Kike is the common ending syllable in jewish names from slavic countries. Like Venderkike, or Halsenkike. I suppose it became a slur because of its commonality. Someone starts calling evry jew from that region a 'Kike' because to them it seems like all their names end in it. Eventually someone does find it offensive, and now those who get their laughs off racism use it, because they KNOW it offends. Another one: Wop. Often used as a racial slur against Italians or Sicilians. Wop is actually a little used sicilian word for 'handsome, bold, dashing' etc, just about any good attribute for a man. How it became a slur, I don't know. And a third, aimed towards whites. 'cracker' It actually does not derive from our skin colour, as many people believe, but from another definition. Cracker means a poor person of white colour, or it also means a boastful liar, the kind of man that tell tall tales. I can easily see how that became a slur. Some white guy is tellin a story about the beautiful woman he met last night, and someone else says 'He's a cracker' of course the lying man is liable to get offended by it.
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Name : Jessica G., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Greenville, State : SC Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, I found a webpage with a few explanations: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/11-Miscellaneous/section-14.html One explanation is that the word kike originates from the word 'keikl', in Yiddish, which means 'circle'. At Ellis Island, one of the main immigration checkin points, immigrants were intially grouped by religion and language in order to make it easier for them to communicate with each other and also to be identified more quickly by waiting relatives there to meet them.
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Name : Brian H, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Spritiual, non-practicing Catholic, Age : 40, City : West Hollywood, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Actor & Web designer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Cracker... white trailer trash. I'm going to assume this is the same as the fried chicken thing except is stopped being a term for cheap food and became one for cheap people (again, not trying to be offensive... my boyfriend has a close friend who lives in a trailer park, and she's cool as hell). According to a history teacher, it was a term used by northern American whites to describe the poor Southerners of their own race. Since then, its meaning has become more general and is often used by blacks to describe whites, ESPECIALLY racist whites; the word still retains the flavor of Southern poverty. The one you asked for Andrew, Kike. Keikl means circle in Yiddish. On Ellis Island, people got seperated by religion at times. Those who were Jewish got a Star of David, and Christians got a Cross. But due to the fact there were so many people, the cross became an X, and the Star of David was an O. Sloppy, but it got the job done for the inspecters; soon the Jew's called each other keikls as a joke of how sloppy the star's were. This joking is now used as a horrible term for Jewish people that, when you know the roots of it, isn't really that offensive (like most of the words). It's sad we even have these words, isn't it? Some kids at my school got a Nazi flag from their grandpa who took it in WWII... they taped it to their passenger side rear window and drove past a synagogue just after it let out. I can't do any more... I feel so dirty typing these out.
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Name : Brian, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Disability : ADHD (According to the marines, its a disability), Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 18, City : Minnetrista, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Ice Cream Scooper (part time), Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, U.S., a Jewish person, possibly derived from the fact that, for religious reasons, illiterate Jewish immigrants would sign their name with a circle, instead of the cross or X used by illiterate immigrants of other backgrounds (Yiddish keikl='circle'). You can find a list of all slurs and their origins here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs
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Name : avs, Gender : M, Age : 51, City : San Antonio, State : TX Country : United States, By no means to I use these words in my vocabluary, and I know I have far less ground to say them on than most people. I know this may or may not be a racial slur, but the fact people believe African Americans love fried chicken is very easily explained. Due to extreme poverty (not all African Americans live in poverty, but sadly alot do), there is one food anyone can afford that has the most calories for the least amount of cash. Lard. You deep-fry something, and you're consuming hundreds of calories instantly. Eating lots of calories keeps you from being so skinny you can no longer function. Chicken is just the most commonly deep-fried food. The watermelon thing though... I haven't a clue on that one. Nigger. Easily done; trace it back to its root word of negro which means black. I have an utter hate for this word, even when used light-heartedly by rappers or commedians, and especially by the white kids at my school. Other forms of the word: Nizzle, Nigga, Nig, Whigger (used for whites who are attempting to mimic the socially enforced African American culture we see on TV. I.E. Baggy clothes, carrying small arms, thuggin', pimpin', etc.). Now for one so the African-Americans here don't come out swinging at me like I'm only pointing at easy ones... Faggot. To fag or to be a fag was a common term in British schools from the late 1700s and referred to a lower classman who performed chores for upperclassmen. Around the time the Titanic sank, it started being used for gays as it is today (in America, anyway). It referred to a homosexual ball where the men were dressed in drag and were called fagots, or sissies. 1926, Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, 'You're a hell of a good guy, and I'm fonder of you than anybody on earth. I couldn't tell you that in New York. It'd mean I was a faggot.' (To avoid prosecution by samclem, this information was paraphrased from http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfaggot.html)
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Name : Brian, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Disability : ADHD (According to the marines, its a disability), Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 18, City : Minnetrista, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Ice Cream Scooper (part time), Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, The word dates back to the late 19th century. Origin is debateable. May theories exist, the most plausible in my opinion is as follows: 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.' Rosten explains that for the Jewish immigrants, an 'X' was an evil sign, representing both the horrors of crucifixion and the sign of their (Christian) oppressors. 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 natural result. At that time kike was more of an affectionate term, or used by Jews to describe other Jews, and only developed into a racial slur later on.
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Name : Andrea, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black White and Jewish. (it's true!), Religion : Atheist, Age : 27, City : Cleveland, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : Software Technician, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, My English teacher told me years ago that kike originates from the word 'keikl', which means 'circle' in Yiddish. Way back when at Ellis Island,immigrants were grouped by religion and language, etc in order to make it easier for them. Jews were marked with a circle which was likely supposed to be the Star of David. So 'keikl' became 'kike' over the years. Don't know how true this is though.
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Name : Kit, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 18, City : Evanston, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 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.' Rosten explains that for the Jewish immigrants, an 'X' was an evil sign, representing both the horrors of crucifixion and the sign of their (Christian) oppressors. 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 natural result. At that time kike was more of an affectionate term, or used by Jews to describe other Jews, and only developed into a racial slur later on.
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Name : Frank-O, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 54, City : Augusta, State : ME Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 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.'
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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, The lore I've heard about this has is that 'Kike' is derived from 'Kikel', which means circle, possibly in Yiddish. My details may be inaccurate, but I thikthe deal was that at some point in the last... 150 years, but I think in the early 1900s, Jews immigrating were asked to mark their papers with a symbol to indicate they were Jewish. They were told to mark a cross (or something that didn't make sense) and so instead they chose to mark a circle, as a symbol of the omnipresence, or universality, or perfection of God. At least, that's what I read once.
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Name : Eric26567, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Unitarian Universalist, Age : 32, City : Toronto, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : Writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, The Oxford English Dictionary on the etymology of 'kike': 'Said to be an alteration of -ki (or -ky), a common ending of the personal names of Eastern European Jews who emigrated to the U.S. at the turn of the 20th c.'
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Name : Rick23913, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, During the time when Europeans immigrated to the United States in great numbers at the turn of the 19th & 20th centuries, even some Jews were illiterate. The standard practice of an illiterate person signing a document was for them to 'make a mark.' Since most Europeans were Christians, they made their 'mark' with an 'X' because it resembled 'The Holy Cross.' When Jews were asked to sign with an 'X,' they refused on religious grounds and suggested that they be allowed to sign with a 'keikel' - Yiddish for 'circle.' Due to their insistence, and because of anti-Semitic feelings, 'keikel' was perverted into the word 'kike' which became the pejorative for 'Jew.'
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Name : Richard, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 44, City : Philadelphia, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : Social Worker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, In Christian Europe, the Jews were apersecuted minority. When illiterate Christians were asked to 'sign' a document after it was explained to them, they made their 'mark': a cross, or an 'X.' Similarly, when illiterate Jews were asked to make their mark, they opted for a circle rather than a cross, or 'X.' 'Keikel' is the Yiddish word for 'circle.' Hence the pejorative term for a Jew became 'kike' from 'keikel.'
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Name : Richard, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 44, City : Philadelphia, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : Social Worker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I'm not sure about kike, but I do know the theories on the origin of 'nigger'. The most widely accepted theory is that the word is derived from the Latin word 'niger', for the color black. But many of the actual origins for racial slurs aren't really known for sure. Since they are slang, they aren't really 'recorded' completely in history.
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Name : Aysha25523, Gender : F, Age : 27, City : I.F., State : ID Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, Because many Jewish immigrants coming to the USA were illiterate (in the Latin alphabet, at least), they signed their names with a circle (an 'x' looked too much like a cross.) The Yiddish word for 'circle?' Keikl. I've also heard that the term could be derived from the frequent 'k' and 'ki' sounds in Eastern European Jewish names. (Apologies if any of the above information is incorrect.)
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Name : Rita, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 22, City : Dayton, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
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