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My family always say "pink animal" in reference to, well, the pink animal. But now we find nobody remembers the reasons for this.

It seems to me I've seen the Hebrew writers say "davar acher," or "something else," in euphemistic reference to the same famous pink animal.

Is this a Chabad tradition? Is it more widespread? What are the sources?

Isaac Moses
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Chaim
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  • Indeed, the gemara also doesn't call a pig a pig – mbloch Mar 27 '19 at 14:14
  • relevant: https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/2518058/jewish/Permitting-the-Pig.htm – mbloch Mar 27 '19 at 14:15
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    @moloch Do you know places where this rule is demonstrated? – Chaim Mar 27 '19 at 14:16
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    Pesachim 3b or Shabbat 129b are examples (davar acher) but it is not always true. I believe the mishnayot and beraitot say chazir more directly, e.g., Bechorot 40a, although one can find quite a few instances in the gemara as well. Yours is a good question – mbloch Mar 27 '19 at 14:22
  • Note that even though there are times where a pig is named via a euphemism, there are also several places where it says 'chazir' directly (including the Torah itself). Interesting question nonetheless, +1 from me. :) – Salmononius2 Mar 27 '19 at 14:23
  • Related https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/2735/759 – Double AA Mar 27 '19 at 14:43
  • @Salmononius2 Pesachim 3b that you cite also says that one should avoid saying negative things when one is able to do so (discussion there revolves around the word טמא), but that when one needs to be explicit, one can. Perhaps this explains those discrepancies; where it can refer to it as דבר אחר, it does, and whenever it can’t, it doesn’t. Now we just need to work out why it can in some places and can’t in others... – DonielF Mar 27 '19 at 16:07
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    Considering that both are related midrashically to Esau, I wouldn't be surprised if this custom is also related to the kabbalistic custom of referring to saro shel esau as ס-מ rather then by its full name – Loewian Mar 27 '19 at 16:14
  • Accordingly, related: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/61854/earliest-sources-to-avoid-pronouncing-the-name-samael – Loewian Mar 27 '19 at 16:16
  • Is davar acher the source which your present in the question? – Dr. Shmuel Mar 27 '19 at 22:05
  • I mean to say, it seems that the source for being uncomfortable using the direct word of pig traces back as a Jewish practice to the Talmud - which you mention. Now what else is your question? – Dr. Shmuel Mar 27 '19 at 22:07
  • @Dr. Shmuel I wonder (1) exactly WHERE, in the Talmud and elsewhere, they avoid the direct word, (2) WHY they avoid the direct word, and (3) WHETHER (or WHY) we should likewise avoid the direct word. I agree that many comments have been helpful. – Chaim Mar 27 '19 at 22:08
  • Read the above comments which say that daver acher is a Talmudic expression. – Dr. Shmuel Mar 27 '19 at 22:08
  • @mbloch By the way your linked-to article contains the remark in quotation marks that we use the expression davar achar "so that one shouldn’t become curious about it and come to eat it, just as we don’t mention the name of bread on Pesach for this reason." But despite those quotation marks I see no attribution. – Chaim Mar 27 '19 at 22:14
  • @mbloch what does the genera call a pig and can you give me an example of a specific Gemara? – Dude Jul 05 '22 at 02:58
  • @Dude does the fourth comment from the top answer your question? – mbloch Jul 05 '22 at 03:37
  • @mbloch yes it does, thank you – Dude Jul 05 '22 at 18:22

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