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RECENT POSTSshibboleth
SHI-buh-leth
noun
a common-place belief; use of a language unique to a particular group; a code word (usually a common place word with a secret meaning) used by members of a group;
1908A Room With a ViewLife is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice, and we welcome 'nerves' or any other shibboleth that will cloak our personal desire.1918The First Hundred ThousandThe word 'fatigue' is a shibboleth with, the British private. Persuade him that a task is part of his duty as a soldier, and he will perform it with tolerable cheerfulness; but once allow him to regard that task as a 'fatigue,' and he will shirk it whenever possible, and regard himself as a deeply injured individual when called upon to undertake it.1990The Mother TongueDialects are sometimes said to be used as a shibboleth.Labels: Bill Bryson, E. M. Forster, Ian Hay
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