A Hebrew phrase — literally 'people of the land' — used in Jewish cultural and religious contexts as a mild insult meaning an ignorant or uneducated person, particularly one ignorant of Torah and Jewish law. In modern Israeli and diaspora Jewish slang it is typically deployed in a teasing or exasperated register to describe someone who doesn't know something they arguably should. Can range from affectionate ribbing among friends to genuine contempt depending on delivery.
You didn't know that Yom Kippur is a fast day? What are you, an am ha'aretz?
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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A Hebrew phrase literally meaning people of the land, used in Jewish cultural and religious contexts as a slang insult for an ignoramus — someone who is uneducated or oblivious, particularly in religious matters. The term has a long history in Jewish texts, shifting from a neutral description of common people to a term of intellectual condescension. Used in American Jewish communities, often with wry humor.
He could quote the Talmud all day but couldn't cook a meal to save his life — a total am ha'aretz in the kitchen.
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(Jewish, _, slang) An ignoramus.
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