shibboleth
noun/ˈʃɪbəlɛθ/ · /ˈʃɪbələθ/
Etymology Learned borrowing from Biblical Hebrew שִׁבֹּלֶת /שיבולת (šibbṓleṯ, “ear [of wheat] or stream, torrent”). Doublet of sebboleth and Middle English sebolech, both from Late Latin sebboleth in the Vulgate.
1
A particular pronunciation or custom that is regarded as distinguishing members of a group from non-members, especially when used as a test.
- In recent times, the correct treatment of initial h in speech has come to be regarded as a kind of shibboleth of social position.1933, “H”, in Oxford English Dictionary:
- He also declares that "th" is the veritable English shibboleth. He advises those Germans who cannot pronounce the sound correctly to pronounce it like "d," the symbol which he regularly uses for "th" in his lessons.1922, Pennsylvania-German Society, The Pennsylvania-German Society, page 110:
2
A common or longstanding belief, custom, or catchphrase associated with a particular group, especially one with little current meaning or truth.
- It's about time we abandoned the bourgeois shibboleth that earning money makes you a better person.
- The teacher says he must stick largely to the old methods and cling to the old shibboleths or he will naturally get bad results in the examination. Only much practice along the lines the examination is going to follow will insure a [success].1924, Modern Languages, page 112:
4 more examples
- I pose the iconoclastic suggestion that even at this late stage in B.R. dieselisation, rigid standardisation might be a shibboleth.1964 May, R. & M., “What chance for an outstanding prototype?”, in Modern Railways, page 319:
- 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.2019 January 11, Tina Jordan, quoting J. K. Rowling, “Some Dos and Don’ts From Famous Writers”, in New York Times:
- Yet LBJ was very much a product of the Cold War, believing its shibboleths about communist conquest being irreversible and requiring worldwide containment even when a country, such as Vietnam, that might be falling to the communists did not threaten US national interests.2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 2, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part I. The New Deal Order, 1930–1980:
- He’d begun the day’s broadcast by rattling off a standard opening monologue: “Folks, we’re live and alive, and I hope all the boys, girls, and enbies”—nonbinary people—“are having a fantastic one.” To anyone listening for shibboleths, this would have pigeonholed him as a progressive.2025 March 17, Andrew Marantz, quoting Hasan Piker, “The Battle for the Bros”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:
- Derived terms
- shibbolethic
- Related terms
- dog whistle