• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

What do you think of the phrase "He jewed me down"?

What do you think of the phrase 'He jewed me down'?

  • I'm highly offended by the phrase!

    Votes: 7 10.8%

  • It's an insensitive choice of words

    Votes: 34 52.3%

  • It depends entirely on the context

    Votes: 10 15.4%

  • As long as it's not refering to real Jews

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • It's just an old expression that perfectly expresses its meaning!

    Votes: 14 21.5%
  • Total voters
    65
MyOwnDrum said:
There is a difference in the two idioms. 'Nigger' is an inherently highly inflammatory and derogatory word (when used by a non-Black). 'Jew' is just a regular word.
Click to expand...

Well, nigger is offensive now, but it wasn't always and it wasn't when the term came about.
 
Jerry said:
Well, nigger is offensive now, but it wasn't always and it wasn't when the term came about.
Click to expand...

That was then and this is now.
 
Glinda said:
Good god. :roll:
Click to expand...

Careful, Atheists might get offended by that...after all how could a God who killed millions in a flood be "good"? :2razz:

And which "god" are you referring to, by the way? Please give conclusive empirical evidence that this god exists, to then validate you're using a term to refer to him/her/it.
 
Last edited:
Jerry said:
Careful, Atheists might get offended by that...after all how could a God who killed millions in a flood be "good"? :2razz:
Click to expand...

I am an atheist. And you're a racist moron.
 
Jerry said:
Well, nigger is offensive now, but it wasn't always and it wasn't when the term came about.
Click to expand...


The people to whom it was offensive may not have mattered to their oppressors, but they were offended. As for floods, what flood? :2razz:
 
Glinda said:
I am an atheist.
Click to expand...

I often wondered why atheists choose to label themselves after something they're not.

I mean, I'm not a socialist, but I don't walk around calling myself an "asocialist"; I'm not British, but I don't refer to myself as an "abritish".
 
Manc Skipper said:
The people to whom it was offensive may not have mattered to their oppressors, but they were offended.
Click to expand...

I have childhood memories of Blacks calling each-other and themselves "nigger (s)"....in fact they still do, though in a somewhat different context.
 
Jerry said:
It's a term used to vent frustration, not express hatred of a group.
Click to expand...

If you're using the phrase out of genuine frustration, then you really are using it for the wrong reasons, imho. Using bigoted phrases (yes, even though it's very far down my personal list of offensiveness, it's still technically bigoted) in anger means you're using it in a bigoted fashion.
 
Jerry said:
Good movie :2wave:
Click to expand...

Yeah. But I still think even though it is being used in a different text, it is remnants of racism. An enlightened person should have a deeper vocabulary.
 
Cardinal said:
If you're using the phrase out of genuine frustration, then you really are using it for the wrong reasons, imho. Using bigoted phrases (yes, even though it's very far down my personal list of offensiveness, it's still technically bigoted) in anger means you're using it in a bigoted fashion.
Click to expand...

So you're saying the electrician in question is devoted to making a profitable business and is rather intolerant of constant price cuts?
 
tlmorg02 said:
Yeah. But I still think even though it is being used in a different text, it is remnants of racism. An enlightened person should have a deeper vocabulary.
Click to expand...

I read Blazing Saddles as a statement about racism, rather than a racist work.
 
MsRetro said:
I'm not Jewish, but I have Jewish ancestry.

I don't like "jewed me down" or any other phrase that equates being Jewish with parsimony, cheapness or financially cheating. I've met enough people who use the phrases with genuine bigotry in them.

It's disgusting how many people have found it okay to tell me about how they got screwed in business because the other party was Jewish.

Even if the phrase is neutral to you, it doesn't mean that it is in someone else's mouth. You could wind up conveying an idea that you really don't intend. I'd suggest a different choice of words, honestly.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I've heard the term used plenty before and understand that many don't mean it to be offensive, but I'd have to be the stupidest mother****er on earth to use it at work or in a social situation.
 
Last edited:
MsRetro said:
I read Blazing Saddles as a statement about racism, rather than a racist work.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I did not mean Blazing Saddles, I meant "Jewing down." Blazing Saddles was a statement about racism.:2wave:
 
Jerry said:
So you're saying the electrician in question is devoted to making a profitable business and is rather intolerant of constant price cuts?
Click to expand...

Not quite the direction I was heading in. Keep in mind (when discussing racism, this seems to have to be pointed out repeatedly. Not necessarily you, Jerry, just in general) that not all bigoted comments are created equal. In other words, bigotry is not a zero sums game in which once a comment has achieved "bigotry" status it is officially equal to the most offensive rhetoric in existence. Rather, I'm really thinking that once you use a phrase in an angry manner that paints an entire race/ethnic/culture in a negative light, you really are part of the problem, as it were. It creates a racist undercurrent that allows much bigger and badder racism to climb onto its shoulders.

I've been reading about intellectualism in the twentieth century (The Modern Mind, by Peter Watson), and the current section of the book I'm at is detailing the shakers and the movers in Eastern Europe, many of whom were Jewish. The climate it paints is one of such an undercurrent of negative anti-semitism that it stunned me how small of a push was required of Hitler to take it to the next level. Now, I'm not Godwining this. "Jewing me down" is a million years away from the Holocaust. I'm only saying that using bigoted terms in a negative manner contributes to the groundwork that makes institutionalized racism possible.
 
Last edited:
mtm1963 said:
i voted for the second choice.

here's another to think about. just "nigger rig it" or a variation there of.

mtm1963
Click to expand...
the word nigger is racist, period. not just insensitive, but racist.
 
Goshin said:
It was commonplace 30-60 yrs ago. My Dad, who most definately had nothing against Jews at all, used it regularly. I was in my 20's before it even occurred to me that someone might take it as a "racial" slur.

When I was growing up in the country, there was a lot of barter and private sales. Typically EVERYONE asked 20-40% more for something than they would "take", and EVERYONE buying tried to "jew him down" on the price.

Someone who could negotiate the price down to the bare minimum the sellar was willing to take was viewed with respect; thus, the young Goshin assumed that this meant Jews were held in respect for being hard bargainers. I was actually surprised as a young man to hear someone say that Jews were often resented for being sharp at business... this ran contrary to my early experiences, that a sharp trader was respected.
Click to expand...
as a kid, i had no idea what it even meant, and i suspect some people are the same.
 
Cardinal said:
Not quite the direction I was heading in. Keep in mind (when discussing racism, this seems to have to be pointed out repeatedly. Not necessarily you, Jerry, just in general) that not all bigoted comments are created equal. In other words, bigotry is not a zero sums game in which once a comment has achieved "bigotry" status it is officially equal to the most offensive rhetoric in existence. Rather, I'm really thinking that once you use a phrase in an angry manner that paints an entire race/ethnic/culture in a negative light, you really are part of the problem, as it were. It creates a racist undercurrent that allows much bigger and badder racism to climb onto its shoulders.

I've been reading about intellectualism in the twentieth century (The Modern Mind, by Peter Watson), and the current section of the book I'm at is detailing the shakers and the movers in Eastern Europe, many of whom were Jewish. The climate it paints is one of such an undercurrent of negative anti-semitism that it stunned me how small of a push was required of Hitler to take it to the next level. Now, I'm not Godwining this. "Jewing me down" is a million years away from the Holocaust. I'm only saying that using bigoted terms in a negative manner contributes to the groundwork that makes institutionalized racism possible.
Click to expand...

The OP asserts that the man in question is defiantly not a racist or a bigot. So as hatred of Jews is not an issue here, the only way "bigoted" could apply is if the man were "bigoted" in favor of his business.

Imo he's not bigoted and it's not a bigoted term, however.
 
liblady said:
the word nigger is racist, period. not just insensitive, but racist.
Click to expand...

I think "nigger" will only have no bite when the social and economic status of black people is at least equal to other races. It's why Jewish racist epithets in America have so little bite (Jews are at least equal and in many cases superior in economic status) and racist epithets against all other white people in America have no bite at all (they are entirely mainstream in American culture).
 
Jerry said:
The OP asserts that the man in question is defiantly not a racist or a bigot. So as hatred of Jews is not an issue here, the only way "bigoted" could apply is if the man were "bigoted" in favor of his business.

Imo he's not bigoted and it's not a bigoted term, however.
Click to expand...

I understand that, and I accept the full possibility that the electrician may not be a bigot in the least. I'm only saying that contributing epithets or sayings that paint an entire race/ethnicity in a negative light (and let's be honest, the sentiment behind "Jewing me down" ain't positive) to the English language does nothing good for that race/ethnicity. It's also nothing like "I just got gyped!" where a lot of people aren't even associating the saying with actual gypsies. I think most people who've managed to graduated with a Junior High School educational level are aware that "he Jewed me down" refers to Jews.
 
Jerry said:
The OP asserts that the man in question is defiantly not a racist or a bigot. So as hatred of Jews is not an issue here, the only way "bigoted" could apply is if the man were "bigoted" in favor of his business.

Imo he's not bigoted and it's not a bigoted term, however.
Click to expand...

I can assure you, I've never heard a racist word out of his mouth. He definitely used it as an expression.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom