am ha'aretz

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew עַם הָאָרֶץ (“common people; ignorant person”).

Noun

am ha'aretz (plural amei ha'aretz)

1. (Jewish slang) An ignoramus.
   • 2004 February 19, Henry Goodman, “About Adam”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated‎^[1] (Usenet):

     […] implying that the Chief Rabbi shlita was an am haaretz who did not know the difference between an aleph and an ayin.

   • 2006 April 27, bac...@vms.huji.ac.il, “Spilling out drops of wine at the Seder”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated‎^[2] (Usenet):

     I want to see a WRITTEN source as authored by a posek/acharon prior to the year 1900. A posek/acharon, not some chassidishe amha'aretz with a diploma who can "macht a moitzi fin a reitach" [so ignorant that he makes the blessing HA'MOTZI said over eating bread when he eats a radish].

   • 2011 May 31, Yisroel Markov, “Leftwing anti-semitism”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated‎^[3] (Usenet):

     I'm sure that there were people who disliked p'rushim (people who undertook measures to conduct their lives in ritual purity as much as possible). The Sages had to institute measures to prevent these "haverim" from completely disassociating themselves from the "amei haaretz."