Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 6.223
February 10, 1997

1) Beyts and blegitch (Les Train)
2) Beyts and blegitch (Hugh Denman)
3) Beyts and blegitch (Mikhl Herzog)
4) Mazepa (Margaret Mikulska)
5) Mezinke (Fay Lipshitz)
6) Microsoft has agreed to add Yiddish (Leybl Botvinik)
7) Kol mevaser, tashlekh, etc. (Mikhl Herzog)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 1997 20:17:25 -0500 (EST)
From: ltrain@chass.utoronto.ca
Subject: Beyts and blegitch

I would venture a guess that if beytsem etc. were from a jewish source,
it would no doubt be from the loshn-koidesh component of yiddish,
specifically from the word beitsem - meaning yaitses, or testicles
(dovor acher). The male form is incorrectly assumed to be beyts; in
yieddish and hebrew it's beitse (but analogously with many other
masculine words, with the plural im ending, they've dropped the final
e). There is even a tractate in the talmud named beitse.

If blegitch was introduced by a yiddish-speaking jew, might I suggest
the origin to be the slavic root blag-, or blazh. Blag- connotes
goodness, kindliness, blessedness, well-being etc (it's a most
productive morpheme), and in coloquial speach blazhich means wayward, or
capricious. Combining the two you have a wel-meaning, basically
good-at-heart mamzer.

Les Train

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 17:40:46 +0100 (MET)
From: h_denman@maier.vol.at
Subject: Beyts (and blegitch)

Re Lili Eylon's query in mendele [6,221:3]: 'beytsemer' or perhaps
'beytsimer' (adj. invariable) and its cognates seem to be among the few
uniquely British contributions to the Yiddish language. It is a
euphemistic Hebraisation derived either from CY 'ayer(land)', i.e.
English for 'irland' or perhaps NEY 'eyer(land)' i.e. Irish or Scots for
'irland'. The secondary connotation of 'eyer/ beytsim' clearly operates
at a more or less subliminal level.

Hugh Denman

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 97 11:27 EST
From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu
Subject: Beyts and blegitch

Beytzimer.  In Yiddish, a euphemism for "Irishman".

To wit:

Hebrew _beytsim_ 'eggs' (etc.* see below)
Yiddish 'eggs' are _eyer_, regionally, _ayer_
Hence _ayerishman_ 'Irishman' =  _beytsimer_ .

As the the gentlenman said to the woman who put her hand on his
knee: "Lady, you're raising my ire."

etc.*

To which she replied: "Aha! ets zent ouch a galitsyaner!"

Mikhl Herzog

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 00:21:36 -0500 (EST)
From: mikulska@astro.princeton.edu
Subject: Mazepa

Jota Piasecki [6.222] writes "I could not unearth any opera or music
about Mazepa".

There is an opera by Tchaikovsky and a symphonic poem by Liszt.

Margaret Mikulska

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 18:23:35 -0800
From: fdlidsky@netvision.net.il
Subject: Mezinke

Les Train [6.200] asked for information about a special song on the
marriage of a last-born. I don't have information about the song, but
perhaps the enquirer will be interested to know that a custom exists
among the old Jerusalem orthodox families whereby at the wedding of the
last child in the family (known as the "mezinikl") the mother of the
young man or woman dances with a broom (presumably to symbolize the last
of the offspring being "swept out of the house"). Perhaps this dance is
danced to the music he referred to.

Fay Lipshitz
Jerusalem

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 06:55:00 +0200 (IST)
From: leybl@telecomm.tadiran.co.il
Subject: Microsoft has agreed to add Yiddish !!!

It seems that the computer technology is so quick, that Microsoft has,
according to our source in the US, already agreed to add a Yiddish
extension to Hebrew WORD.  Who said, Microsoft wasn't visionary?

Mazl Tov, un in a guter sho.

So thank you, for your intent to send an Email-letter. It will no longer
be necessary. And Thank you Microsoft. A sheynem dank!

tayere khaveyrim,

es vayst zikh aroys, az di technologye loyft azoy gikh foroys, az es vet
shoyn nit darfn zayn neytik tsu shikn briv keyn Microsoft. yo, di gute
nayes iz, az zey hobn tsugeshtimt tsutsugebn di yiddish shriftn tsu der
hebreisher versye fun zeyer vortirer-program WORD. in a guter un
mazldiker sho. lomir hern nor gute bsures.

leybl botvinik
netanya

7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 97 11:27 EST
From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu
Subject: Kol mevaser, tashlekh, etc.

[see also Shul memories, 6.219, 6.220]

Why do/did Jews in Germany eat cabbage soup on Hoshano-rabe?

kol mevaser = Kohl mit Wasser

Why do you empty your pockets at the river on Rosheshone?

The Hebrew name of the ceremony _tashli'kh_ . . .  'cast out (all their
sins)' is, in Yiddish,  _ta'shlekh_, regionally _teshlekh_. Note Yiddish
_tash_, _teshlekh_ 'pocket(s)'.

Why eat carrots (_mern_) on Rosheshone? Men zol zikh mern
(multiply).

Homework: Why do German Jews hang an onion and a feather in the
_suke_?

Mikhl Herzog

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End of Mendele Vol. 6.223