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Yids, Defined

Malaysian paper offers guide to everyday slurs, inexplicably

by
Sara Ivry
June 22, 2009

Apropos of nothing, Malaysia’s Star newspaper today offers an abridged guide, with definitions, to racial slurs, or “ethnophaulisms,” as writer S.S. Yoga politely calls them. Included in the round-up are at least three about Jews, ranging from the some usual suspects (“kike,” anyone?) to the more obscure (“flash: Acronym for F***ing Lazy American S**t Head. Used by Israelis to refer to American tourists used to an easier standard of living”). Here’s hoping for a future installment that includes, among chink, wetback, dago, the conspicuously missing JAP.

Sara Ivry is the host of Vox Tablet, Tablet Magazine’s weekly podcast. Follow her on Twitter@saraivry.