"jew" as adjective -- not in OED?

[George Thompson]

Having now scanned the material on compounds under "jew" as a noun, I stand
by the position that this advertisement for "jew beef" is of interest: "jew
beef" is not one of the compounds listed, and most that are have a tone of
disparagement.

GAT


On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 1:09 PM, George Thompson <george.thompson at nyu.edu>wrote:

>
> Surely in "Jew Beef" (= kosher beef) "jew" has to be an adjective?
>
> I searched the OED for "jew", limited to adjectives, got the response that
> nothing was found, and didn't look further.  If scanning of all entries for
> the word in categories other than adjective is required, then that is a
> defect in the system.
>
> GAT
>
>
> On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 11:52 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:
>
>> I would defend the label.  These are indeed, I would argue, nominal
>> compounds rather than adjective + noun phrases.  "Jew" in such cases
>> doesn't pass the diagnostics for adjective-hood:
>>
>> That lawyer seems {Jewish/*Jew}.
>> Despite Brendan's proselytizing, Moises remained {Jewish/*Jew}.
>> It's very kosher/Jewish/*Jew
>>
>> etc.
>>
>> LH
>>
>>
>>
>> On May 14, 2013, at 11:36 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>
>> > George, look way down under "Jew, n." for "Compounds" -- C1 is
>> > "General attrib. or as adj."  I've missed this disguised and low (on
>> > the page) artifice of the OED before, for this and other nouns.  I
>> > think the heading in such cases should be "n. and adj.".
>> >
>> > Joel
>> >
>> > At 5/14/2013 10:37 AM, George Thompson wrote:
>> >> Seems strange, but such is the case, if the on-line OED doesn't
>> mislead me.
>> >>
>> >>            JEW BEEF. -- The subscribers offer their services to
>> merchants
>> >> who are in the habit of trading to the West Indies, that in order to
>> >> complete a well assorted cargo for those markets, it will prove to be
>> an
>> >> acquisition to apply to them for the above article; they are in 5 or 10
>> >> gallon kegs.  ***  Levy & Lyons, 26, White-hall street. N. B.  Regular
>> >> certificates will be given.
>> >>            Mercantile Advertiser, November 1, 1804, p. 2, col. 2
>> >>
>> >> HDAS and Jonathon Green's dictionary have "jew" as a disparaging
>> adjective,
>> >> which isn't the case here.  Their examples are generally in the form
>> of "a
>> >> Jew xyz" which translates into "a Jew who is an xyz" -- a Jew lawyer,
>> >> perhaps.  Here, it meant "kosher", and the ad was placed by a Jewish
>> firm.
>> >>
>> >> GAT
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> George A. Thompson
>> >> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
>> >> Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then
>> >>
>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> George A. Thompson
> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
> Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then.
>



--
George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then.

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