Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.098 December 11, 1998 1) non-Jewish use of Yiddish (Larry Rosenwald) 2) Yiddish word "Choizek" (Elozor Oisher) 3) sheygets (Herman Taube) 4) A glezl tsimes? (Dan Gilman) 5) Yiddish word for a "walker" (Wolf Krakowski) 6) Yiddish erotica (A. Joseph Ross) 7) Yiddish erotica (Mikhl Herzog) 8) Yiddish erotica (Miriam Isaacs) 9) a curious locution (Aaron Krishtalka) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 13:59:20 -0500 (EST) From: Larry Rosenwald Subject: non-Jewish use of Yiddish I was wondering what Mendelyaner might know about the non-Jewish use of Yiddish in the years before the World War II. In some Yiddish fiction from that time, you see non-Jewish characters presented as speaking Yiddish, with various degrees of competence, and I was interested in knowing what the situation was in the real world, either the eastern European or the American; I also wondered whether anyone knew of Yiddish texts _written_ by non-Jews during that same period. Thanks in advance, Larry Rosenwald 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 06:21:22 -0500 (EST) From: "L.Reich" Subject: Yiddish word "Choizek" I am new to this list and hope that am conforming to desired etiquette. Can anybody enlighten me as to the etymolgy of the Yiddish word "Choizek", meaning derision. In Hebrew it means strength. Elozor Oisher 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 10:26:53 -0500 (EST) From: HTaube218@aol.com Subject: sheygets Dos wort: "Shaygetz", is geven zer populer in Poilen, un iz genutzt-gevorn bay farshedene gekegnhaitn. A "Shaygets" iz in algemain geven di batzaychenung far a kristlechn young. Ober, Yiddn hobn dos wort genutzt tzu batzaychenen a chutzpenik, an azis-punim, a yung vos traibt shaygetzdike shtik. Oych iz dos wort: "Sheygetz" genutzt geven tzu batzaichenen apikorsim- atheistn, hefker-youngatshes, a yunger chevreman vos traibt chuliganishe shtik, oych a kind mit a farshtopn kop hot men gezugt oyf im: "er hot a sheygotzimdikn farshtand". In Nachum Stutchkoff's: "Der Oytzer fun der Yiddisher Shprach",(Yivo -1950) vet ir gefunen a velt mit oysdukn farn wort "Sheygetz". Uriel Weinreich, in zain wereterbuch, batzaichent dos wort als: Gentile lad, impudent boy, smart, be-naughty/fresh, smart-aleck and "Shkotz" (German?) Herman Taube 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 02:26:35 -0500 (EST) From: Gilman Daniel Jason Subject: A glezl tsimes? Just a fanciful bit of Yiddish-derived culture to entertain my fellow Mendeleyaner after the umpteenth posting about the rashly proclaimed death of Yiddish. While surfing the web, I came across a bizarre bit of applied Polish Yiddish. At http://www.polmos.com/cymes.html, there is a web page from the Polmos Vodka company in Poland dedicated to their recent creation "Cymes Vodka." For those unfamiliar with Polish, "cymes" is the Polish spelling of the Yiddish "tsimes." As if that weren't strange enough, the web page recommends a rather strong recipe for a screwdriver (vodka and orange juice) that they call a "Szajgec Cocktail." "Szajgec" is the Polish spelling of the Yiddish "shaygets" -- Polish Yiddish pronunciation of "sheygets." Combined with the picture of a grinning Jew, complete with shtrayml and talis, the whole thing leaves a strange taste in my mouth, but I'm still too amused by the absurdity of such a product to dwell on the possible tone of patronizing anti-Semitism. So now you know. Fun vanen kumen shkotsim? Fun a tsimes! Dos lebn iz komish, neyn? Dan Gilman Haverford, PA 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1998 20:51:31 -0500 (EST) From: "Kame'a Media" Subject: Yiddish word for a "walker" Sema Chaimovitch Menora asks if there is a Yiddish word for a "walker", the device used by older or disabled people. My Mom calls it her "kadilak". Wolf Krakowski Northampton, MA 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 00:37:17 -0500 (EST) From: "A. Joseph Ross" Subject: Yiddish erotica Harvey Varga wonders about Yiddish words for sex. A number of years ago, I came across a book in the humor section entitled "Worlds Best Yiddish Dirty Jokes." The format of the book was that each joke was told mostly in English, except that the punchline was given in Yiddish, and then in English translation. As such, I did pick up a few such words. I already knew words like "putz" or "schmuck" for example. I did learn "kurve" for prostitute and "trenen" for the sex act. There's also "shtup." I think part of the problem is that the Weinreich dictionary is very prudish, leaving out any vulgarisms. It doesn't even include well-known words like "tuches." I have a Victorian-era Harkavy dictionary from my grandparents which is more candid. A. Joseph Ross, Boston, MA 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 00:42:01 -0500 (EST) From: "Mikhl Herzog" Subject: Yiddish erotica In reply to Harvey Varga's plea (08.095): 1. Start with the supplement to Ignaz Bernshtein's _Yidishe shprikhverter un redensartn_ (1908): "Erotica un Rustica". 2. Gain access to Mordke Schaechter's reputedly unsurpassed card file. Mikhl Herzog 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 08:32:37 -0500 (EST) From: miriam isaacs Subject: Yiddish erotica Reply to Harvey Varga on off colour Yiddish About ten years ago while teaching a course in Yiddish literature and culture to some senior adults in Albany New York we set about collecting -sheltn un bentshn- in Yiddish. Needless to say, sheltn was much more popular and it was amazing to see how the years disappeared and the blushes came as we began to explore the various ways of saying things that one doesn't say. One of the things I discovered is that for much of what has to do with what used to be known as the fairer sex, food words were used as euphemisms. I would also suggest that you not rely on a written questionnaire but oral interviews - because of the nature of the subject matter the terms may not lie at the surface of one's memory. One of my favorite ones way. Bay im iz simkes toyre in kop un yom kiper ergets andersh. Good luck. Miriam Isaacs College Park, Maryland 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 10:52:15 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Krishtalka Subject: a curious locution There is a curious locution with the verb 'hobn': ikh hob im in bud; and also (less derisive, sharper): ikh hob im in d'rerd. We have scoured our memories, and Stutchkoff's Thesaurus for similar usages of 'hobn', and turned up little. For example, 'zi hot got in hartz', 'zi hot rakhmunes in hartz', 'er hot khaloymes in kop' reflect states of mind or feeling, and do not have the same magical projection of personal possession upon an object by parking it somewhere pleasingly unpleasant. Can Mendelyaners think of similar constructions? And, why 'in bud'? The bathhouse is, unaccountably, the location of the silly, the stupid, or the fraudulent: e.g. 'gey in bud arayn' dismisses the flat-earther; or 'er firt im in bud arayn' describes the con man at work. Does yidish fiction or historiography bear out this denigration of the bathhouse? Aaron Krishtalka Montreal ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.098 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele http://metalab.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html