In modern English language, the word kike is a pejorative ethnic slur referring to a Jew. In cultures where this word is a given name, it is not considered derogatory.
Etymology
The etymology of the term is uncertain. It may be an alteration of a common ending of the personal names of Eastern European Jews who emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. The first recorded usage of the term is in 1904.[1][2] According to Leo Rosten,
"The word kike was born on Ellis Island, when Jewish immigrants who were illiterate (or could not use Roman-English letters), when asked to sign the entry-forms with the customary 'X,' refused—and instead made a circle. The Yiddish word for 'circle' is kikel (pronounced KY - kel), and for 'little circle,' kikeleh. Before long the immigration inspectors were calling anyone who signed with an 'O' instead of an 'X' a kikel or kikeleh or kikee or, finally and succinctly, kike."[3]
In the eyes of many European Jews, a cross was the sign of Christian persecution from which they sought the refuge in the New World. According to Rosten, Jewish American merchants continued to sign with an 'O' instead of an 'X' for several decades, spreading the nickname kike wherever they went as a result. At that time kike was more of an affectionate term, used by Jews to describe other Jews, and only developed into an ethnic slur later on.[2] An alternative to this suggested etymology is given in Daniel Cassidy's "How the Irish Invented Slang: the Secret Language of the Crossroads", where Cassidy notes how the Irish Language word "Ciabhóg" (Pron. k'i'og) was the general term used by the Irish and Irish-Americans to denote the Payot of Orthodox Jews. The Irish word 'Ciabhóg' means 'side-curl', which is what a payot is. Often treated as a racial slur, the word kike took on the meaning "subhuman" during the 1900's. It was made more inflammatory when it began being used to dehumanize Jews in the events leading up to the Holocaust, and in the aftermath of World War 2. For many Holocaust survivors, the word kike came to be associated with traumatic memories and could even trigger symptoms of PTSD.
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, kike
- ^ a b Kim Pearson's Rhetoric of Race by Eric Wolarsky. The College of New Jersey.
- ^ Leo Rosten: The Joys of Yiddish, cited in Kim Pearson's Rhetoric of Race by Eric Wolarsky. The College of New Jersey.
See also
- Antisemitism
- List of ethnic group names used as insults (distinct from the below)
- List of ethnic slurs
- Profanity — with a discussion of how words can differ in meaning and offensiveness depending on who is using them.
- Yid
