12 Everyday Words You Use That Are Actually Racist
3. Hip Hip Hooray
Okay so technically not a "word", but this phrase also has extremely racist connotations. Deriving from the German "hep hep" - a herding cry used by shepherds - it became synonymous with the Holocaust. Under Nazi rule, German citizens used it as a way to "herd" Jewish people into ghettoes - a racist term already discussed. It is believed to have been used even further back than that in Germany though. In 1819 - when anti-Semitism was prevalent across Europe - the Germans persecuted Jews during the "Hep-Hep Riots" - so don't be so quick to shout "hip hip hooray" next time you're celebrating a success...
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
Okay so technically not a "word", but this phrase also has extremely racist connotations. Deriving from the German "hep hep" - a herding cry used by shepherds - it became synonymous with the Holocaust. Under Nazi rule, German citizens used it as a way to "herd" Jewish people into ghettoes - a racist term already discussed. It is believed to have been used even further back than that in Germany though. In 1819 - when anti-Semitism was prevalent across Europe - the Germans persecuted Jews during the "Hep-Hep Riots" - so don't be so quick to shout "hip hip hooray" next time you're celebrating a success...