> >... "sheeney." What do you think it means?
Given the surprising number of New Yorkers on this list who hadn't
heard the word before, is it possible that Lehman was unaware that
it was a term of vulgar abuse for Jews?
On Fri, 15 Dec 2000, Michael Pollak wrote:
> 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
That's what the OED suggests (altho' it says, "of obscure origin")
-- perhaps Polish and Czech as well -- and gives examples in
English back to 1816.
--C. G. Estabrook