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This seems pedantic - I think it's well understood that "antisemitism" means anti-Jewishness despite the definition of the word Semite. Sometimes words from the
by happytoexplain 3y ago
This seems pedantic - I think it's well understood that "antisemitism" means anti-Jewishness despite the definition of the word Semite. Sometimes words from the same root have varying meanings, colloquially, which eventually come to be definitive differences. That's just language. It doesn't have anything to do with whether it is a "hate cliche" (not sure exactly what you mean by that).
- drdaeman 3y agoIsn’t it coming overall from the same people who believe language nuances matter and who push for all sorts of language changes? (That’s a honest question - I’m not sure, just had a thought I might be seeing an inconsistency. Really, I could be wrong here.)
- kps 3y agoThe word “antisemitism” was popularized in late 19th century Germany by Jew-haters looking for a ‘scientific’ racial justification, since the traditional religious justification was becoming unfashionable. It has never meant anything else. “Semitic”, on its own, is a language group. But for some reason I can't possibly imagine, nobody ever says “Ethiopians are semites too”.