Oh my god I finally have shorthand to explain to non-Jews how there's an unspoken cultural implication of
Ashkenazic Jew from secular background who knows Yiddish but not Hebrew=probably working class, leftist/progressive, anti-zionist
Ashkenazic Jew from religious background who knows Hebrew but not Yiddish=probably rich, politically conservative, zionist
In Warhammer, High Gothic is firstly the liturgical language of the Imperial cult, but using it in daily life also carries the class conotation of a moneyed background, whereas Low Gothic is the language of the masses.
Hebrew is High Gothic, Yiddish is Low Gothic.
Hebrew and Yiddish carry certain implications because, historically, being able to learn Hebrew suggested you were from a religious family who was wealthy enough to afford education. Then, later, it picked up the implication that the speaker is Zionist after the Zionist movement created a Hebrew language revival initiative.
Meanwhile the Bund (the anti-zionist, secular, working class, Jewish labor rights movement) denounced Hebrew as "bourgeoise and counter-revolutionary" while holding up Yiddish as the language of the Jewish proletariat.
And thats why, whenever someone introduces me to the one other Jewish co-worker at the office and I find out they only speak Hebrew, my eyes automatically narrow and I go "...Oh."
Is it fair that my brain immediately conjures "Likely from a rich conservadox family on Long Island, went to Stony Brook or Hofstra, looooved their Birth Right trip, lived in Israel/wants to live in Israel, votes Republican"? Maybe not. But it still happens and I'm probably right.
