Yiddish Mailing List, Issue #43 June 21, 1991 164 lines =============================== First use of Yiddish (Sherri Chasin Calvo) Comment on letters from Sedalia (Ronald Florence) Does anyone remember this old joke? (Rhonda Stein) Naye mentshn (Sylvan Beer, David Hirsch, Dan Graur, Harry Katz) ------------------------ Digest-Message: 38/1 Date: Wed, 22 May 1991 15:24:43 -0400 From: CALVO@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV Subject: first use of Yiddish As a complete novice in Yiddish, I was pleased to actually be able to USE it for something a few weeks ago. I expected a visit from my grandparents, who were stopping at my house in Maryland on their way up from (where else?) Florida. But I had to go out briefly, and I didn't want them sitting in a hot driveway waiting for me after their long trip on the Auto-Train. On the other hand, I didn't want to leave a sign on the door saying "It's open, come on in." At least not in English. So after twenty minutes of struggle with the phrasebook from my Yiddish/30 tapes (unfortunately I have no English<->Yiddish dictionary) and racking my brain trying to remember how to write a final-chaf in script, I finally came up with the following note: Bubbe un zayde: Sholem aleichem! Ich gei far mayn zin tsu der shul. Zeyt azoy gut, kumen ineveynik. Tir is oifen. Now I understand that this is "see Spot run" stuff, probably ungrammatical and poorly transliterated here besides. Be that as it may, it worked like a charm. When I got home the ancestors were cool, comfortable and delighted. They didn't have any trouble reading even my version of Yiddish and Hebrew script, after a hiatus of many, many years. But they both said they had never heard the word "ineveynik", which my phrasebook said meant "inside". Could this be something having to do with dialect (Grandma's parents are from Pinsk and Kobrin; Grandpa was born in a village near Wolkowysk) or did I get it wrong, or did they just forget? Anyway, they are happy that I am trying to learn the language of their youth. The only mildly negative comment came from my husband who, when my grandparents recounted the story to him, said "Obviously you didn't read the article in today's paper about Moishe the Yiddishe cat burglar." Regards, Sherri ------------------------- Digest-Message: 38/2 From: mlfarm!ron@hsi.hsi.com (Ronald Florence) Date: Thu, 23 May 1991 07:47:12 -0400 The discussion of the nineteenth century letters is the most fascinating material I've read in a long time. I look forward to more. ------------------------- Digest-Message: 38/3 Date: Thu, 30 May 1991 21:47:41 -0400 From: RAS9@jaguar.uofs.edu (Rhonda Stein) Subject: Does anyone remember this old joke? An elderly Yid was arrested on suspicion of chicken stealing, & was given a lawyer who interpreted for him as follows: Judge: Ask him if he stole the chicken? Lawyer: Der Judge fregt oib du host gegenveh'ed der chick'n (other word?) Def: Ich hob geganveh'ed ah chick'n? Lawyer: Your honor, he says he stole the chicken. Judge: Ask him why? Lawyer: Der Judge fregt farvohs du host geganveh'd a chick'n? Def: Ich hob gedarft a chick'n? Lawyer: Your honor, he says he needed the chicken. Judge: Ask him why he needed the chicken. Lawyer: Der judge fregt, farvos du host gedarft a chick'n. Def: Tzu sholgn Kappores. I can't remember what happens next, I do remember the punch line but first let's hear if someone can come up with the complete text.... [Actually, it's "Ikh hob es gedarft oif kapores!", meaning, roughly, I needed it like a hole in the head; but the interpreter says "He says he needed it for a religious ritual". It's from an Emil Cohen record. I reproduced the first part of the joke in Digest-Message 05/1, way back. And, although we use the word "hindl" for chicken, Emil Cohen does indeed tell it with "chick'n". -- DS] ------------------------- Digest-Message: 38/4 Date: Thu, 23 May 1991 15:49:11 -0400 From: Sylvan Beer Dovd'l: Ich hob amol zehr gut g'kent redn ober es iz shoin fertzig yohr vos ich hob nit afileh gehert es gerdt. In the letste zvei yohren belong ich zu a yiddishen farbrengen und mir lezen etlecher verker. Mir huben ungefangen mit Scholom Aaleichem's Motel Pesey dem Chazensd und yetzt lezen mir Scholom Ashes Mutkeh Gonef. Und zubiselech komt zuruk dem momma loshen. Ich hoff az mail.yiddish vet zein a sguleh und noch ein andere mittel zu nutzen di sprach. Ihr kent zehn az mein yiddish is halb galitianish und halb lutvakish! ------------------------- Digest-Message: 38/5 Date: Thu, 23 May 1991 15:50:00 -0400 From: "David Hirsch, Bibliographers Group" Subject: a sheynem dank Ikh bin gevn zeyer gliklekh tsu leyenen ayere brivelekh. Ikh hob nisht geshribn keyn yidish far tsaytns az ikh hof az ir vet mir unshuldiken. S'iz a shod az ikh red azoy shlekhte yidish vayl ikh hob zikh gelernt yidish in Pennsylvania Universitet mit zeyer a fayne lererin, Khane Kliger (Zi vet veynen tsu leyenen azoy shlekhte Yidish yetst!) Nokh dem universitet ikh bin geforen in mitsrayim tsu zikh lernen arabish. Ikh bin geven dortn in Amerikanishe Universitet. Ikh bin geblibn dortn 3 1/2 yorn. Take in mitsrayim ikh hob geredt a sakh yidish mit etlekhe ashkenazim fun Cairo. Efsher ir veyst nisht az iz geven dortn a shtarke ashkenazishe kehile far di tsveyte velt milkhome. Zey hobn gehat oykh a Yidishe Kunst Farayn. Di e-mail hot nisht lib lange brivelekh az ikh aykh lozn yetzt. Dovid Hirsch Jewish Studies Bibliographer UCLA ------------------------- Digest-Message: 38/6 Date: Sun, 2 Jun 1991 04:09:34 -0400 From: Dan Graur SHALOM ICH FARSHTEI YIDDISH GENUK GUT ZU LEINEN BICHER UN MAYMORIM. ICH HEIS MINA GRAUR UN ICH VOIN IN PETACH TIKVA LEIBEN TEL AVIV. ICH BIN EIN HISTORIKER, UN ICH FARNEM ZECH MIT DI YIDDISHE ARBEITE BAVEGUNG IN AMERIKE, IBER HOIPT MIT DI ANARCHISTEN. MIT FIELE DANK. MINA. ------------------------- Subject: Yiddish Mailing List Membership Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1991 18:33:36 -0400 From: harry@alf.dec.com <...> I am a current member of the National Yiddish Book Center, and I engage in translating Yiddish literature into English as a hobby. Harry Katz ------------------------ SOF FUN NUMER 43 ------------------------ David (Donyel-Moyshe) Sherman, Toronto Moderator, mail.yiddish dave@lsuc.on.ca attcan!lsuc!dave@uunet.uu.net uunet!attcan!lsuc!dave {AT&T sites}!att!lsuc!dave