did she tell you what 'a jew' means in a coloquial language ? It's not necesserily a person of such ethnicity but someone one hates or fears of or loaths... for example soccer hooligans call 'jews' groups they have a conflict with .

It was a "he." But he explained that they thought Communism was a Jewish plot against Russia.

I don't know if it makes me feel better about the world that a "Jew" means essentially a "hated enemy" in Eastern European languages.

I'm willing to let Engels join the team; he seemed reasonably intelligent.

In Latin languages (in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish at least), the verb "to jew" means to be mean or vile. It's obviously a racial slur, like porandojin's example.

I don't think any of those four guys were particularly pro-religion, so I think Engels' Christian Pietist roots pretty much cross him off for possible team switching.

Also, Jon Elster (Introduction to Karl Marx) pretty much flat out says that Engels didn't add much to Marx's theories and was pretty worthless once Marx died.

Engels added quite a bit to "Marx's" theories. Utilizing his experience as a clerk in England while Marx was living off a gift of 1000 thalers in France, Engels realized the power of economic forces in history, hitherto uncredited as a historical force. His understanding of industrial England combined with Marx's understanding of the French Revolution and the dialectic nature of society.

Engels also explained dialectical materialism and the underlying philosophical thinking of Marx's works.