Sheigetz
Disparaging term for a non-Jewish boy or young man
Sheigetz or shegetz (שייגעץ or in Hebrew שֵׁיְגֶּץ; alternative Romanizations incl. shaygetz, shaigetz, sheygets) with the alternative form shkotz (plural: sheygetses and shkotzim, respectively[1]) is a Yiddish word that has entered English to refer to a repulsive or low-class non-Jewish boy or young man. It may also be used by an observant Jew when referring to a non-observant Jewish man.[2][3] It is mostly used disparagingly,[2] although it can also be used in appreciation by semantic reversal, similar to "rascal" becoming positive when used affectionately in regard to a teenager. It is sometimes used to describe a specifically disgusting non-Jew, vs. a decent non-Jew.[1]
Etymology
The word shegetz, like its feminine counterpart shiksa, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is derived from sheqeṣ ("a detested thing").[4]
Alternative forms
In former times, it was common practice for Ashkenazi Jews who were harassed by youths to label their tormentors shkotzim. Nacham Grossbard of Haifa, writing in the Memorial Book for the Community of Ciechanów (1962), recounted these memories of his early years in Poland: "At the finish of the match, as soon as the whistle blows, we Jewish boys run as fast as we can, out of breath, all the way home in order not to have stones thrown at us or be hit by the shkotzim (non-Jewish boys)."[5]
The form shkotz was apparently less used in Europe, leading Philologos (Hillel Halkin) to write that it's a back-formation that only occurred in America.[6]
See also
Look up shegetz in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- Goy
- Stereotypes of Jews
- Shiksa
References
- ^ a b Philologos (Hillel Halkin), Sheygetz. The Forward, 21 April 2006. Accessed 10 June 2022.
- ^ a b "shegetz". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "shegetz" at Wiktionary.
- ^ "Shiksa". Oxford English Dictionary. Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0). Oxford University Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-956383-8.
- ^ "Ciechanow, Poland (Pages 197-203)". www.jewishgen.org.
- ^ "shkotz" at the Jewish English Lexicon, quoting the article Sheygetz by Philologos.
- v
- t
- e
- Abeed
- Alligator bait
- Black American princess
- Black Buck
- Black Diamond
- Boerehaat
- Choc ice
- Cocolo
- Colored
- Cushi
- Golliwog
- House Negro
- Jim Crow
- Kaffir
- Macaca
- Mammy
- Negro
- Nigger (Nigga)
- Pickaninny
- Rastus
- Queen / Queenie
- Sambo
- Tar-Baby
- Uncle Tom
- Wog
Americans
| Indigenous |
|
|---|---|
| Whites |
|
| Others |
|
| East Asians |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Asians |
| ||||||||||
| Southeast Asians |
| General | |
|---|---|
| Albanians | |
| British | |
| Dutch | |
| Finns | |
| French | |
| Germans |
|
| Greeks | |
| Irish |
|
| Italians |
|
| Poles | |
| Russians | |
| Serbs | |
| Spaniards | |
| Ukrainians | |
| Others |
|
- Blackfella (Indigenous Australians)
- Hori (Māori)
- Kanaka (Pacific Islander)
- Coconut (Pacific Islander)
- Ajam (non-Arabs)
- Barbarian
- Fresh off the boat / F.O.B. (immigrant)
- Gadjo (non-Romani)
- Gaijin (non-Japanese)
- Goy (non-Jew)
- Kafir (non-believer) (pl. Kuffar)
- Laowai (non-Chinese)
- Reffo / Balt (Non-Anglo immigrant to Australia)
- Savage (usually Indigenous, regarded as primitive/uncivilized)
- Shegetz (non-Jewish boy or man) (pl. Shkutzim)
- Shiksa (non-Jewish woman)
