The origin of the word "Ghetto"

[solleticoso1]

That you all uses, especially in the US, but maybe you didn't know that...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTER_9nhIvg

An Italian professor of the Hebraic Museum of Venezia explain you why Ghettos are called Ghettos! 😉

 

[dalekfire]

How interesting! ^^ I was most familiar with the term as used to describe Jewish communities during the World War II era, but had no idea the term originated in Venice in a metal foundry. Thanks for sharing the link; I'll have to look more into this guy's YouTube page for more fun facts. 🙂

It's really intriguing to dig deep into the genesis of words, and how they've evolved in time and in different cultures. My favorite I think is when Dutch textile workers threw their wooden "sabot" shoes at the gears of the new textile looms to break them, as they thought the machine would make their manual labor obsolete and put them out of work - thus the term "sabotage" was born, first as a French derogatory term for unskilled labor workers, and then as the act of intentionally breaking something to thwart operation.

 

[GuardedAngel]

I did know about Venice, but only because I remembered from A Merchant of Venice from Shakespeare. My absolutely favourite of his plays. 🙂 Though I did not know about the origin of the name itself. Fascinating! Thank you so much for sharing.

 

[MistressValerie1]

Interesting. May also be relevant: http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=ghetto

 

[solleticoso1]

Thank you, it was a pleasure to share with you! 🙂