Jan. 22, 2010
To jew
tr.v. jewed, jewing, jews --- Offensive
1.To bargain shrewdly or unfairly with. Often used with down.
2.To haggle so as to reduce (a price). Often used with down. -- Dictionary.com
The phrase, "to Jew," is another example of a strange truth about the English language: "Every noun can be verbed."
The dictionary says the phrase is offensive, presumably to Jews. In another on-line source, Art and Popular Culture, we are told: "Additionally, the derived verbs jew and jew down are considered offensive, as they reflect stereotypes considered offensive."
Why this stereotype should be considered offensive is beyond me. But there is a reason for my confusion. I buy from Jews, at least stereotypical Jews. What I want is a Jewish brother-in-law deal.
I Googled ("every noun can be verbed") for two phrases: "to Jew down" bargain and "to Jew up" bargain. Results:
"to Jew down" bargain = 8,460
"to Jew up" bargain = 7
One Jew used the phrase "to Jew up" to describe how he and his wife fixed up their apartment. Anyway, "to Jew up" is hardly on the Web. Within a few hours of the time I post this article, it will probably have top ranking. For Google ranking, top is good!
Back to the topic at hand: a study in free market competition. What is the origin of "to Jew down"? To understand this, let us consider the non-origin of "to Jew up."
If I were to say, derisively, "he really Jewed me up," I would get a blank stare. The listener would not understand. "Could you explain that?" I would go on to describe how I had to pay extra money because I was dealing with a Jew. There would still be confusion. Why? Because it doesn't fit the stereotype. Jews don't ask for more in a bargaining situation when they deal (verb) with buyers. They offer deals (noun).
If I were to say, "he really Jewed me down," you would know I was a seller. I had been dealing with a hard-nosed buyer. He was not going to pay retail. Who simply refuse to pay retail? Jews. Why won't they pay retail? Because:
1. They are wholesale buyers.
2. They know other Jews who will not ask them to pay retail.
Roger Hartman, my Jewish roommate in college back in 1962, asked me a leading question: "Why did God make Gentiles?" Playing a straight man -- a traditional role for Gentiles, I later learned -- I bit. "Why?" "Because somebody has to pay retail." He also told me about his youth. "I grew up in Fresno, but we moved to San Francisco. When the Armenians moved in, the Jews moved out." I did not understand this in 1962. I do now. I married an Armenian in 1972. Armenians do not look for Jewish brother-in-law deals. "Too expensive."
The phrase, "to Jew down," had its origin in wholesalers' circles and in communities with a lot of pawn shops. It was born of resentment against that most fundamental of free market principles, consumer sovereignty. (I prefer consumer authority, but usage among economists invokes sovereignty -- a judicial concept.) In a free market, the consumer has the advantage over the seller, for he possesses money: the most marketable commodity. Everyone wants the buyer's money. Not that many people want the seller's specific product or service.
The seller is at a disadvantage: limited market. The buyer has money: huge market. The person who says, "he Jewed me down," was at a disadvantage in a transaction. This was not because he is a Gentile. It was because he was a seller. The Jew had money. He made the best offer. The seller should think, "It could have been worse." He doesn't.
The stereotype of a Jew with money is an old one. Why? It is because . . . how can I put this inoffensively? . . . Jews are generally very good with money. Why? Because they learn early how to buy low and sell high. But how can they sell high? Two reasons: (1) they bought really low; (2) they sell lower than their competition. They offer Jewish brother-in-law deals. So, they buy very low and sell not too high.
The economic success of Jews for at least two millennia has been based on this fact: they learn how to serve consumers, which is bad news for Gentile sellers. They are not widely loved people, but they are widely sought-after people. That is because everyone wants a Jewish brother-in-law deal. Except Armenians.
Yes, Gentiles pay retail, but not if they can get a discount. They can. This discount is prefaced by the two most important words in Jewish small businesses: "For you. . . ." This is not a stereotype. It has been a way of life -- literal life, as in survival.
In selling, the apprentice advertiser soon learns that the most important words are these: "you," "free," and "all you can eat." Jewish retailers start with "you," get closer to "free" than the competition, and adopt the chicken soup strategy: "more, more."
In 1776, Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." This is why, when Gentiles go shopping for meat (but not pork) or bread or beer, they often head for the Jewish-owned shop around the corner.
For you. . . . This is the secret of success in a free market. Jews figured it out early. So did Armenians.
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