Kike

For other meanings, see Kike (disambiguation).

In modern English language, the word kike is a pejorative ethnic slur referring to a Jew. In cultures where this word is a given name, it is not considered derogatory.

Etymology

The etymology of the term is uncertain. It may be an alteration of a common ending of the personal names of Eastern European Jews who emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. The first recorded usage of the term is in 1904.

According to Leo Rosten,

The word kike was born on Ellis Island when Jewish immigrants who were illiterate (or could not use Roman-English letters), when asked to sign the entry-forms with the customary 'X,'* refused, because they associated an X with the cross of Christianity, and instead made a circle. The Yiddish word for 'circle' is kikel (pronounced KY-kel), and for 'little circle,' kikeleh. Before long the immigration inspectors were calling anyone who signed with an 'O' instead of an 'X' a kikel or kikeleh or kikee or, finally and succinctly, kike.

In the eyes of many European Jews, a cross was the sign of Christian persecution from which they sought the refuge in the New World. According to Rosten, Jewish American merchants continued to sign with an 'O' instead of an 'X' for several decades, spreading the nickname kike wherever they went as a result. At that time kike was more of an affectionate term, used by Jews to describe other Jews, and only developed into an ethnic slur later on.

Daniel Cassidy in his book How the Irish Invented Slang: the Secret Language of the Crossroads suggests an alternative etymology. Cassidy notes that the Irish Language word Ciabhóg (pronounced k'i'og) was the general term used by the Irish and Irish-Americans to denote the payot of Orthodox Jews. The Irish word Ciabhóg means side-curl, which is what payot are.

Another etymology is that the term comes from the Greek word for circle, kyklos, and referenced the practice of circumcision.

SOUTH PARK

On the popular television show South Park, the two Jewish children both have names which are derived from Kike, the older brother is named Kyle, and the younger brother is named Ike. When run together, you get Kike. Of course, it's all done for comedy, and the main character, Cartman, is rabbidly anti-Semetic, and on one episode even tried to exterminate all of the Jews in South Park while wearing an Adolph Hitler costume.

See also

• Antisemitism
• List of ethnic group names used as insults (distinct from the below)
• List of ethnic slurs
• Profanity — with a discussion of how words can differ in meaning and offensiveness depending on who is using them.
• Yid