# Sheigetz

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{{Short description|Disparaging term for a non-Jewish boy or young man}}
{{italic title}}
'''''Sheigetz''''' or '''''shegetz''''' (שייגעץ or in [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew) שֵׁיְגֶּץ; alternative [Romanization](/source/Romanization)s incl. ''shaygetz'', ''shaigetz'', ''sheygets'') with the alternative form '''''shkotz''''' (plural: ''sheygetses'' and ''shkotzim'', respectively<ref name=Fwd>[Philologos](/source/Philologos) ([Hillel Halkin](/source/Hillel_Halkin)), [https://forward.com/articles/1282/sheygetz/ ''Sheygetz'']. [The Forward](/source/The_Forward), 21 April 2006. Accessed 10 June 2022.</ref>) is a [Yiddish](/source/Yiddish) word that has entered [English](/source/English_language) to refer to a non-[Jew](/source/Jew)ish boy or young man. It may also be used by an observant Jew when referring to a non-observant Jewish man.<ref name=dx>{{cite web |title=shegetz |website=Dictionary.com |url= https://www.dictionary.com/browse/shegetz |access-date= 10 June 2022}}</ref><ref>[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shegetz "shegetz"] at [Wiktionary](/source/Wiktionary).</ref> It is often used disparagingly,<ref name=dx/> although it can also be used in appreciation by [semantic reversal](/source/Auto-antonym), similar to "rascal" becoming positive when used affectionately in regard to a teenager.<ref name=Fwd/>

==Etymology==
The word ''shegetz'', like its feminine counterpart ''[shiksa](/source/shiksa)'', according to the ''[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)'', is derived from ''sheqeṣ'' ("a detested thing").<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Shiksa |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |year=2009 |version=Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-956383-8 }}</ref>

==Alternative forms==
In former times, it was common practice for [Ashkenazi Jews](/source/Ashkenazi_Jews) who were harassed by youths to label their tormentors ''shkotzim''. Nacham Grossbard of [Haifa](/source/Haifa), writing in the ''[Memorial Book](/source/Memorial_Book) for the Community of [Ciechanów](/source/Ciechan%C3%B3w)'' (1962), recounted these memories of his early years in [Poland](/source/Poland): "At the finish of the match, as soon as the whistle blows, we Jewish boys run as fast as we can, out of breath, all the way home in order not to have stones thrown at us or be hit by the shkotzim (non-Jewish boys)."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Ciechanow/cie197.html |title=Ciechanow, Poland (Pages 197-203) |website=www.jewishgen.org}}</ref> 

According to blogger [Philologos](/source/Philologos) ([Hillel Halkin](/source/Hillel_Halkin)), the form ''shkotz'' was less used in Europe; he wrote that it is a [back-formation](/source/back-formation) that only occurred in America.<ref>[https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/1688 "shkotz"] at the Jewish English Lexicon, quoting the article ''Sheygetz'' by Philologos.</ref>

==See also==
{{Wiktionary|shegetz}}
* [Goy](/source/Goy)
* [Stereotypes of Jews](/source/Stereotypes_of_Jews)
* [Shiksa](/source/Shiksa)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Ethnic slurs}}
{{Religious slurs}}

Category:Pejorative terms for people
Category:Jewish culture
Category:Yiddish words and phrases
Category:Pejorative terms for men
Category:Pejorative terms for strangers and foreigners

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sheigetz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheigetz) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheigetz?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.