When a fugitive said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” they said to him, “Say shibboleth.” And he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time 42,000 Ephraimites. [The Bible, Judges 12: 5-6] When I read the above extract as the preface to an essay on the importance of right pronunciation, my first response was a laugh. As a teacher of English language and literature, I was struck by the deep irony as well as dark humour in the Biblical episode. Language became a tool for identifying the enemy. And the word used for the identification test is “shibboleth” which means ‘a password, phrase, custom, or usage that reliably distinguishes the members of one group or class from another.’ The author of the Book of Judges revealed a profound sense of black humour by slitting 42,000 throats with the word ‘shibboleth.’ The
Cerebrate and Celebrate