A letter to the editor of PennLive.com today, suggested that Pennsylvania GOP Chair, Lawrence Tabas, was using an “anti-Semitic dog-whistle” when he referred to the Democratic candidate for governor as Josh Shah-PIE-Roh, rather than Shah-PEER-Oh, which is the way the candidate, Josh Shapiro, pronounces his last name.
One has to wonder if the person making this accusation realized that Tabas himself is a Jew, a Philadelphia Jew. And most Philadelphians who go by the name Shapiro (almost all of whom are Jewish), unlike their counterparts in the rest of the world, pronounce it the way Tabas was pronouncing it – Shah-PIE-Roh.
Everywhere else, the name Shapiro is pronounced the way Josh Shapiro (who was born in Kansas City) pronounces it – Shah-PEER-Oh.
Our research team is still trying to come up with an explanation as to why in Philadelphia we say Shah-PIE-Roh and not Shah-PEER-Oh.
More than likely, the answer to that question will help shed some light on why in Philadelphia we pronounce Goldstein and Weinstein as Gold-STINE and Wine-STINE, whereas everywhere else those names are pronounced Gold-STEEN and Wine-STEEN.
Jonathan Shapiro, who is Chair of the Democratic Committee of Lower Merion Narberth, pronounces his name Shah-PIE-Roh. He said that his grandfather’s last name was actually Schmojz, but “the guy at Ellis Island” decided that Shapiro was close enough, and that’s what the immigration officer wrote on the form – without providing any guidance as to its pronunciation. And when Mr. Schmojz/Shapiro found his way to Philadelphia, he pronounced his new name the way everybody else here pronounced it – Shah-PIE-Roh.
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