shibboleth
noun/ˈʃɪbəleθ/
/ˈʃɪbəleθ/
(formal)- an old idea, principle or phrase that is no longer accepted by many people as important or appropriate to modern life
- the crumbling of old political shibboleths
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- a custom, word, etc. that distinguishes one group of people from another
Word OriginFrom a Hebrew word meaning ‘ear of corn’. In the Bible story, Jephthah, the leader of the Gileadites, was able to use it as a test to tell which were his own men, because others found the ‘sh’ sound difficult to pronounce.
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shibboleth