Yid, yiddo, yiddettes, Yido army and David Baddiel


When David Baddiel, a Chelsea supporter, challenged the acceptability of the chanting of the word “Yid” at football matches he poured fuel on the fire. In 2010, he and his brother Ivor made a short film, “The Y-word”, that featured footballers saying that the use of the word was racist and offensive. He then went on national news programmes to reinforce his displeasure with the word “Yid” being used by Tottenham supporters. Whatever the rights or wrongs of it you can’t have a debate when the examiner is a biased supporter of a rival antagonistic team.

David Baddiel calls himself a "10 out of 10 atheist" and as a "fundamentalist" "Jewish atheist". He wrote a play called Infidel where the Guardian paper stated that  “David Baddiel’s musical knocks religion”. So, he can knock religion but take umbrage with the word “Yid,” used by Tottenham Supporters in a positive and supportive way. Either Baddiel, a Chelsea supporter, is stupid or he knew damn well that by criticising Tottenham supporters for using a word in a none abusive manner, would cause conflict and anger? You must decide. The Oxford Dictionary has taken a different view, and knocked the wind out of Baddiel’s sails by changing its definition of the word Yid to include a "supporter of or player for Tottenham Hotspur". They’ve forever combined the names “Yid” and Tottenham Hotspur together forever; in a respectable and decent way.

Not long after Baddiel’s connected the word “Yid” and Tottenham Hotspur FC and brought it to a wider audience, the police were on high alert at the Tottenham stadium and said that they would arrest anybody caught using that word. In fact, a few were arrested, but the judge threw the case out. I was at that match, and I said to a police officer, “are you seriously going to arrest the whole stadium?” He walked away. After that day, it all started to fizzle out. A storm in a teacup, no thanks to a rival fan stirring the pot.

Because of all that kerfuffle, the Yid chants have grown stronger in and outside the football stadium. And it isn’t just by non-Jewish people who use it but Spurs Jews as well. Of course, outside the Spurs fanbase, there are mixed views. But all agree that it isn’t used by Spurs fans as a weapon to attack Jews.

What is the history of the word “Yid”? Well, The word Yid (Yiddish) is a Jewish ethnonym of Yiddish origin. It is used as an autonym within the Ashkenazi Jewish society.

The earliest mention of the word Yid in print was in The Slang Dictionary published by John Camden Hotten in 1874. Hotten noted that "The Jews use these terms very frequently."

It is believed that the word began to be used in an abusive sense by non-Jews, in the 20th century, likely in the 1930s when there was a large population of Jews and Yiddish speakers in East London where the fascist leader Oswald Mosley also had a strong following. Mosley's followers were said to have chanted the word “Yid” while marching through Jewish areas: "The Yids, the Yids, we gotta get rid of the Yids". Of course, used in this way is totally unacceptable and anybody using it as a word of abuse should be prosecuted, and no Spurs supporter would disagree.

According to the  Oxford English Dictionary, the first confirmed use of the related term "yiddo" for a Jewish person appeared in 1972. The words "yid" and "yiddo" became frequently related in Britain with fans of Tottenham Hotspur. In January 2020, the Oxford English Dictionary extended the definition of "yid" to "a supporter of or player for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club".

The word has frequently been used against Jewish people as an aggressive term but over the years has been appropriated by Tottenham supporters. One of the reasons for this is that the club as a strong Jewish following and have been targeted with anti-Semitic abuse by opposing fans.

The OED said the reference to Tottenham reflected the evidence that the club was associated with the Jewish community and that the term was used as a "self-designation" by some fans.

Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard said the word was "not controversial among many of the Jewish Spurs supporters, such as myself, who are proud to be Yiddos".

Spurs said in their statement that they "have never accommodated the use of the Y-word on any club channels or in club stores".

In December, the club released the results of a survey on the word, with more than 23,000 responses. I have a question over this; who were those that responded? Tottenham has a capacity of 62,000 plus, but a wider audience of many millions throughout the world. Putting it into a context, 23,000 is a tiny slice of the cake. And were they all Tottenham supporters who replied? How do we know that rival fans didn’t also respond in a negative way?

According to that survey, nearly half of respondents wanted fans to abandon the chant or use it less, with 94% acknowledging it could be considered a racist term against a Jewish person.

But 33% of respondents said they used the word "regularly" in a football context, while 12% also used it outside of football.

With the interference of rival fans, such as David Baddiel, they have assured that the chanting will continue, rather than decrease. As a season ticket holder myself I have noticed the increased volume at home, away, abroad and outside the stadium, all thanks to people like Baddiel, a Chelsea supporter.
 
The best way to remove something, if indeed it needs removing, is not to draw attention to it. If the word does die, then it will die under its own volition. People like Baddiel only pour fuel on the flames; which creates even more hostility towards Tottenham fans by rival supporters.

If the debate is to be had, then it should be had by Spurs fans, players, and Tottenham officials, and not by those that could be seen to have an ulterior motive.

By Glenn Renshaw




Comments

  1. If Daniel Levy stated that fans should drop use of Y terms, it would stop very quickly, at least inside grounds. It sticks in my throat that a Chelsea fan should get so much media airtime for his personal "crusade" (I use the term with heavy irony), time which would be better spent campaigning for his own fans to desist from their ongoing racist abuse of Spurs fans (and players).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. However, as far as I know, Daniel Levy doesn't have a problem with the world.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts