Shibboleth

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A shibboleth is a word or catch-phrase used to identify others, or those not belonging to a particular in-group.

[edit] Etymology

Judges 12:5 and Judges 12:6 tell how the fighters of Gilead used the pronunciation of the Hebrew word shibbólet (שִׁבֹּלֶת) to identify Ephraimite refugees or infiltrators, since the people of Ephraim's way of saying the word was easily identifiable as "sounding funny."

[edit] See also

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