The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #75063   Message #1384887
Posted By: CarolC
21-Jan-05 - 10:15 PM
Thread Name: Obit: More Muslim intolerance?
Subject: RE: Obit: More Muslim intolerence?
You are amazingly ignorant of your own culture then, Martin. While goyishe may literally mean "non-Jew", you and I both know that in common usage, "goyishe" always indicates inferiority of whatever is being called "goyishe" in comparison to its Jewish counterpart. And we also both know that "shiksa" is a very special word that is used commonly on non-Jewish women who marry or become involved with Jewish men. But here's it's actual meaning:

"Shiksa and Shaygetz are the Yiddish derivative of the respective
feminine and masculine Hebrew words for something unclean, dirty.

Theappellations are customarily applied to gentiles who do things
inimical to Jewish interests, such as vandalizing Jewish buildings,
robbing Jewish kids of their lunch money, or becoming romantically
involved with Jews :-). The root is "sheketz", which refers to house
rodents and lizards. They impart ritual impurity, and therefore the
term lends itself to the same kind of idea. Some have taken to using
the term to refer to Christian women in general. If Christians were
using the term against Jews in English, they would be saying "Filthy
Jews" or "Dirty Jews", and we Jews would rightly be offended. Hence,
use of these terms should really be avoided; it is insulting and
inappropriate, even if no bad intent was behind the usage. It is
always better to use neutral, less pejorative (judgemental) terms,
such as non-Jew or Christian."

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/11-Miscellaneous/section-7.html