| 词组 | Jewess |
| 释义 | Jewess Jewess is a word of relatively low frequency and of uncertain status. Copperud 1964, 1970, 1980 and Evans 1957 say it is often considered derogatory; evidence in H. L. Mencken (TheAmerican Language, Supplement I, 1945) confirms that opinion, but it is evidence from the middle 1930s. Jewess is often bracketed with Negress, with commentators finding them both derogatory (Evans) or not (Simon 1980). An important factor in the status of such words is who uses them. We have evidence, for instance, that Jewish women may use Jewess of themselves: • I sat and thought to myself, here is the head of the church, sitting face to face with the Jewess from Israel, and he's listening to what I'm saying —Golda Meir, quoted in N.Y. Times, 20 Jan. 1973 Most of our literary evidence seems to be neutral, although it is not always easy to detect covert social commentary that may underlie a usage. Here are a few American examples: • His wife had been a German Jewess, above him socially, so she thought —Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammler's Planet, 1969 • The sexual yearning is for the Other. The dream of the shiksa—counterpart to the Gentile dream of the Jewess, often adjectivally described as "melon-breasted." —Philip Roth, Reading Myself and Others, 1975 • ... they had been refugees in Portugal during World War II, and when it was over, only Australia would let them in. An Australian Jewess, Bech thought — John Updike, Bech Is Back, 1982 Jewess seems to be a word that can be used by those who are deft enough to illuminate social attitudes in a subtle way; perhaps most of us are not clever enough to use it. Our British evidence is enigmatic; the little we have suggests from the way it is used that it could give offense, but British sensibilities may be different on this point. See also -ess; Negress. |
| 随便看 |
英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。