Been done a thousand times. I call myself a Yid and always will.
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Why Tottenham supporters chant the Y word, and why I do not mind
Why Tottenham supporters chant the Y word, and why I do not mind
david aaronovitch
Quite a few threads on this makes it confusing to know where to put new stuff. Anyway, for what I think is the very first time a piece written in the media that actually puts out the Spurs fans case for using the term without any snide or misinformed nonsense:
Three weeks ago, up in the stratospheric heights of Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium, locked in behind plastic screens and wire netting, 4,000 Tottenham fans greeted the news of the team’s unlikely qualification to the next round of the Champions League with their favourite song. It goes like this:
We sang it in France,
We sang it in Spain,
We sing in the sun and we sing in the rain,
They tried to stop us, but look what it did,
Cos the thing I love most is being a Yid.
Being a Yid, being a Yid,
The thing I love most is being a Yid.
“Yid” is the derogatory term that the British far right has traditionally used for Jews. In the 1930s Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts would chant “the Yids, the Yids, we’ve got to get rid of the Yids”. And because Spurs had been seen as the team with most Jewish supporters going back to the Twenties, when in the 1960s and 1970s the far right infiltrated some of the hooligan groups associated with football supporters, the word “Yid” began to be part of the abuse hurled at Spurs fans.
In their book A People’s History Of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Martin Cloake and Alan Fisher write that “the chant ‘does your rabbi know you’re here?’ was mild and amusing compared with the rest. ‘I’ve never felt more like gassing the Jews . . .’, ‘one man went to gas, went to gas a yiddo . . .’, ‘Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz, Hitler’s gonna gas ’em again . . .’”
In my experience of the period (and since) the worst fans for this kind of abuse belonged to Chelsea and West Ham United. Their hooligans had, I believe, the most developed far right links.
But in this instance Spurs fans reacted in a gloriously imaginative way. They took over the word. They owned it and they started calling themselves “Yiddos”. In many ways it was an “I am Spartacus” act of solidarity with Jewish fans.
The Barcelona song itself dates from 2013, the last time that, in an effort to suppress antisemitic taunts from rival fans, the attempt was made to coerce Spurs fans from their self-identification. The logic was that if Spurs fans stopped calling themselves Yids, then rival fans would drop the racism.
Some of my best friends are Chelsea-supporting Jews. They’ve told me what it’s like to have your own people, inches away from you, yelling about gassing Jews. And galling to feel that one reason it is happening is because Spurs fans, mainly non-Jews, are identifying as “Yids”. I too would be upset.
Maybe one day all this will fade away. But as the authorities discovered in 2013, when attempts at prosecuting Spurs fans for using the Y-word failed, context is everything. A word or a phrase is only abuse if you’re using it to abuse. Still, it’s an unlovely word and hopefully if rival fans were dissuaded from antisemitism for a period of years, its defiant but non-abusive use would fade into history. Till then, however, they’ll sing it in France, and they’ll sing it in Spain . . .
Why Tottenham supporters chant the Y word, and why I do not mind
david aaronovitch
Quite a few threads on this makes it confusing to know where to put new stuff. Anyway, for what I think is the very first time a piece written in the media that actually puts out the Spurs fans case for using the term without any snide or misinformed nonsense:
Three weeks ago, up in the stratospheric heights of Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium, locked in behind plastic screens and wire netting, 4,000 Tottenham fans greeted the news of the team’s unlikely qualification to the next round of the Champions League with their favourite song. It goes like this:
We sang it in France,
We sang it in Spain,
We sing in the sun and we sing in the rain,
They tried to stop us, but look what it did,
Cos the thing I love most is being a Yid.
Being a Yid, being a Yid,
The thing I love most is being a Yid.
“Yid” is the derogatory term that the British far right has traditionally used for Jews. In the 1930s Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts would chant “the Yids, the Yids, we’ve got to get rid of the Yids”. And because Spurs had been seen as the team with most Jewish supporters going back to the Twenties, when in the 1960s and 1970s the far right infiltrated some of the hooligan groups associated with football supporters, the word “Yid” began to be part of the abuse hurled at Spurs fans.
In their book A People’s History Of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Martin Cloake and Alan Fisher write that “the chant ‘does your rabbi know you’re here?’ was mild and amusing compared with the rest. ‘I’ve never felt more like gassing the Jews . . .’, ‘one man went to gas, went to gas a yiddo . . .’, ‘Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz, Hitler’s gonna gas ’em again . . .’”
In my experience of the period (and since) the worst fans for this kind of abuse belonged to Chelsea and West Ham United. Their hooligans had, I believe, the most developed far right links.
But in this instance Spurs fans reacted in a gloriously imaginative way. They took over the word. They owned it and they started calling themselves “Yiddos”. In many ways it was an “I am Spartacus” act of solidarity with Jewish fans.
The Barcelona song itself dates from 2013, the last time that, in an effort to suppress antisemitic taunts from rival fans, the attempt was made to coerce Spurs fans from their self-identification. The logic was that if Spurs fans stopped calling themselves Yids, then rival fans would drop the racism.
Some of my best friends are Chelsea-supporting Jews. They’ve told me what it’s like to have your own people, inches away from you, yelling about gassing Jews. And galling to feel that one reason it is happening is because Spurs fans, mainly non-Jews, are identifying as “Yids”. I too would be upset.
Maybe one day all this will fade away. But as the authorities discovered in 2013, when attempts at prosecuting Spurs fans for using the Y-word failed, context is everything. A word or a phrase is only abuse if you’re using it to abuse. Still, it’s an unlovely word and hopefully if rival fans were dissuaded from antisemitism for a period of years, its defiant but non-abusive use would fade into history. Till then, however, they’ll sing it in France, and they’ll sing it in Spain . . .
I see it as overwhelmingly positive. I know most of our support isn’t actually Jewish, but a section of of our fan base has been historically targeted and we’ve united to defend them.
Personally I don’t even think of it as specifically Jewish. Shouting ‘Yid Army’ or ‘Yiddo Yiddo’ is more about multiculturalism, and our stand against the racist scum.
We’re a club for everybody.
Personally I don’t even think of it as specifically Jewish. Shouting ‘Yid Army’ or ‘Yiddo Yiddo’ is more about multiculturalism, and our stand against the racist scum.
We’re a club for everybody.
Yiddo has been added to the Oxford Dictionary apparently:
New words list January 2020 | Oxford English Dictionary
List of new and updated entries In addition to revised versions of Second Edition entries, these ranges contain the following entries: New words: entirely new headword entries appearing in OED...
public.oed.com
- yiddo, n.: “A Jew. Also in extended use: a supporter of or player for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. See Yid n. 1, Yid n. 2.”
Ended up being harrassed by some SJW type on Twitter about this a while ago. It's obvious from my profile on there that I'm openly queer, and they asked how I'd feel if a load of mostly straight football fans decided to 'reclaim' faggot, poof or some such as a badge of pride. Obviously the answer was meant to be that I'd be pissed off to paint me as a hypocrite, but honestly I thought it'd be fucking brilliant. Brighton have a bit of an issue with being targeted with homophobia, albeit not on the same scale as the anti-Semitism we get, and I would absolutely love it if their fans responded with "The thing I love most is being a fag" - what a great way that'd be to dispell it, make their club a safer place for us, and hopefully improve things elsewhere too.
I've got to say I wouldn't feel comfortable bringing a boyfriend with me to a football game (including Spurs) to be honest, much in the same way as I know many Jews feel distinctly uncomfortable at West Ham or Chelsea. So the ever-offended types - please kindly bugger off, tackle the actual issue, or just shut it. You aren't helping and most of you frankly don't have a clue what it's like to walk in the shoes of a queer or a Jew. The thing I love most is being a Yid (and a fag!)
I've got to say I wouldn't feel comfortable bringing a boyfriend with me to a football game (including Spurs) to be honest, much in the same way as I know many Jews feel distinctly uncomfortable at West Ham or Chelsea. So the ever-offended types - please kindly bugger off, tackle the actual issue, or just shut it. You aren't helping and most of you frankly don't have a clue what it's like to walk in the shoes of a queer or a Jew. The thing I love most is being a Yid (and a fag!)
Baddiel must be frothing at the mouth right now.
Why, because he is a wankstain?
I'll never stop using the term.
Don't care who it offends.
What I don't get is why I can't take ownership of the word? I guarantee I, and most of you, have been called Yid in a derogatory manner by oppo more times than most Jews have by someone on the street or online.
They need to understand the word is not theirs alone to claim.
We will use it as long as its thrown against us. When they stop, we'll consider it. Until then, get fucked. The onus is not on us the victims.
Don't care who it offends.
What I don't get is why I can't take ownership of the word? I guarantee I, and most of you, have been called Yid in a derogatory manner by oppo more times than most Jews have by someone on the street or online.
They need to understand the word is not theirs alone to claim.
We will use it as long as its thrown against us. When they stop, we'll consider it. Until then, get fucked. The onus is not on us the victims.
Sexist!! Women wouldn't behave like this!!
:mourpoint:
Filled it in. The Y-word is a badge worn with respect, integrity and pride as a two fingered counter to the racism and bigotry from clubs like Chavs and Spam. Fuck the haters.
I'm not comfortable at all with how many people are adamant that their stance on this topic is 100% correct, and are unwilling to accept there may be some legitimacy to the other side of the argument.
For what it's worth, the above is aimed at nobody in particular, but it is far more difficult a subject than many seem to think.
For what it's worth, the above is aimed at nobody in particular, but it is far more difficult a subject than many seem to think.
How many fucking times?? Its not complicated... The word YID means/MEANT 'Friend/mate' in Yiddish... ask any Jew you like! (Not the Millenial ones, they don't have a fucking clue!)
Jews were NEVER offended by a word THEY USED ABOUT THEMSELVES... ("He's a nice YIDDESHE boy" ask your Bubba or Zeida, they'll yell ya!)
... it was never a word to 'reclaim' ...it was ours in the first place!
I think you'll find it was the racist bigots of the '60s/'70s onwards, (and yes, nice YIDDESHE boys like Baddieil's Chelsea, and Ian Abrahams' West Ham) who twisted, raped and skewed the fuck out of the true MEANING of the word, that an entire generation of Football fans have even felt the need to RECLAIM IT...
Ask any decent Hindu, with a PEACEFUL SWASTIKA symbol on their wall, what it means to have a symbol/word ripped away from you, that you have to RECLAIM something that was stolen from you and warped into something SO ugly, the world collectively forgot it's original meaning....
Has everyone gone fucking mad?
I'm not offended by the word YID, used in a positive context... I AM offended by being called a dirty fucking JEW.... however, with no MENTION of the "Y word" (lest we use it!)
I'm not offended by other Spurs fans using the word YID, regardless of their religious background....
I AM offended by a hate-filled anti Semite who decides that making hissing noises on a matchday in N17 is perfectly justified, just because he got around it 'cos he doesn't mention the word YID!
When did the definition of the word CONTEXT suddenly fall out of the collective unconsciousness of society?
It's FUCKING context people!
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Yiddo has been added to the Oxford Dictionary apparently:
New words list January 2020 | Oxford English Dictionary
List of new and updated entries In addition to revised versions of Second Edition entries, these ranges contain the following entries: New words: entirely new headword entries appearing in OED...public.oed.com
- yiddo, n.: “A Jew. Also in extended use: a supporter of or player for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. See Yid n. 1, Yid n. 2.”
I should also add that numerous others have been added as well, this one in particular I took an instant shine to:
wankstain, n.: “A semen stain.
Bravo OED, bravo! I can finally use these in a game of Scrabble now!
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You mean this moral beacon of knowledge David Baddiel?
The blokes an arsehole and a hypocrite. Never once heard him slate something their awful set of fans have done which makes his claims about Spurs fall on deaf ears.
i also only see one person on this thread trying to force people to agree with him, and getting angry when they don’t. Everyone else is trying to discuss the topic.
throwing around playground insults when someone doesn’t agree with you is pathetic.
You called someone a retard earlier, you could ask every single person (including Jews) in this country what is more offensive, yid or retard, and everyone would say retard
you’re the one promoting hate speech
Why can't clubs address their own bigotry without having to drag us into it?
Fuck off Chelsea.
Fuck off Chelsea.
Yiddo has been added to the Oxford Dictionary apparently:
New words list January 2020 | Oxford English Dictionary
List of new and updated entries In addition to revised versions of Second Edition entries, these ranges contain the following entries: New words: entirely new headword entries appearing in OED...public.oed.com
- yiddo, n.: “A Jew. Also in extended use: a supporter of or player for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. See Yid n. 1, Yid n. 2.”
We are winning...
I’m Jewish and have never been offended by the word, the hundreds of Jews I know (spurs fans or not) have also never been offended by it. Comparing N*gger to Yid is way off the mark.
I can also absolutely guarantee that David Baddiel is not offended by it, if it was associated with Chelsea fans instead of spurs he would absolutely love it and say it all the time.
He’s embarrassed that he follows a team that are genuinely anti Semitic and is trying to blame that fact on other fans/teams so he has an excuse to go and watch Chelsea play. This whole thing is just him in denial
"There is no grey area," said WJC chief executive Robert Singer.
He said the word "has for years been re-appropriated from its original Yiddish to carry a distinctly pejorative and anti-Semitic message, and its use by fans in the stands, either as a self-designated nickname or as a slogan against rivals must not be tolerated in any way".
He added: "The innocence this word once carried, as a simple translation for Jew, has long disappeared, and we must be extremely conscious of the anti-Semitic connotation it now bears."
This bloke needs to have a word with himself, the twat.
He said the word "has for years been re-appropriated from its original Yiddish to carry a distinctly pejorative and anti-Semitic message, and its use by fans in the stands, either as a self-designated nickname or as a slogan against rivals must not be tolerated in any way".
He added: "The innocence this word once carried, as a simple translation for Jew, has long disappeared, and we must be extremely conscious of the anti-Semitic connotation it now bears."
This bloke needs to have a word with himself, the twat.