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Hey! Peter... I'm delighted to know you as one who loves the language as much as I do.

Bei mir bist du shayn!

                                                   smile@2x.png   

Posted

Mamaloshen for Millennials

WORD: MEESMENSCH

ORIGIN: Meeskite and mensch

MEANING: A wonderful person who isn’t so good-looking.

USAGE: “OK, Milton, so a Natalie Portman she isn’t. Ah, but a personality? She volunteers 36 hours a week studying with the Matzo Preservation Society to keep our bread of affliction from crumbling and adding to Global Warming. She is some meesmensch!

OTHER WORD FORMS EXAMPLES: Meesmenschen, Meesmenschly, Meesmenschesque

 

WORD: SHVIMCHA

ORIGIN: Simcha and Shvitz

MEANING: A joyous occasion that: 1.) took such work for so long one could plotz; 2.) that caused so much fighting and tsouris, one could also plotz.

USAGE: “Thank God the Bar Mitzvah was a success! Eight caterers backed out, the Shul was booked up until our Benjamin was 16, so we had to wait for a cancellation! The bubble machine we rented kept flooding! And would you believe the cake arrived saying: ‘For Ben On Your Christening!’ This was some shvimcha!

“Oy. Tante Bella threw a fit at the Chasseneh because she was seated next to Cousin Mendel, who she had a fight with the week before! The bubbes didn’t stop kvetching about the food! The family – 20 people from Boca – brought 10 more people! A monsoon hit Brooklyn two hours before, 50 people didn’t show up and we still had to pay for their chickens!”

OTHER WORD FORMS EXAMPLES: shvimchful, shvimchad, shvimchaphy

 

WORD: BUBBCHIKEL

ORIGIN: bubbe and chik (Yid. Diminutive Suffix)

MEANING: A grandmother who’s turned 60 into the new 30.

USAGE: “Do you believe Bella since her tummy tuck never mind the Botox? With four grandchildren yet. She’s some bubbchikel!”

OTHER WORD FORMS EXAMPLES: bubbschikels, bubbchikelism, bubbchikelshtikl

 

WORD: HORA-FIED

ORIGIN: Hora and Fied

MEANING: That gruesome moment when the group is happily doing the Hora … and two rotten dancers get in the middle of the circle and try to do a duo.

USAGE: “Oy vey … the ambulance just came! The paramedics think Uncle Morris may have a dislocated knee and Uncle Yankel, a twisted ankle. I was hora-fied when I saw two 80-year-old men trying to kick with the same foot at the same time!”

OTHER WORD FORMS EXAMPLES: hora-fy, hora-fyable, hora-fytion

 

WORD: CHALLAHCHAZZER

ORIGIN: Challah and chazzer (pig/greedy)

MEANING: This is the person who, on Shabbat, at the shul Kiddush or on holidays, grabs the challah and tears a piece so big, it could feed all 3,300 Jews in Kazakhstan.

USAGE: “Pssst. Did you see Levine? What he did? Again with the challah? Stuck his hand in and took the best bumps – all of them! He is a challahchazzer or what? Maybe we should report him to the Rabbi for challahchazzing. It must be a sin somewhere.”

OTHER WORD FORMS EXAMPLES: challahchazzing, challahchazzeration, challahchazzeretic

 

WORD: BEGALLY

ORIGIN: Bagel and Bialy

MEANING: No, it’s not an Irish introjection, but a simple, shorter way of saying one wants a mixture of bagels and bialys.

USAGE: “Sol darling, when you go to the ‘appetizing’ make sure with the lox you also get begallys.”

OTHER WORD FORMS EXAMPLES: begallys, begallyless, begallyphile

 

WORD: HAYMSHIKK

ORIGIN: Haymish and Shikker

MEANING: A lovely, down to earth person when he’s not “Schnappsing.” (Think Haymitch in The Hunger Games.)

USAGE: “Listen Hannah, he’s a bit of a haymshikk. The terrific news is, he’s a doll three time a year! But darling, do Purim … alone. Maybe go to a fascinating faraway place, like Laos for a month, maybe two.”

OTHER WORD FORMS EXAMPLES: haymshikkism, haymshikkness, haymshikkaholic

 

WORD: MITZMACHAH

ORIGIN: Mitzvah and macher

MEANING: A person who is or thinks he is the God of Mitzvahs and wants everyone to know it.

USAGE: “So Haim, are you going to the testimonial dinner for Fliegelmeister?

“It’s 300 a plate.”

“Well, he did donate 10 million for the Advancement of Israeli Chick Peas. I hear there’ll be a sculpture of him – in hummus.”

“The man is such a mitzmachah! If he’s that terrific, why does he need so many character witnesses?”

OTHER WORD FORMS EXAMPLES: Mitzmachahment, Mitzmachally, Mitzmachaya

 

WORD: KLOOGLED

ORIGIN: Kloolye (curse) and Google

MEANING: 1.) A Google glitch; it’s annoying; or crashes all by itself; 2.) When Googling becomes (God forbid) an addiction.

USAGE: “I’d look it up to prove to you I’m right and you’re wrong, but my Mac is currently kloogled.”

“David, darling, stop already with the computer before you become kloogled. I don’t think my KrankKare covers that. Irving! Get the policy!”

  • 1 month later...
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Posted

Deeper Meaning of 9 Common Jewish Words

Do you know the origins of these Jewish terms?

http://www.aish.com/jw/s/Deeper-Meaning-of-9-Common-Jewish-Words.html?s=mm

There’s a wealth of meaning behind some common Jewish words. Here are the origins and deeper meanings behind nine common Jewish terms. Test how many you know.

Kvell

Kvell is to swell up with pride, usually for one’s kids. This modern usage comes from the Yiddish word kveln, meaning to be delighted. Kveln entered Yiddish from German centuries ago: the Middle High German word quellen meant to gush up, to well, or to swell.

Amen

Amen comes from the Hebrew word emunah, meaning belief, faith, credible, authentic and true. The Talmud (Shavuot 36a) relates the two words; when we hear someone recite a blessing, saying Amen indicates that we too accept these words as true.

Amen also has a deeper meaning: it is an acronym for the Hebrew phrase El Melech Ne’eman, which means “God, Faithful King”. Thus, Amen also functions as a declaration in its own right, expressing our belief in the Divine.

Mensch

These days, a mensch is a person of strength and honor. It comes from the Yiddish (and, before that, from the German) mensch, which literally means a man or a person. (This in term came from Old High German mennisco, meaning human, which came from Proto-German manniska, describing someone as human.)

Yiddish went beyond the literal meaning of a person, however. Reflecting Jewish values, a mensch is a person in full, someone who fulfills his or her obligations and does what is right.

Kosher

Kosher literally means fit, proper and appropriate. The term “Kosher” can be applied to a range of items that are governed by Jewish law. Torah scrolls and mezuzahs are “kosher” when they are correctly written and maintained. Legal contracts and documents are “kosher” when they are appropriately designed and carried out, in accordance with Jewish law. Kosher food is that which the Torah permits for consumption by Jewish people.

The rules of kosher food are found in the Bible in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and are expanded on in the Talmud. By observing these rules, Jews are able to bring holiness into all areas of their lives each time they cook and eat.

Nachas

Nachas is the pride and joy we get from our children. A common Jewish sentiment is “may you have nachas from your children”.

Nachas comes from the Hebrew word nachat, meaning satisfaction and pleasure. (That in turn derives from the Hebrew lanuach, meaning to rest.) To derive nachas is also expressed in the Yiddish phrase to shep nachas. Shep comes from the Yiddish shepn, meaning scoop.

Messiah

Messiah comes from the Hebrew word moshiach, which literally means anointed with oil. In Biblical times, the title moshiach was given to people who had reached positions of leadership and greatness. The Kohen Gadol, who performed the Yom Kippur service in the Temple, was called the Kohen ha-Moshiach, or the anointed high priest, because he was literally anointed with oil when he took up his position.

The title Moshiach is reserved for a future Jewish leader who will become king and begin a period of perfect peace. This Moshiach, or Messiah, will be a descendent of King David, and will restore the Davidic dynasty. Jewish tradition notes that he will be wiser even than King Solomon.

It is said that in each generation, a potential Moshiach, or Messiah, is living. When the Jewish community finally reaches its potential and lives according to the timeless laws of the Torah, that leader will arise, ushering in an era of perfect peace.

Jew

The name “Jew” comes from the name of Jacob and Leah’s fourth son, Judah (Yehudah in Hebrew). The Torah notes that after Leah gave birth to Judah she “declared ‘this time let me gratefully praise God’, therefore she called his name Judah” (Genesis 29:35). According to the great Italian Jewish commentator Rabbi Ovadia Sforno, Judah’s name reflects intense holiness: it not only contains the letters of God’s name, it also contains the root of hodu, the Hebrew word for thanksgiving and praise.

Before he died, Jacob blessed Judah with kingship: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a scholar from among his descendants” (Genesis 49:10). Jacob’s prophecy was fulfilled: King David, from the tribe of Judah, eventually reigned over a united Israel.

Following the death of King Solomon, the ancient kingdom of Israel split into two: the northern Kingdom of Israel, home to ten of the Jewish tribes, and the southern Kingdom of Judah, home to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The ancient Assyrian empire wiped out the northern Kingdom of Israel in the 5th Century BCE and exiled the ten tribes; only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained to carry on Jewish tradition. Over the years, “Judah” came to refer to any Jew, regardless of tribe or status.

The first person to be called a “Jew” in the Torah is Mordechai, in Book of Esther, which describes the events of the holiday of Purim. The wording is curious: Mordechai seems to be called both a descendent of the tribe of Judah and a descendent of the tribe of Benjamin: “There was a man, a Jew (Yehudi) in Shushan the capital whose name was Mordechai….a Benjaminite” (Esther 2:5). The Talmud discusses this curious wording, concluding that Mordechai was indeed descended from the tribe of Benjamin. “Yet he was called a Yehudi (Judah-ite) because he rejected idolatry, and anyone who rejects idolatry is called a Yehudi” (Megillah 12b).

Hebrew

The word for Hebrew in Hebrew is Ivri. (In Hebrew, “b” and “v” sounds sometimes be expressed with similar letters; in the process of translation to English, the “v” became a “b”.) Ivri comes from the word “ever”, meaning the other side.

The first person in the Torah to be called an Ivri, a Hebrew, is Abraham, after he and his wife Sarah entered the land of Israel. On a literal level, Abraham and Sarah indeed were “ivri”, or people who came from the other side: in their case, they came from the north, across the Euphrates River.

On a deeper level, Abraham and Sarah were from “the other side” as well. The championed a belief in one God while the rest of the world indulged in idol-worship, and they lived lives of upright moral behavior amidst a sea of depravity.

The second person in the Torah to be called an Ivri is Joseph, Abraham’s and Sarah’s great grandson, who found himself alone and isolated in Egypt, yet still lived by the moral code he’d inherited from his illustrious ancestors in Israel. After Joseph resists the advances of his master’s wife, the Torah refers to him as an Ivri.

After 3,000 years, we, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, remain Hebrews, people who continue to cling to our belief in God and the moral code of the Torah, even when that means standing apart.

 

Mitzvah

In modern parlance, mitzvah often is used to mean a good deed. Many of these mitzvot (the plural of mitzvah) instruct us to live good, moral lives, for instance by giving charity, visiting the sick, extending hospitality. Mitzvot do guide us to lead good lives.

Yet the meaning of mitzvah goes much deeper It means commandments given to us by God. The word mitzvah is used 300 times in the Five Books of Moses. Jews are obligated in 613 mitzvot (the plural of mitzvah); Gentiles are obligated to perform Seven.

In Jewish thought, actions profoundly affect our very being: what we do shapes who we are. By performing mitzvot we are aligning ourselves with the goals of the Divine. The word mitzvah is also related to the Aramaic word for join, tzevach. When we do mitzvot we are attaching ourselves to a greater good, elevating ourselves in the process.

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
Posted

Those definitions were thoroughly good reading. It gave me fine-print of details I didn't know about  and fortified the facts I already knew. 

Thank you very much for the up-load of this information.

  • 3 weeks later...
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Posted

Great Yiddish Expressions

On business, family, being a mensch and classic curses too.

by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller 
 

 

Yiddish, the traditional language of Eastern European Jews, is wonderfully expressive. Here are some great Yiddish sayings and expressions.

On Being a Mensch

Jews use a Yiddish word to express the notion of being a full, honorable human being: Mensch. Here are some classic Yiddish insights into what constitutes menschlichkeit (being a mensch).

Az ich vel zayn vi er, ver vet zayn vi ich? If I’m going to be like him, who will be like me?

This saying echoes the words of Rabbi Hillel: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14)

Vos m’iz geveynt af der yugent, azoy tut men af der elter. The habits we develop in youth are what we follow in old age.

Az der man iz tsu gut far der velt, iz er tsu shlecht farn vayb! If a man is too good to the world, he could be too hard on his wife!

This classic Yiddish saying recognizes an elusive truth: it’s easy to be kind to acquaintances and people outside our daily lives. It’s more difficult to maintain kindness and patience for those with whom we have to live, cooperate and compromise.

Az me muz, ken men. If you have to, you can.

On Business

The Torah cautions us to be scrupulously honest and honorable in business, and contains numerous rules and laws ensuring principled behavior. Yiddish reflects this ethic, offering penetrating advice on business matters.

Ehren is fil tei’erer far gelt! Honor is dearer than money!

Az me ken nit vi me vil, muz men vellen vi me ken. If you can’t do what you like, you must like what you can do.

Mit gelt ken men nit shtoltsiren, me ken es laycht farliren! Don’t be boastful about money, it’s easily lost.

Far gelt bakumt men alts, nor keyn sechel nit. Money buys everything except common sense.

Di kats hot lib fish, nor zi vil di fis nit ayn-netsn. The cat loves fish, but doesn’t want to get her feet wet.

Sometimes you just have to wade in and put in the work to get what you want.

Kinder un gelt is a shaine velt. Children and money make a nice world.

On Determination

Zog nisht keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg. Don’t ever say you’re traveling your last road.

This saying comes from the “Partisan Song” by Hersh Glick, a Jewish partisan resistance fighter who was killed in 1944 at the age of 24. His Partisan Song became a rallying cry for Jews in the darkest days of the Holocaust and still inspires today.

On Love and Family

Di liebe is zees, nor zi iz gut mit broyt. Love is good, but it’s good with bread.

You can't live on love.

Chosen-kalah hobn glezerne oygn. Bride and groom have glass eyes.

We are blind to the faults of those we love.

Eygene, az zey veynen nit, farkrimen zey zich chotshbe. Those who are close to you, even when they don't cry with you, at least they screw up their faces.

Nobody sympathizes with you quite like your loved ones.

Kleine kinder lozn nit shloffen, grosse kinder lozn nit leben. Little children don’t let you sleep, big children don’t let you live.

This echoes the advice of another common Yiddish saying: Kleine kinder trogt men oif di hent, groisse kinder trogt men oifn kop." Little children can be carried in one's arms, while bigger ones are a weight on your head!

On Common Sense

Seichel’ in Yiddish means common sense. It is actually the Hebrew word for intelligence. In his autobiography Songs My Mother Taught Me, Marlon Brando uses the word “seichel” to sum up his view of the Jewish people as a whole: “There’s a Yiddish word, seychel, that provides a key explaining the most profound aspect of Jewish culture. It means to pursue knowledge and to leave the word a better place than when you entered it….”

Me varft nit aroys di umreyne vasser eyder me hot reynes. You don’t throw out the dirty water until you have a clean replacement.

A nar geyt tsvey mol dort vu a kliger geyt nit keyn eyntsik mol. A fool goes twice where a sensible person doesn’t even go once.

A mensch tracht un Got lacht. Man plans and God laughs.

True wisdom means recognizing that not everything is in our control. Judaism urges us to focus on putting in our best efforts while realizing the outcome is the hands of the Almighty.

On Character

Az Got zol voynen af der erd, voltn im di mentschen di fenster oysgeshlogn! If God lived on earth, people would break His windows!

Az der soyne falt, tor men zich nit freyen, ober me heybt im nit oyf! When your enemy falls, you shouldn’t gloat, but you don’t have to pick him up either!

Curses

Zolst vaksen vi a tsiba'le, mit kop in d'rerd! – You should grow like an onion, with your head in the ground!

 

Zolst farlirn alle tseyner achuts eynem, un der zol dir vey ton! – All your teeth should fall out except one, and that one should hurt!

Ich hob dich azoi lib, az ich volt dir mayn toit nit gezshalevit. I love you so much I would not even begrudge you my death.

A zissen toyt zolstu hob'n – a trak mit tsucker zol dich ibberforen! May you have a sweet death; a truck filled with sugar should run you over.

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
  • 5 months later...
Posted

That was really very interesting reading for me. Thanks for posting the link, Peter.

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Posted
3 hours ago, aka said:

That was really very interesting reading for me. Thanks for posting the link, Peter.

You Welcome aka

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
  • 2 months later...
Posted

I  watched   without   audio.      My  speakers  sadly are  on   the   blink.     

 Watching body language alone is fascinating enough for me.  

I  have yet to discover  what is behind the purpose of those fuzzy black hats being worn.

 

I  got my speakers checked and the PC guy at the shop showed me that they were alright and  I needn’t buy a  new  pair of  boxes.    

I   just  need  to  get  the wire connections looked after, which of course I can't do myself.  

It's  just a matter of getting a service PCguy to come  and test all  the sockets or wires in the back  of this desktop electronic dragon sitting on the floor under my desk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted

Well when you get the audio working, you will laugh till you hurt yourself!! It's really funny!!

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
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Posted

What Is a "Schnorrer"?

Schnorrer (noun): A Yiddish term for an individual who engages in the act of schnorring, taking from others, typically in the form of charitable gifts; a corollary would be the English description of a “moocher.”

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3996849/jewish/What-Is-a-Schnorrer.htm

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
  • 2 weeks later...
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What Does “Schmooze” Mean?

To schmooze is to “chat” or “converse.” This is an English mangling of the Yiddish word shmues (שמועס), which is apparently an adaptation of the Hebrew word shemuos (שמועות), “tidings.”

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4006423/jewish/What-Does-Schmooze-Mean.htm

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
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Posted

What Does "Plotz" Mean?

In Yiddish, the verb plotz means to crack, burst, shatter, collapse, or explode. Its most common English usage is in reference to a person who is bursting with emotion, either negative of positive. Thus, when your boiler plotzes in the literal sense, you may plotz in the figurative sense.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4058904/jewish/What-Does-Plotz-Mean.htm

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
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Posted

10 Facts About the Hebrew Language Every Jew Should Know

Hebrew is traditionally referred to as Lashon Hakodesh (the Holy Tongue). Why is this? Maimonides says it is because the language lacks words to describe lewd acts and private body parts. Nachmanides, however, says that it is because this is the language that G‑d used to communicate His will through the prophets.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4064301/jewish/10-Facts-About-the-Hebrew-Language-Every-Jew-Should-Know.htm

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
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What Is a "Macher"?

Macher (pronounced almost like “mocker,” replacing the “ck” with the guttural “ch” sound) is Yiddish for “doer.” It can refer to a bigshot (“They honor another macher every year at the benefit gala”) or busybody (“That kid is such a macher. He manages to get his nose into everyone’s business”).

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4075633/jewish/What-Is-a-Macher.htm

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60

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