It's kinda like inside knowledge for a certain group like a custom, principle, or a word in a language etc.. It comes from the Bible where one group of Israelites used a certain word that was pronounced differently by another group of Israelites to distinguish who belonged to what group. They used this to then kill anyone who wasn't from their group. They have been used over the years mostly in this way - to distinguish and discover outsiders or to figure out who you could talk to openly for minority groups e.g. gay men when homosexuality was illegal. A common one for English was used in WW2 in the Pacific where Australian and American troops would shout words that contained the 'l' sound out into the forest and if the person shouting back didn't pronounce the 'l' sound properly, they would let fire as native Japanese speakers have difficulty pronouncing the 'l' sound used in English.
Shibboleth doesn't really work in the way Ruby has used it, as how is eating porridge with water a trait specific to a group and why would people use this to distinguish themselves? I get that it might be used to describe an old fashioned idea but that's definitely not the meaning most people would understand hence why it reads oddly.
Edited to clarify: the word that was used in the bible was shibboleth which I think was the name of a certain plant (?) that's why it's called that. Idk what the pronunciation difference was though, I think it had something to do with the 'sh' sound. It does remind you of how actually violent many Bible stories are
.
Last edited:
AND all of the profits are going to Feeding Britain - take note about how to actually help and donate to charities, Ruby
