New "-dar" word?

[Wilson Gray]

On Oct 12, 2004, at 10:40 AM, Alice Faber wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: New "-dar" word?
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> Dennis Baron said:
>> yeah, jewdar is definitely old business, and it involves a lot more
>> than spotting who doesn't put up  lights on the porch after
>> thanksgiving.
>
> When I was an undergraduate, in the early 70s, many of my friends
> were indeed concerned with determining who of our acquaintances was
> Jewish and who was not. But the *term* "jewdar" wasn't used for the
> ability to suss this out. We did, on the other hand, use the
> abbreviation MOT (Member Of the Tribe)

This term, pronounced as spelled, with the same meaning, (except with
reference to the tribes of Africa) has been used by blacks since at
least the '50's and probably before. But, even back then, I had already
heard or read, somewhere or other, that it was of Jewish origin, with
reference to the tribes of Judah. My guess is that the term crossed
over as the result of job opportunities. E.g. both in St. Louis and in
Los Angeles, in those days, only Jewish country clubs hired black help.

-Wilson Gray

>  to refer to fellow Jews.
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