lashon hara

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Pronunciations

lashon hara (LAH-shin HAH-rah) listen
lashon hara (lah-SHOHN hah-RAH) listen

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Definitions

  • n. "Gossip." (lit. "evil tongue") (JPS)

Example Sentences

  • "I would tell you, but I don't want to speak lashon hara."

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • Heb לשון הרע lashón hará, Yiddish לשון־הרע loshn-hóre

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand
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      Dictionaries

      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).

      Alternative Spellings

      loshn hore, loshon hora, lashon hora, leshon hara, l'shon hara

Notes

  • More common among Orthodox Jews.

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