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On the Odd Feelings Surrounding Jewtown, India (A Place Recently Visited) · 13 February 08

A long time ago, a bunch of Jewish folk in Southern India got together and formed…

Jewtown, Cochin, Kerala, India

Yes, that’s the name of the town, at least now.

It’s a nice little place, which, according to this 1893 account by an English-speaking traveler, runs “about 1/3rd of a mile in length, and is situated close to the banks of the backwater, commencing from the southern wall of the Rajah’s Palace, and terminating at a stream which divides it from the Arab and Moplah sailors.”

Now, when I showed this photo to some friends on flickr, one said:

hmmm, is it wrong that I find that amusing?!
Somehow compared to say, ‘China Town’, Jew Town just sounds wrong, sounds rather un-PC.

True.

And now, A QUICK THEORY:
I think it’s because ‘Jew’, unlike many other religious/ethnic group titles, is now commonly used as a noun for people but NOT used as an adjective (since we have ‘Jewish’).

For example:
He is a Christian. = Ok.
That is a Christian house. = Also okay.

BUT:
He is a Jew. = Ok.
That is a Jew house. = Sounds odd. (Borat, of course, got miles out of this awkward phrasing.)

So ‘Jewtown’ sounds strange, whereas ‘Christiantown’ or ‘Muslimtown’ would be only a touch unusual.

In general:
ethnic adjective+‘town’= Ok.

Chinesetown=A touch unusual, but ok.

Big-place-name +‘town’ is also ok.

For example:

Chinatown=Ok, of course.
Israeltown= Might sound a little theme park-ish, but otherwise fine.

But noun-for-a-group-of-people+‘town’ is not so hot.

Chinesepeopletown or Chinesepersontown or (to state the obvious) Chinamantown= Not so much.

I might be off here. Can anyone think of any exceptions?

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