Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 1 no. 67
September 26, 1991
 
1) Klog un brokh (Hershel Bershady)
2) In drerd geyen (Sigrid Peterson)
3) Kloks un shmates (Hershel Bershady)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 25 Sep 91 13:58:09 EST
From: "Dr. Harold Bershady" <HBERSHAD@PENNSAS.UPENN.EDU>
Subject: Columbus, a vaytig in zeiner baner!
 
My Yiddish is largely latent, and my memory of my Bubbeh's
expressions no doubt distorted by passage of years, BUT I
do recall her saying something like: "A broch auf
Columbus."  I think "broch" means something like "illness"
or "calamity," or simply, "curse."  In my recollection,
the whole family -- uncles, aunts, my parents -- would
occasionally say the same thing.  This is not a gend er
specific curse.  (Please forgive my eclectic orthography).

Hershel

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1991 14:41 MST
From: Sigrid Peterson <SIGPETER@UTAHCCA.BITNET>
Subject: RE: Mendele Vol1.66

Aren Abramson supplies the curse "gay in drerd," glossed as
`go to hell!' Harkavy agrees. Literally though, it means
`go into the earth;' that is, `go die and get yourself
buried six feet under the earth where you won't bother me
with your kvetching any more.' "Drerd" is a contraction for
"der erd." All this from Harkavy as well; I must admit I
looked it up because of the similarity in sound of _drerd_
to _dreck_.
 
Sigrid Peterson
Sigpeter@cc.utah.edu
3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 25 Sep 91 22:04:36 EST
From: "Dr. Harold Bershady" <HBERSHAD@PENNSAS.UPENN.EDU>
Subject: Mendele Vol1.66

My father was in the "shmatih" business and, as i recall,
"klohks" was a yiddish accent version of "cloak."
"Shmatih" is the generic for any garment or rag.  sometimes
it meant a cheap-piece-goods, sometimes literally a rag,
sometimes ironically to refer to an expensive, but gaudy
garment, sometimes as a metaphor to refer to a person who
was ill used (having been treated as a shmatih, a rag),
sometimes, also, to refer to an expensive, tasteful garment
but in such a way that the evil eye would not be tempted to
rend it, since it was disguised, at least verbally, as a
rag.  At least, these are my recollections.

Hershel
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End of Mendele Vol 1.67