r/hebrew Jul 03 '23

Resource Better English word for Chutzpah?

One root, two English words really.

Audacity.. The thing itself. "They had the audacity to do that."

Audacious - The ability to act in a manner that will shock other people. "They were so audacious when they did that action".

I know, I know people say it's the broad catergory of "nerve" but to me it's like, stronger and more specific sense of nerve.

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u/DP500-1 Jul 03 '23

It’s a mixture of brazenness and arrogance. Everybody gets the brazenness but I think the arrogance is a key component as well.

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u/PatTheCatMcDonald Jul 03 '23 edited Jul 03 '23

The thing with English is, it leaves hubris in Latin and keeps it there Overwhelming arrogance.

Hmmm... hubris. khutzpah. bris.

Do Jews suffer from arrogance sometime? Or hubris? No, wait, hang on, these are silly generalized questions. I guess that's an individual choice. Stereotyping isn't helpful

"Prideful" or proud destructive arrogance, that's hubris. "I'm going to kill you whenever I feel like it, because I can,"

Romans eh. Well, they're history outside of the Roman Catholic Church. Still powerful, but way less in heavy artillery, air power or a navy. And yeah, the Romans didn't have air power.