On Fri, 15 Dec 2000, Doug Henwood wrote:
> >You have to know the problem is not w/'bastard',
> >but "sheeney." What do you think it means?
>
> I never heard this word before - where's it come from?
I think I once heard it was a corruption of the Russian equivalent of Yid. It another of those pre-war terms, like hymie or ikey, that died out in the 60s. Back in the heyday of derogatory terms, there used to be a million of 'em, just like for blacks or Italians or gays.
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com