Corona Beer - Jewish minhag to avoid speech that hints of evil

Question

NOTE: I have changed this question to make it more general as the previous question seemed to be too focused on something that has no bases ("Kefir" drink sounding like Kefira etc).

Would one be best not mentioning the names, or using (in this case drinking) products that have words that hint of evil or nasty things?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe would advise people not to use the common word "taboo" (voodoo word), and I've heard stories of our grandparents' grandparents scolding them for phrases like "I am cold" (it sounds like a corpse).

If I had to choose to go down the rabbit hole of whether kefir is inappropriate via minhag to not say things or whether one should avoid saying Tammuz to follow the halakha of not mentioning foreign God's names, I would go down the latter rabbit hole. — Aaron, Apr 18 '23 at 22:06
This question reminds me of a Moroccan Jew once telling me, that where he comes from, though they eat other legumes on Pessach, they don't eat chickpeas, because the way they pronounce 'Hummus' (the Arabic - and [Modern] Hebrew - word for chickpeas) and 'Chametz' sound very similar. — Tamir Evan, Apr 19 '23 at 03:24
Two words in different languages sounding similar doesn't mean they are related. You are making a an assumption and drawing conclusions from that without basis — Dude, Apr 19 '23 at 10:08
If we stop drinking Corona beer because of this, what to we do about כבוד? Do we stop honoring people because of Covid? As the Sages said to Rabbi Yehuda, Ain l'dvar Sof — יהושע ק, Apr 19 '23 at 17:28
Corona is Spanish for crown and doesn't have any inherent negative connotation. — Dude, Apr 19 '23 at 23:18

שלום · Accepted Answer · 2023-04-19T04:28:31.480

The Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 582) writes that although we are extra careful during the ten days of repentance to say “Zochreinu LE’chaim” and not “LA’chaim” - in order not to sound like “LO chaim” (which means “no life”, G-d forbid), nevertheless, the rest of the year, it is okay to say “LA’chaim”

The Shulchan Aruch Harav explains that in general, we go based on the intent of the words, and don’t worry about what it might sound like

So it would appear, that when a word can sound like something else, in general it is not an issue

Also, Tosafos (Yoma 38b) says that when there are two people in Tanach with the same name, even if one of them was not a good person, we can still give that name, being that he was not the only one with that name

Also, according to the Maharsha (Horayos 12a) it would seem that refraining from eating something because of its name falls under the prohibition of ניחוש (superstition) - although it is unclear if everyone holds of this, as it is customary not to eat anything bitter or sour on Rosh Hashanah (Mishnah Berurah 583:1

Thank you for that Tosafot. Settles a longstanding argument I've had with my wife :) — Avraham, Apr 18 '23 at 23:05
Honestly at this point I don't even remember which specific name; but it's kind of a consideration that has affected all our naming decisions. I think at one point it may have been discussed re Menashe. — Avraham, Apr 18 '23 at 23:23

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 19 '23 at 00:32

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Kefir does not mean anything offensive as far as I can tell. It is similar to suggesting that the word "Doe" not be used as it is reminiscent of the word "Dope".

The word actually is the name of a type of grain. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir.

answered Apr 19 '23 at 00:32

Hershy S.

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Thank you. I need to double check with a grammar expert (apologies if you are one), I have always heard that word as some version of a grammatical heretic. Either way thank you for this excellent answer – Rabbi Kaii Apr 19 '23 at 07:38
"kefir grains" are not actually a grain, they are a bacteria+yeast culture that forms solid grain-like shapes and are used to turn milk into kefir. The wikipedia article you linked says the etymology of the word is unknown. – Esther Apr 19 '23 at 14:04

Corona Beer - Jewish minhag to avoid speech that hints of evil

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