Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.357 March 8, 1995 1) Amusing translations of Yiddish idioms (Rick Turkel) 2) Another bi-lingual coincidence (Morrie Feller) 3) Poet and poem? (Dovid Moishe Goldstein) 4) How many Mendelniks? (Morrie Feller) 5) How many Mendelniks? (Noyekh Miller) 6) Zellig (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Mar 95 16:56:45 EST From: rturkel@cas.org Subject: Amusing translations of Yiddish idioms I enjoyed very much Dovid Braun's final wish (4.355), "Be me well and strong." I've gotten into the same habit, learned from a very Litvish, American-born uncle who is fluent in Yiddish. He used to (and still does) say things like "What makes a Jew?" or "What hears itself?" for "How are you?" and "Know I what?" when he didn't have a clue. Also, "And is my soul a raisin?" when he felt he was being treated with less than the appropriate level of respect. Has anyone else encountered this? Is it done only with questions? Inquiring minds want to know. Rick Turkel 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 22:14:38 -0700 (MST) From: feller@pcef.pc.maricopa.edu Subject: Another bi-lingual coincidence Anent the Hebrew-Yiddish puzzle, many years ago I learned a Spanish-Yiddish sentence which made sense in each language - if one allowed for a little poetic license. The Spanish sentence is: Aqui esta una mesa? Which means: Where is a table? The Yiddish sentence is: A key est un a meser. A cow eats without a knife. Morrie Feller Phoenix 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 08 Mar 95 06:13:22 EST From: 73051.2257@compuserve.com Subject: Poet and poem? In preparation for a program in Yiddish at his senior residence, my father, who is 99? years old, is trying to find the name of the poet and the balance of the poem of the following. (Please forgive the lack of knowledge of standard transliteration usage.) Nit keyn farbetene, aleyn gekumen Take an oreme ober dokh a mume Orem iz nisht gut, orem iz nisht gut Tu lomir zich nit shemen mit aygen blut A dank aykh ale. Dorian (Dovid Moishe) Goldstein 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 09:54:55 -0700 (MST) From: feller@pcef.pc.maricopa.edu Subject: How many Mendelniks? I note with satisfaction the improved last page of each issue of Mendele which gives complete instructions for dealing with Mendele. I feel that it would be nice to know how many Mendelniks (Mendelyaner?) subscribe to this list. This information would be a welcome, occasional addition to the bulletin. It might be a way of judging the increase, if any, of interest in Yiddish here and elsewhere in the world. Morrie Feller Phoenix 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 15:42 From: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu Subject: How many Mendelniks? * * Country Subscribers Country Subscribers * ------- ----------- ------- ----------- * Argentina 3 Israel 22 * Australia 4 Italy 3 * Austria 1 Netherlands 3 * Belgium 1 New Zealand 1 * Canada 38 Poland 5 * Costa Rica 1 South Africa 1 * Finland 1 Spain 1 * France 2 Switzerland 2 * Germany 15 USA 553 * Great Britain 5 Venezuela 1 * Iceland 1 ??? 10 * * Total number of "concealed" subscribers: 9 * Total number of users subscribed to the list: 674 (non-"concealed" only) * Total number of countries represented: 22 (non-"concealed" only) Noyekh Miller 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 15:42 From: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu Subject: Zellig Zellig Bach's many admirers and friends have probably been wondering why nothing has been heard from him lately. The answer is: flu. Zellig has, however, been recovering pavolyinke and is writing again. He has promised Mendele a lot of new material. Sooner the better. All Mendelniks wish Zellig a refue shleyma. Noyekh Miller ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.357 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu