No, it was not a sarcasm. When used as a verb or adverb, "Jew" is offensive. When used as a noun, it is not, and, as the American Heritage Dictionary points out, implying that the word "Jew" is inherently "vulgar" can, in itself, be offensive. There's nothing wrong with the noun "Jew", let's not be afraid to use it appropriately; there's no need for wordy circumlocutions like "Jewish person" when "Jew" works just fine.
On 2/8/07, Cool Cat wikipedia.kawaii.neko@gmail.com wrote:
Was that sarcasm? I am a bit confused. Based on that the usage of the word Jew can be used in a vulgar manner, something we clearly want to avoid.
- Cool Cat
On 2/8/07, jayjg jayjg99@gmail.com wrote:
On 2/8/07, Steve Bennett stevagewp@gmail.com wrote:
On 2/5/07, Cool Cat wikipedia.kawaii.neko@gmail.com wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2007_Fe...
I proposed a rename as per wikipedias categorization scheme, we add
"people"
to any ethnicity. There appears to be a number of panic "oppose"
votes. What
do you think?
For what it's worth, I do find the formulations "Jews", "American Jews" etc rather awkward and find they have unfortunate connotations.
"It is widely recognized that the attributive use of the noun Jew, in phrases such as 'Jew lawyer' or 'Jew ethics', is both vulgar and highly offensive. In such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a practice that carries risks of its own. In a sentence such as 'There are now several Jews on the council', which is unobjectionable, the substitution of a circumlocution like Jewish people or persons of Jewish background may in itself cause offense for seeming to imply that Jew has a negative connotation when used as a noun."
The American Heritage(r) Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
"Jew" is not a dirty word.
Jay.
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