Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 1 no. 69 September 27, 1991 1) Curses (David Sherman) 2) Various (Victor Bers) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Sep 91 14:53:41 EDT From: David Sherman Subject: RE: Mendele Vol1.66 There's a wonderful collection of Yiddish curses in Sholem Aleichem's story "Konkurentn", part of the "Eiznban geshikhtes". I don't have the time to dig it out and type them in; someone else may wish to. The story is also on the record/tape "Di Kleine Mentshelekh". 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Sep 91 16:54 EDT From: VBERS@YALEVM.BITNET Subject: Tsores, scheltwerter, un zo weiter 1. Apropos "kileh" for hernia. The word has a long pedigree: it's used in the Hippocratic corpus specifically for hernia. Other meanings attested in Greek include camel's "hump," prompting me to an unchristian wish: "Mine sonim zol hobn aza kileh." 2. "Shmateh" = a passive victim of expolitation or whatever. My family also uses "lupeteh" in this sense. 3. My mother often uses what I take to be an apotropaic formula. Reversing her real meaning she will say "Zol er nit gayn in drerd" (I hope I haven't spoiled the word order). She also uses a strange hypocoristic excalamtion, "Gottinkes!" perhaps a Riga equivalent of "Gottenyu." Ed Stankiewicz could not explain (and clearly did not like) "Gottinkes." Can anyone elucidate its origin? Victor Bers ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 1.69