Kata tersebut telah digunakan jauh sebelum zaman Romawi untuk menyebut orang yang bukan Yahudi.[6] Kata tersebut juga merujuk kepada orang-orang dari kelompok etnis atau agama non-Yahudi; saat digunakan dalam bahasa Inggris, kata tersebut biasanya memiliki konotasi sindiran. Namun, istilah goy pada dasarnya tidaklah menyinggung.[7][8][9]
^Guido Zernatto & Alfonso G. Mistretta (July 1944). "Nation: The History of a Word". The Review of Politics. Cambridge University Press. 6 (3): 351–366. doi:10.1017/s0034670500021331. JSTOR1404386.
^Rich, Tracy R. "Jewish Attitudes Toward Non-Jews". Judaism 101. Diarsipkan dari versi asli tanggal 2011-04-26. Diakses tanggal January 13, 2012. There is nothing inherently insulting about the word "goy." In fact, the Torah occasionally refers to the Jewish people using the term "goy." Most notably, in Exodus [[Exodus |]]:19:6-HE, G-d says that the Children of Israel will be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," that is, a goy kadosh. Because Jews have had so many bad experiences with anti-Semitic non-Jews over the centuries, the term "goy" has taken on some negative connotations, but in general the term is no more insulting than the word "gentile."