Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
SHIBBOLETH
This word is Hebrew, meaning something like “stream, flood, or freshet,” and the story behind its modern English senses comes from Judges 12:5–6: the Gileadites test a man they have caught near their camp; they suspect he may be an Ephraimite, an enemy:
… the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him … [and 42,000 others].
“To pronounce it right,” of course, meant “to pronounce it as the Gileadites did.”
The modern meanings of shibboleth are crucial to any discussion of usage: specifically, it refers to a sound or word whose pronunciation is difficult or impossible for some non-native speakers, or a test word or locution by means of which in persons can keep out persons out. By extension, a shibboleth is any peculiarity of language, dress, or other manners that marks people as belonging to one group or another.
