Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.019 June 1, 1993 1) 50 Yiddish words (Bob Hoberman) 2) Idioms; oysgelasene shprikhverter (Shleyme Axelrod) 3) Labazon (Moshe Waldoks) 4) Kolerley (Eli Katz) 5) In di yorn (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon May 31 14:03:29 1993 From: Robert D Hoberman Subject: 50 Yiddish words you can't live without Moshe Waldoks, I'd love to see your list of 50 Yiddish words people can't live without. It's a wonderful idea. Would you post the list? Bob Hoberman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon May 31 15:56:00 1993 From: Seymour Axelrod Subject: idioms; oysgelasene shprikhverter More favorites: 1. "ni(sh)t geshtoygn, ni(sh)t gefloygn" = totally false; nonsense 2. "nor dos hot mir gefelt!" = (ironically) That's all I need(ed)! Cf. Jascha Kessler's father's "treft mir a gli(c)k!" ************ Moshe Waldoks calls attention to Bernshteyn's collection of vulgar proverbs, published separately from the respectable compendium. The contents of the former have been reprinted in paperback by Perivale Press (1975, 1979), with English translations on facing pages, as G. Weltman & M.S. Zuckerman "Yiddish Sayings Mama Never Taught You". --Shleyme Axelrod 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon May 31 16:35:38 1993 From: WALDOKS@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU Subject: Labazon akin to lobus, an oaf- akin to zhlob, perhaps a Slavism Aramaicized? Moshe Waldoks 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon May 31 17:31:27 1993 From: katz@Sonoma.EDU Subject: kolerley Once again, thanks to Shleyme Axelrod for his contributions to the idiom collection, and once again some comments from me. 1. bay undz, "afn himl a yarid" referred to something that not only wasn't true, but was (under the circumstances) impossible. For something that simply wasn't true the phrase "nisht geshtoygn, nisht gefloygn" would probably be more appropriate. 2. "Yoshke Pandre" is new to me and I don't know what Pandre refers to, but I know there's a novel by one of the "post-classical" Yiddish novelists (I'm embarrassed not to remember which one) which is entitled "Noyakh Pandre". Can any one elucidate? 3. Which reminds me: "Noyakh mit zibn grayzn" refers to a piece of work which is really botched up. It stems from the high degree of incompetence required to make seven errors in writing the two letter (nun khes) name Noyakh. 4. Speaking of names, how about "Rokhl bitkho a nakete"? This is a word play based, of course, on the biblical phrase "rokhl bitkho ha ktane" which Jacob uses in making his deal with Uncle Lovn who swindles him by substituting the older daughter, Leye. In Yiddish "b'rokhl bitkho ha ktane" means something like "in black and white", i.e. as a firm agreement. It's funnier when you metathesize the kuf and nun and wind up with "(h)a nakete". 5. "dergeyn di yorn" is to pester, annoy, badger, bother. 6. "zayn in di yorn" is to be of advanced age, but this is relative. "A yid in di yorn" is an elderly man; "a meydl in di yorn" may a young woman who has been of marriageable age for some time. My grandmother at age 18 was already "a meydl in di yorn", when she was married to my grandfather, a promising youth of 16. This was around 1883. 7. NB: "yid" in authentic Yiddish is usually unmarked, i.e. in most contexts it simply means "man", although it can't, of course, refer a non-Jewish man. Eli Katz 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon May 31 20:28:29 1993 From: Noyekh Miller Subject: In di yorn Eli Katz writes: 6. "zayn in di yorn" is to be of advanced age, but this is relative. "A yid in di yorn" is an elderly man; "a meydl in di yorn" may a young woman who has been of marriageable age for some time. My grand- mother at age 18 was already "a meydl in di yorn", when she was married to my grandfather, a promising youth of 16. This was around 1883. But suppose, instead of being 18, she was already a gezunte 45 or 50 when she first married? In that case, like my Tante Sarah, she was a _moyd_ in di yorn. Shtelt zikh a frage: ven vert fun a meydl a moyd? Akhuts dem, ven vert fun a meydele a meydl? Noyekh ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.019