"he jewed me down on the price, but I took the job anyway  because I need
the work"....
We in New Haven antique section, land of Yale and the WASP often are heard
to say "he christianed me down"....
Best,
Leland

PS  I read somewhere, just after John Lindsey died that he used to say White
Anglo Saxon Protestant was redundant because they were all white, hence the
moniker:  ASP.
----- Original Message -----
From: "deb bledsoe" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2001 4:42 PM
Subject: Re: Dutchman


> Ralph Walter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > On the other hand, I was not thrilled recently to hear corrugated
fasteners
> > referred to as "Jew nails," with the clear implication that these
devices
> > were intended for use in a bad job.  Anybody else ever heard that one? I
> > won't rat you out to the DAL.
>
> around here  (the midwest),  any time the word "jew" is used like that,
it's not
> so much that the connotation is that it's a bad quality job, but actually
sort of the
> reverse....
> something of high quality, but which the speaker is supposed to provide or
do for little
> or nothing....  it's more about money
> and the perception that "Jews" control everything, hold all the power, own
the media...
>
> I think it's sort of an expression of powerlessness or jealousy or
something....
> or a left-handed compliment
> like, someone will say, "he jewed me down on the price, but I took the job
anyway
> because I need the work"....
> or an alternative usage I heard ,  advice offered when another person was
in some
> serious legal trouble,   "it'll cost you, but you better get you a jew for
this one...."
> implying that the person would undoubtedly pay dearly for the
representation,
> but was going to need only the best in the courtroom...
>
> but those terms are pretty much recognized as being inappropriate in
business or
> social situations, and the persons whom I've heard using them weren't
exactly
> the highest-class or smartest folks out there ...
>
> I was close to 30 when my husband, who is a black/white/creek mixed-race
person
> from northeastern alabama , informed me that he found my use of the term
> "jerry-rigged" to be offensive
> I was clueless, so he educated me that it was just a polite euphemism for
the term that
> the (mostly white) employers of his youth used to refer to a bad job,
"nigger-rigged"...
>
> so I've been using the term "cobbled together" ever since, but can't
really see the
> logical connection between low-quality or makeshift work and the word
"cobbled"...
> it's probably just a matter of time before someone informs me that most of
the
> worst quality shoemakers of some long-gone era in some other part of the
country
> were of X nationality, and that the term is offensive to that nationality
> and shouldn't be used...
>
> I guess I should probably just say that "the job wasn't well-thought-out,
used materials
> that were low-quality and/or inappropriately applied, and the work was
hastily
> thrown together and can't be expected to last"....
> but it's soooo much easier to just say "cobbled-together"   ;)
>
> still, I sure don't want to do or say anything that could be hurtful or
offensive to
> someone
> else -- and it never hurts to practice being more precise in our speech
and writing I
> guess....
>
>
> deb  "a very lazy person, being as I'm human "
>
>
>
>
>
>
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