shibboleth

English

WOTD – 22 July 2009

From Hebrew שִׁבֹּלֶת / שיבולת (šibbōlet, “stream, torrent”), previously thought to come from Hebrew שִׁבֹּלֶת / שיבולת (šibbōlet, “ear of wheat”) .^[1]

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shibboleth (plural shibboleths)

A word, especially seen as a test, to distinguish someone as belonging to a particular nation, class, profession etc.
A common or longstanding belief, custom, or catchphrase associated with a particular group, especially one with little current meaning or truth.
Synonyms: platitude, slogan, truism

It's about time we abandoned the bourgeois shibboleth that earning money makes you a better person.
- 2019 January 11, Tina Jordan, “Some Dos and Don’ts From Famous Writers”, in New York Times‎^[1]:
  Earlier this month J.K. Rowling posted some tips on her website. “I haven’t got 10 rules that guarantee success, though I promise I’d share them if I did,” she wrote. “The truth is that I found success by stumbling off alone in a direction most people thought was a dead end, breaking all the 1990s shibboleths about children’s books in the process.”

a word, especially seen as a test, to distinguish someone as belonging to a particular nation, class, profession etc

Catalan: xibòlet (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 獨特的習慣或主張／独特的习惯或主张, ^{(please verify)} 独特的习惯或主张 (dútè de xíguàn huò zhǔzhāng) (no exact equivalent exists)
Czech: šibolet m
Dutch: wachtwoord (nl), herkenningswoord
Finnish: šibbolet
French: shibboleth (fr)
Galician: contrasinal m
(deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
German: Schibboleth (de) n, Erkennungszeichen (de) n, Chiffre (de) n, Kennwort (de) n, Schlüsselwort (de) n
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Polish: szybolet (pl) m
Portuguese: xibolete m
Russian: шибболе́т (ru) m (šibbolét), та́йный паро́ль m (tájnyj parólʹ)
Spanish: santo y seña (es), contraseña (es)
Swedish: schibbolet (sv)
Ukrainian: шібболе́т m (šibbolét)
Volapük: jibolet

a common or longstanding belief, custom, or catchphrase associated with a particular group, especially one with little current meaning or truth

Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 落後的想法／落后的想法, ^{(please verify)} 落后的想法 (luòhòu de xiǎngfǎ) (no exact equivalent exists), ^{(please verify)} 陳詞濫調／陈词滥调 (chéncílàndiào), ^{(please verify)} 陈词滥调 (zh) (chéncílàndiào)
Dutch: according to the particular context: visie (nl), cliché (nl), woord (nl), slagzin (nl), slogan (nl)
Finnish: iskulause (fi), uskomus (fi)
French: shibboleth (fr)
(deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
Galician: clixé m
German: according to the particular context: abgedroschene Ansicht f, Klischee (de) n, veraltete Konvention f, Plattitüde (de) f, Parole (de) f, Schlagwort (de) n, Slogan (de) m
Russian: шибболе́т (ru) m (šibbolét), клише́ (ru) n (klišé)
Spanish: doctrina anticuada

^ “Judges 12:5-6”, in New Jerusalem Bible, (Can we date this quote?):
Gilead then cut Ephraim off from the fords of the Jordan, and whenever Ephraimite fugitives said, “Let me cross,” the men of Gilead would ask, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” they then said, “Very well, say Shibboleth.” If anyone said “Sibboleth”, but could not pronounce it, they would then seize him and kill him by the fords of the Jordan.