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[–] 1 point 8 months ago (3 children)

When I was 14, I also wisecracked that, but then

  1. I learned that linguistics is a descriptive discipline, not a prescriptive one: meaning correspond to usage, not what a word is “supposed” to mean
  2. I realized that words often have meanings that don't correspond to their literal translation

So no, antisemitism doesn't refer to any semitic tribes that aren't Jewish.

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  • [–] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    I agree with you that words meaning is a thing of context, and what matters the most is what people imply when they use it, generalization usually takes a person to the wrong path; the only real guide for almost everything is the context.

    IMO, anti-Semitism is more used to refer to anti-muslim sentiment than anti-jew sentiment, but I guess the location on earth that I walk matters a lot.

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