Yid

[matjcole]

Context is key isn't it. Black people can use the N word to each other and it is fine.

You can't do a whole encompasing statement over the use of words, you have to look at the context.

I'm part of the Yid Army and proud!

 

[Welshiespursboyo]

Not offended by it - but then - I've never really sat down and given any real sort of thought as to it's meaning - I've just mindlessly chanted it along with thousands of other spurs fans at games and such...!

 

[michaelden]

I voted yes.

I'm Jewishmg:, and whilst I admit that I don't get particularly offended when Yid Army is sung in the stadium, what does offend me is when fans from other teams use the word, because when they say it, what they mean is "you f-ing Jewish c's":-x. It's clearly a term they use to be derogatory to Spurs fans.

I think that if we didn't use the word then it would be unacceptable for others to use it :snooty:, in the same way as you don't hear common use of the N word at football grounds even though there are a high number of black players and fans there.:supered:

So, far from being a show of unitymg:, it actually encourages use of the term amongst other fans, leaving the people to whom it has negative racial connotations vulnerable:violin:. And the people to whom it has no racial connotations, don’t care:beer:.


PS This is my 666 post! All hail Satan :evil:.

I'm not Jewish but surely if you take ownership of somethign like the term yid and stand up and say yes I'm a yid & proud then when someone calls you that as an insult you just nod and agree and say, "yes I am. good of you notice" you have removed the bard of the insult robbing the twat of any satisfaction. Do this often enough and the intended insult drops away and they have to ponder years to find an new insult.

 

[Leachie]

I first associated the word Yid with Tottenham Hotspur well before I associated it with anything Jewish so for me it is anything but offensive.

I can see now why some might find it offensive but agree that context is key and needs to be considered.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

what i find funny is that peopel are writing 'The N Word' rather than nigger when they will freely write words like Yid.

I personally am of the opinion that words are JUST THAT. it has to be said in spite than to mean spite. if i'm conversing with my friends, and the subjects come up, i will freely use words like nigger, queer, poof, yid, any of these style of words if it assists in any kind of explanation i am giving. i DO NOT do is call someone a nigger or a poof in a derogatory manner, because THAT'S what discrimination, prejudice and all sorts of ugly little things come from.

Just to clarify, I only wrote 'the N word' as I didn't know if it was acceptable on here to write the word nigger, I would have done if I knew it was.

 

[tommyt]

the poll's gonna be a bit skewed, as only jewish people can really vote yes. i don't like the word, but it doesn't offend me.

*yawn*

 

[Moorechild]

I didn't even know it was offensive, I just thought it was short for Yiddish and was a self given reference to the fact that our club was culturally jewish and proud of it.

I'm not jewish and don't care either way but this sounds like ill informed political correctness. I have seen 60 year old jewish men shouting it....

 

[spurslenny]

Personally, and speaking as a White, Englishman, I've never really understood the why people of certain creeds find the need to take exception to words such as 'paki', 'nigger', or 'yid'. I would argue that these terms should be no more offensive than 'pomme', 'yank' or 'jock'. Name calling should, IMO, be ignored, laughed off, or just simply ignored.
Name calling is one thing, discrimination against a person or group of persons have equality are two completely different, and should be treated as such, not cobbled together under the term 'rascims'

if you find my views offensive, tough. Get over it, in much the same way that I do if someone calls me a 'scruffy, big nosed, miserable ****'.

As in everything, words and meanings need to be taken in context of the situation that they're said in. And for that reason I will always refer to us, as spurs fans, as 'yids' or 'the yid army'

so stick hat in your pipe and smoke it!

 

[TheBigMatch]

Not being Jewish it would be hard to get work up by it. It's just a Spurs nickname to me. The historical origins are important but the jewish history of l'arse is nearly as strong.

I would only find it offensive if it was used by some twisted logic to associate the actions (and we know too well the type of actions they get up to) of the Isreali government with Spurs.

In the mean time....Yid Army!... Yid Army!... Yid Army!... Yid Army!... Yid Army!...

 

[spurslenny]

Sorry, meant to clarify, that in no way do I look down on, discriminate, hate, dislike, or any of the other negative terms that you would care to use towards people or different creeds or colours, just that people in general should just tune out and stop being so bloody sensitive when it come to a bit of name calling.

 

[Krafty]

As a Spurs fan, I have no problem with the term. For me, it is a badge of honour.

I remember ebing about 14/15, on the bus home from school, and a man utd supporter was calling me and some of my fellow spurs fans a yid. We said yes we were yids, we had no problem with that, and despite his best efforts he couldnt antagonise us.

I am not jewish, so I dont know if the term offends them. To me, if someone said or called someone a yid, I would think they were calling that person a spurs supporter (and depending on whether the person saying yid was a spurs fan or not it could be a positive and negative term). I wouldnt think it was in direct reference to someone's religion.

Therefore, I dont have a problem with opposition fans calling me/us yids, its the same as me calling Man Utd fans from London glory supporters, West Ham fans pikeys, Scouse supporters unemployed, or Chelsea fans so and so's, etc etc. As long as its in the stadium or general mickey taking, I dont have a problem with it at all.

 

[midoNdefoe]

Not being Jewish it would be hard to get work up by it. It's just a Spurs nickname to me. The historical origins are important but the jewish history of l'arse is nearly as strong.

I would only find it offensive if it was used by some twisted logic to associate the actions (and we know too well the type of actions they get up to) of the Isreali government with Spurs.

In the mean time....Yid Army!... Yid Army!... Yid Army!... Yid Army!... Yid Army!...

Seconded!!!

I think that if there was an instance where a team had a particular section of thier supporters who were black, and copped alot of abuse from opposing fans over it, there would be a high chance of a unified rallying behind the abused, and maybe a team referring to themselves as something deemed 'rascist' but used to reclaim the term...

Imagine at work, someone in another team/group to yours, abusing one of your team...Wanker! wanker! something something....and thats how children are born!

 

[midoNdefoe]

Chelsea fans all call me yidboy because i support spurs, i'm not jewish, are they going to stop referring to me as that because some guys on talksport decide its offensive???

Oh, and wherever i am, when i see a spurs shirt the first thing i do is point and 'yido', usually met with a smile and a returned 'yido'....

COYS!!!

 

[worcestersauce]

I voted yes.

I'm Jewishmg:, and whilst I admit that I don't get particularly offended when Yid Army is sung in the stadium, what does offend me is when fans from other teams use the word, because when they say it, what they mean is "you f-ing Jewish c's":-x. It's clearly a term they use to be derogatory to Spurs fans.

I think that if we didn't use the word then it would be unacceptable for others to use it :snooty:, in the same way as you don't hear common use of the N word at football grounds even though there are a high number of black players and fans there.:supered:


So, far from being a show of unitymg:, it actually encourages use of the term amongst other fans, leaving the people to whom it has negative racial connotations vulnerable:violin:. And the people to whom it has no racial connotations, don’t care:beer:.


PS This is my 666 post! All hail Satan :evil:.

But by dropping it all together would they stop using it? No reason to suppose they would being as they used it like that before we took ownership of it, the difference is that it's water off a ducks back now and they can't use it like that to any effect at all.

It comes down to the meaning of the word and the meaning of the word Yid in this context has become "Spurs fan" so not an offensive term. Is nigger an offensive term to a white guy? Only, I suspect, to racist ones but I wouldn't be offended.
This is a classic example of mans ability to overcome ridicule and insult, the Desert Rats took the name when they adopted the Jerboa badge but the term only really got adopted and worn as a badge of honour by all the 8th army following german insults of the term I believe the Aussies & Kiwi's have an association the "Rats of Tobruk" from a direct insult from lord HAW HAW and following Kaiser bill's insult of the contemptable little army about the British, being a member of the "Old Contemptables" was a mark of pride for soldiers until the day they died as old men. Nobody has ever said Desert rats, Rats of tobruk or Old contemptables are offensive terms.

 

[phil]

Does anyone remember if we chanted Yiddo to Ronny Rosenthal when he was with us? Or if we used the 'Yid Army' chant when we played away to Maccabi Tel Aviv a few years ago?

I went to the Hapoel match in Tel Aviv a couple of seasons back. On the flight over, a number of fans were concerned about banners and chants supporting Yid Army. Our concern was misplaced.

As Spurs took only a couple of hundred fans, Hapoel had allowed a few local Israeli Spurs supporters to occupy the Spurs end. Some of these Israeli fans had printed (and sold) a number of huge Yid Army banners. I asked one of the Israelis whether the term Yid was offensive to him. He was surprised at the question and said that term was not at all offensive in Tel Aviv. He did think, however, that it might be offensive to Hasidic Jews in Jerusalem. He was surprised that it was an offensive term in Britain.

I feel uncomfortable using the term but, as I am not Jewish, cannot comment on whether or not it is offensive. When I grew up in post-war Stamford Hill, the Jewish community there would often use the term themselves. There was a famous Sophie Tucker song of the era "My Yiddisher Momma".

Can anyone say when we adopted the Yid epithet? I don't recall it being used in the 50s/60s. In the 70s, I lived oversees and didn't see many Spurs games until the late 80s, by which time it was in common use.

 

[Chimbo!]

'Yid' is not offensive in the context used by Tottenham fans, as it is used as a form of identity and sense of belonging. However, often when other fans say it, it is meant in a derogatory fashion.

It is a fine line and one that can be easily crossed. However, it is ridiculous to conclude that those who mean it in a positive sense should stop saying it, when the prejudiced side of it is used by others.

If people do not take offence to a remark then it cannot be termed offensive. Yid was insulting in the past but over time the meaning can be changed.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Personally, and speaking as a White, Englishman, I've never really understood the why people of certain creeds find the need to take exception to words such as 'paki', 'nigger', or 'yid'. I would argue that these terms should be no more offensive than 'pomme', 'yank' or 'jock'.

Can't even begin to tell you what's wrong with that!

 

[Bobishism]

I don't like to be referred to as a Yid because i'm not yiddish. I wouldn't think it would offend anyone though.

 

[midoNdefoe]

Personally, and speaking as a White, Englishman, I've never really understood the why people of certain creeds find the need to take exception to words such as 'paki', 'nigger', or 'yid'. I would argue that these terms should be no more offensive than 'pomme', 'yank' or 'jock'. Name calling should, IMO, be ignored, laughed off, or just simply ignored.

The first terms are offensive because they are used as derogatory terms towards oppressed peoples...

The second terms are used as light banter usually between sports fans...

See any differences now?

 

[spurslenny]

The first terms are offensive because they are used as derogatory terms towards oppressed peoples...

The second terms are used as light banter usually between sports fans...

See any differences now?

Of course I do!! I'm just saying that an insult is only an insult if you allow it to upset you. While those terms you have highlighted in current society are unacceptable, I can't help feeling that if at some point in history if those 'insults' had been laughed off (for want of a better term) then they in turn would not have carried so much weight. People of a low intellect throw insults about knowing that they cut deep, because they are either too stupid or lazy to think of a better way to express what they are feeling or thinking.
Let me ask you, if you are white, how much actual offense are you going to take if someone calls you a 'honky' or some other such White related insult.
Not much is my bet, and that is the way it should be.
'sticks and stones' and all that jazz.