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Shiksa (Yiddish: שיקסע shikse) is an often disparaging term of Yiddish origin that has moved into English usage (as well as Polish and German), mostly in North American Jewish culture, as a term for a non-Jewish woman or girl. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English it came into English usage during the 19th century and is from the Yiddish “shikse” and from the Hebrew “šiqsāh” (from “šeqes” ‘detested thing’ + the feminine suffix -āh).

As contempt

Writer Menachem Kaiser argues in his essay "Anti-non-Semitism: An Investigation of the Shiksa" that "the pejorative connotation of 'shiksa' is fuzzy at best" because "'shiksa' today is used as often as not in winking self-reference".

Among Orthodox Jews, the term may be used to describe a Jewish girl or woman who fails to follow Orthodox religious precepts.

The equivalent term for a non-Jewish male, used less frequently, is shegetz.

Derivation

The etymology of the word shiksa is partly derived from the Hebrew term שקץ shekets, meaning "abomination", "impure," or "object of loathing", depending on the translator.

Several dictionaries define "shiksa" as a disparaging and offensive term applied to a non-Jewish girl or woman.

In Polish, siksa or sziksa (pronounced [ɕiksa]) is a pejorative but humorous word for an immature young girl or teenage girl. According to Polish language dictionary from 1915, it has been defined as "pisspants"; a conflation between the Yiddish term and its similarity to the Polish verb sikać ("to piss"). In today's language however, it is roughly equivalent to the English terms "snot-nosed brat", "little squirt", and "naughty school-girl" in a humorous context.

See also

• Gentile
• Goy

References

1. ^ "Shiksa | Definition of shiksa by Merriam-Webster". Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
2. ^ Kaiser, Menachem (March 6, 2013). "Anti-non-Semitism: An Investigation of the Shiksa". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
3. ^ "soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Miscellaneous and References (11/12) Section - Question 19.6: What does "shiksa" and "shaygetz" mean? How offensive are they?". Faqs.org. March 27, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
4. "definition of shiksa". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
5. "Warsaw University Digital Library - Słownik języka polskiego". Ebuw.uw.edu.pl. 1915. p. 128. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
6. Siksa - Poradnia językowa PWN. Polish Scientific Publishers PWN 2016.

• Yiddish words and phrases
• Jewish culture
• Ethnic and religious slurs
• Pejorative terms for people