"Jew" = "lawyer"

[Joel S. Berson]

I have heard the phrase "Jew lawyer" (perhaps in the 1950s), but
that's not the kind of corroboration Charlie is looking for.  It is
in Urban Dictionary (120 up, 40 down), with the (usual) connotation
of money-grubbing:  "A jew lawyer is one that will win at any
costs."  And discussed in Wikipedia's article "Jews", citing The
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2000):

As for historical usage, searching for the phrase in Google Books,
say before 1900, gives a number of instances (none before
1800).  Determining how derogatory they are would require
investigation, but it was a phrase.

Joel

At 2/27/2011 08:23 PM, Charles C Doyle wrote:
>In this past week's episode of NBC's _Harry's Law_, a fictional
>drama set in Cincinnati, an African American street-gang member
>explains that "Jew" is a term folr 'lawyer'.
>
>Does any corroboration exist?  (The usage does not appear in HDAS.)
>
>--Charlie
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org