CptnChan Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Not sure if this catch-phrase has been noted on here, but I was listening to A Way With Words on NPR this weekend, and someone called in because their parents always said "who's yehudi?" and the caller was wondering where that came from. Here is the wikipedia link to that catch-phrase: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Yehoodi%3F Although wikipedia only says the phrase was meant to describe a "mysteriously absent person", I believe the hosts on AWWW said that it could also be used to represent a question to which the answer was a mystery. Could this possibly be the inspiration for "Who is John Galt?"? After all it was popular in the 1930's, and just about everyone would be familiar with it. Is this really old news? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninth Doctor Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Maybe it has something to do with Yehudi Menuhin? FWIW, his mother named him Yehudi in response to an anti-Semitic experience she had. She was going to move in to an apartment, and was being shown around, and the landlady informed her that one of the good things about living there was that Jews weren't allowed. Not realizing that she was talking to a Jew. So, name the boy Yehudi, and no one will ever wonder whether he's Jewish or not, that was the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptnChan Posted December 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Yes, that's where the catch-phrase originated, But that's not what I was asking. I was inferring a possible connection between this actual catch-phrase from the 30's and the fictional catch-phrase of "Who is John Galt?" from Atlas Shrugged, written in the 50's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninth Doctor Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 (edited) It started because of Yehudi Menuhin? I've never heard of it, I thought it was a joke. Yehudi wasn't a normal name for a person when his parents named him that, but now, since he was so famous I expect that it is used, though I've never met anyone by that name. It just means "Jew". People are going around asking "who's a Jew"? In the 30's, too? Back then there were places in the US, clubs, nice restaurants, etc, where you might see a sign at the door: No Jews, No Dogs. I can't imagine how that phrase was funny then, but I suppose it could have been part of breaking down the bigotry through humor. You think it has something to do with Atlas Shrugged? Garet Garett's The Driver seems a better reference, though I don't have any trouble crediting Rand with having invented the motif out of whole cloth. BTW the link in your first post doesn't work, it goes to a Wiki page that has nothing to do with Yehudi, Yehoodi or whatever. Edited December 8, 2011 by Ninth Doctor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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