Reply To: Origin of various racial slurs

#35701

Rob
Member

I have wondered about various words myself. I just look them up in a search engine. Here is what I found for th word ‘kike’. The etymology of kike is hotly contested, although it is commonly agreed that the word dates back to the late 19th century. Many plausible theories have been advanced: a) To borrow from Leo Rosten’s The Joys of Yiddish, ‘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.’

User Detail :  

Name : Rob, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : try sexual, Race : Black/African American, Religion : my own beliefs, Age : 35, City : Dayton, State : OH, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,