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I've heard the slang "he bageled me" meaning "he identified me as a fellow Jew (even though it wasn't obviously apparent)."

There are the times I pass someone in the street who's wearing a baseball cap, but one way or the other I can identify them as an Orthodox-practicing Jew.

Is there a word for this? Can anyone suggest one?

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If you're looking for us to suggest one, what's wrong with the slang already in use? – Double AA♦ Jan 26 '12 at 0:57
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"To bagel" means simply "to identify as a Jew." I'm looking for a word for "to identify as a shomer shabbat, shomer kashrut Jew." – Shalom Jan 26 '12 at 1:18
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To Kosher Bagel! – Double AA♦ Jan 26 '12 at 1:21
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I always understood the slang "bagel" to refer to the situation where a non-religious Jew attempts to connect with a religious Jew, for instance by mentioning that he had a bagel that morning, or something else stereotypical by which he could establish his own Jewish bona fides with the Orthodox Jew – Curiouser Jan 26 '12 at 1:23
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I believe the word you are looking for is , "Stereotyping" – avi Jan 26 '12 at 13:18
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3 Answers

up vote 5 down vote

Maybe we could call it "chareidar"! (Although I guess that would work better in Israel.)

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up vote 2 down vote

Since you seem to be asking for us to make one up, here's my submission.

  • "Frummed out". As in "He frummed me out", "I got frummed out".

This usage is different than those who use "frum out" to mean "become frum". There the usage would be "I frummed out", "He frummed out".

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I won't downvote it, because there's no right or wrong answer here, but as you point out, it's too similar to "frum out", and would cause confusion. – user1095 Jan 26 '12 at 12:55
up vote 1 down vote

This happens to me often (when I travel outside of Israel), and I love it. It shows me that assimilated Jews still have pride in their heritage.

One time, I was in the middle of the United States, and the clerk at the store started counting out my change - in Hebrew.

Other times, people (often older Ashkenazi men) will intentionally toss in a Yiddish word or phrase into our conversation.

My wife and I have come to call it "dropping Hebrew" or "dropping Yiddish".

Used in a sentence, "I was in podunk, Kansas, and the cashier dropped Hebrew on me!"

I was actually unfamiliar with the term "bageling" until very recently.

I was telling a religious friend in the US about a recent occurrence of someone "dropping Yiddish", and he responded, "Oh, you mean he bageled you?"

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