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Mrph1 MOD (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
2023-09-26 15:05:18

There have been suggestions it's antisemitic and rooted in Shakespeare's Shylock.

No such etymology has been evidenced and when a UK complaint was lodged about an advert using the term, the Board of Deputies of British Jews had no such concerns about the word in that context.

However, as with other possible slurs, that doesn't mean it's acceptable globally.

Edited by Mrph1
Ultimatum (Old as dirt)
2023-09-26 15:17:15

I've never of shyster being a slur since its always been used another word for a conman

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Madison14 Since: Dec, 2015
2023-09-26 18:51:20

Wiktionary, Merriam-Webster, and the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary all don't say anything about it being a slur, and Wiktionary explicitly says that it isn't related to "shylock." Some people seem to make a hobby out of choosing random previously innocuous things and deciding they're offensive — remember when 4chan pretended the OK sign was a white power symbol? It wouldn't be a problem if everyone else would stop taking the bait. I'm sure the troper who reported it meant well, but that doesn't mean she was in the right.

Edited by Madison14
Dirtyblue929 Since: Dec, 2012
2023-09-26 21:56:07

To play devil's advocate, "niggard" and "niggardly" also have no etymological roots in racism and only coincidentally sound like slurs (they derive from the Middle English "nigon", itself a derived from the Norse "hnǫggr" and Old English "hnēaw"), but they're so archaic and easily mistaken for the n-word that they're only really used as racist dogwhistles in the modern day.

I could easily see an argument that "shyster"'s archaicness, definition that happens to fit with racist stereotypes of Jewish people (greedy lying con artist, etc.), and phonetic similarity to "shylock" give it similar dogwhistling potential.

That said, stepping off the devil's podium I personally haven't really seen any instances of the term being used as a dogwhistle, and as Mrph cited, at least one Jewish organization has come out saying the word isn't of any concern, so grain of salt.

Edited by Dirtyblue929
PCD Since: May, 2021
2023-09-27 07:13:59

In the United States, "shyster" is usually followed by "lawyer", and means a bad or crooked attorney. At most, a slur against the profession.

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