Timeline for Word that means "private word used by a group"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 20, 2022 at 9:56 | comment | added | Nick Bolton | Should be the accepted answer. Much better than pet term. Argot is also good though. | |
| Jun 14, 2014 at 0:30 | comment | added | jbyler | So I like this word, and it's new to me (thanks!), but it doesn't quite fit what I was looking for. @RegDwigнt has it right. The type of in-word I'm looking to describe is not used as a marker or differentiator for members of the group. The word being described is used for its meaning, and for its humor value, not for its value as a group membership marker. | |
| Jun 13, 2014 at 20:13 | comment | added | neminem | I agree with Ben - regardless of etymology, in modern usage, shibboleth doesn't mean that someone can't learn (or pronounce) the word, merely that they don't yet know (or know how to pronounce) the word. It it, however, too specific, in that it does refer specifically to a word used by one group to identify members of that group, rather than just to any word only members of a group know (it's a subcategory of that.) | |
| Jun 13, 2014 at 19:41 | comment | added | Joshua Taylor | @BenM But yes, modern usage is more about the marker, and probably doesn't suggest unlearnability. | |
| Jun 13, 2014 at 19:41 | comment | added | Joshua Taylor | @BenM Gilead then cut Ephraim off from the fords of the Jordan, and whenever Ephraimite fugitives said, 'Let me cross,' the men of Gilead would ask, 'Are you an Ephraimite?' If he said, 'No,' they then said, 'Very well, say "Shibboleth" (שבלת).' If anyone said, "Sibboleth" (סבלת), because he could not pronounce it, then they would seize him and kill him by the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell on this occasion. —Judges 12:5–6, NJB If it were easily learnable, you'd think some of those forty-two thousand would have learned pretty quickly. | |
| Jun 13, 2014 at 17:37 | comment | added | Ben M | @RegDwigнt: A shibboleth is not unlearnable - it's simply a linguistic (orig.) marker that identifies a particular cultural / ethnic / etc group. For example: "eh" is the quintessential Canadian shibboleth - and easy enough to learn for just about anyone... | |
| Jun 13, 2014 at 8:48 | comment | added | RegDwigнt | Shibboleth does not fit. It is not about not knowing the word, it is about not being able to learn it. You will never be able to pronounce Chuchichäschtli, so it is a shibboleth. But you can start using a jargon word or an inside joke correctly after hearing it just a single time, thus they are not shibboleths. | |
| Jun 13, 2014 at 5:52 | comment | added | tobyink | I love Shibboleth. I used it a couple of days ago to describe the relationship five year old girls have with the lyrics of Let It Go. However, in this particular case I think argot is the better answer. | |
| S Jun 13, 2014 at 5:22 | review | Low quality posts | |||
| Jun 13, 2014 at 7:39 | |||||
| S Jun 13, 2014 at 5:22 | review | First posts | |||
| Jun 13, 2014 at 8:44 | |||||
| Jun 13, 2014 at 5:04 | history | answered | Ramsay | CC BY-SA 3.0 |