maybe im just a sensitive little girl

i still bang bitches

Shajen

02-03-2005, 04:50 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Jews have a strong sense of community, as do Italians IIRC.

Dude can call me whatever he wants. but next time he sees a jew, that jew's gonna get the short end of the stick in any dealings with delivery boy.

how would you feel if you had a once in a lifetime opportunity and needed this particular business partner, but someone wouldn't go into business with you cause he later found out you were a "wop" (suppose your last name wasn't as obvious).

I know im reaching but still.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not tryin to answer for Daryn, but this type of person in your scenario isn't someone I'd want to be in business with.

ricochet420

02-03-2005, 05:10 PM

I haven't read the thread yet...

I am inclined to believe, if it is something you would gladly and knowingly say to ones face, in this case the jewish person, then it is fine, if they get upset with it, it's on them. However I am only half jew, and by marriage alone, on my grandfather's cousins side, so......

p.s
what is IIRC

ricochet420

02-03-2005, 05:13 PM

Not at all. Hell, I like cracker too. I got my kids calling me cracker daddy!!!!

[ QUOTE ]
Is the term Goy offensive to non-Jews? I hope not because that's what we call you guys (when you're not around...) /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

ricochet420

02-03-2005, 05:14 PM

I agree.

[ QUOTE ]
Words are innate. Context is everything.

[/ QUOTE ]

ricochet420

02-03-2005, 05:16 PM

I second that.
[ QUOTE ]
i hate that this pole requires voting to view the results. i'm not jewish, so i can't vote. but, i am genuinely curious as to the results.

no big deal really, but it's a bit annoying.

[/ QUOTE ]

maryfield48

02-03-2005, 05:53 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I agree.

[ QUOTE ]
Words are innate. Context is everything.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for reminding me to ask. WTF does "words are innate" mean?

Steve McQueen

02-04-2005, 02:15 AM

Depends on context.

It's generally more appropriate to use Jewish when you want an adjective, ie I'm going to a Jewish service. Not a "Jew service". Jewish is the adjective, Jew is the noun.

And saying things like Jew stack and Jewing him down are anti-semitic imo.

This sentence is appropriate:

He is a Jew.

This is not an appropriate use:

I have to go to this Jew thing tomorrow.

It just sounds derogatory... using this noun as an adjective.

--
Note: I'm not Jewish, but my wife is. She taught me Hebrew, and I'm fluent in it. She also taught me some Torah- so I consider myself more knowledgeable about Judaism than most Jews are.