FacebookTwitter
Hatrack River Forum   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » About a certain Hebrew word...

   
Author Topic: About a certain Hebrew word...
Sid Meier
Member
Member # 6965

 - posted      Profile for Sid Meier   Email Sid Meier         Edit/Delete Post 
Swavertes or something, It's apparently the Hebrew word for Negro/African American but I want to make sure it isn't the "N" word equivilent. So which is it??
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Taalcon
Member
Member # 839

 - posted      Profile for Taalcon   Email Taalcon         Edit/Delete Post 
If its Hebrew, I guarantee it does not mean "African American".
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
rivka
Member
Member # 4859

 - posted      Profile for rivka   Email rivka         Edit/Delete Post 
It simply means "black"; however, common usage is all-too-similar to n-word equivalents.

Don't use it.

Oh, and it's Yiddish, not Hebrew.

Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Sid Meier
Member
Member # 6965

 - posted      Profile for Sid Meier   Email Sid Meier         Edit/Delete Post 
kk thanks for the input.
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jonathan Howard
Member
Member # 6934

 - posted      Profile for Jonathan Howard   Email Jonathan Howard         Edit/Delete Post 
I had no idea about the word. Of course, not being in Hebrew that makes sense... My Yiddish isn't great, after all. And today, except for Haredis, what 15 y.o. Isaeli-born person knows Yiddish sufficiently to read almost everything in that language there was in the Yad-Vashem museum?
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tante Shvester
Member
Member # 8202

 - posted      Profile for Tante Shvester   Email Tante Shvester         Edit/Delete Post 
So what is the appropriate Hebrew word for "Black Folk"?

Falasha?

Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
GaalD
Member
Member # 6222

 - posted      Profile for GaalD   Email GaalD         Edit/Delete Post 
Isn't it kushim? I'm pretty sure it's not a bad word since my dad told me that they call Ethiopian Jews Kushim Yisraelim, or something like that. I've heard though that some people use it as a bad one. If it is, let me know and I'll delete this.
Posts: 853 | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jonathan Howard
Member
Member # 6934

 - posted      Profile for Jonathan Howard   Email Jonathan Howard         Edit/Delete Post 
"Kushim" means people from Kush, in southern Egypt (I'm not even sure they wre black). It means essentially the same as "negro", but it's use is as the use of the "n-word" (is it really that bad to use?) - which derives itself from "negro". If you call them "Kushim Yisraelim" it's probably not going to be well regarded.

But there's no point in deleting it, since you were just inquiring. All it can do it help others now what's not well-regarded. [Smile]

Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tante Shvester
Member
Member # 8202

 - posted      Profile for Tante Shvester   Email Tante Shvester         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
"n-word" (is it really that bad to use?)
Oh yes! Oh my, YES!
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tante Shvester
Member
Member # 8202

 - posted      Profile for Tante Shvester   Email Tante Shvester         Edit/Delete Post 
I instructed my kid to not even think the N-word. I do not think there is a single word in the English language that has a stonger taboo.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jonathan Howard
Member
Member # 6934

 - posted      Profile for Jonathan Howard   Email Jonathan Howard         Edit/Delete Post 
Mier Tante: It's simply that except for Yanks I never heard that word said, just like the k-word (sp?) for the Chosen People.

Adam13: It's almost the same colour... [Wink]

Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tante Shvester
Member
Member # 8202

 - posted      Profile for Tante Shvester   Email Tante Shvester         Edit/Delete Post 
The K-word isn't nearly as bad as the N-word.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jonathan Howard
Member
Member # 6934

 - posted      Profile for Jonathan Howard   Email Jonathan Howard         Edit/Delete Post 
Well, not at the Sabbath table I was invited to... [Smile]
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jonathan Howard
Member
Member # 6934

 - posted      Profile for Jonathan Howard   Email Jonathan Howard         Edit/Delete Post 
<Deleted upon request.>
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tante Shvester
Member
Member # 8202

 - posted      Profile for Tante Shvester   Email Tante Shvester         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm getting very uncomfortable with your dancing around this Jon. Please, let it drop. It is offensive. Please.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Erez
Member
Member # 8282

 - posted      Profile for Erez   Email Erez         Edit/Delete Post 
I don't think the word "kushi" is offensive by itself but can be if you use it in a certain way, like in "hey, kushi, come here", here you reffer to him as black and not as a person which is very offensive. the word "kushon" is a curse since the ending "...on" makes a noun small and inferior to the speaker.

I heard in a movie (the butterfly effect) a curse word which was suppose to mean jews (at least according to the translation), kike or something like that, what does it mean and where does it come from?

Posts: 34 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jonathan Howard
Member
Member # 6934

 - posted      Profile for Jonathan Howard   Email Jonathan Howard         Edit/Delete Post 
No idea, but that's what I referred to as the "k-word".
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
rivka
Member
Member # 4859

 - posted      Profile for rivka   Email rivka         Edit/Delete Post 
Possible origins?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Sid Meier
Member
Member # 6965

 - posted      Profile for Sid Meier   Email Sid Meier         Edit/Delete Post 
The word i was refering too was used the by the character Al Smith in Harry Turtledove's "Return Engagement" the first of his Settling Accounts series.

The thing is that the Jewish Congresswoman (and former first lady to president Hosea Blackford) Flora Blackford discovered that the Confederates were massacring their Negroes and was trying to convice President Smith to let the world know and did on the condition that Flora stops noisying into their Atomic Bomb project.

(PS This is an alternative history series)

Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2