bagel (Jew)

Why are members of the Jewish population sometimes referred to derogatorily as bagels?

Today one of America's most popular breakfast items, bagels were introduced to the United States by Jewish-American immigrants, whose ancestors are credited with the invention of the popular bakery item back in Poland. The bagel is considered a staple of traditional Jewish-American cuisine, and its prevalence among Jewish communities in the New World gave rise to the metonymical racial slur.

The word bagel comes from the Yiddish beygl, which in turn is believed to derive from Old English bēag, "ring."

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