Talk Yiddish to me...

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Another Shiksa i know!

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Yiddish of the Day

I have had a headache for three days straight and nothing seems to help.  So I was looking into Yiddish words that would correlate to my dilemna, then realized normally I complain to AJ and this time I wasn't.  Hence, the yiddish word of the day.

Kvetsh

Means to complain, whine or fret.

Used in a sentence:

I don't want to annoy my husband, so I didn't kvetsh to him about my headache.

Stay tuned for more words, but right now I'm going to nosh on my orange.

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Schmo

Yiddish of the day:  Schmo

While researching Yiddish, I came across the word schmo.  This in turn made me think about the TV show that came on in 2003 called The Joe Schmo Show.  I remember feeling so bad for the main guy that wasn't in the know.  Here's a recap for you:  The show revolved around a group of people living in a house, everyone was an actor except the main guy Matt Gould, who was kept in the dark.  Everything he thought was real ,wasn't.  He ended up winning in the end because the producers had to change the premise of the show from, making fun of him to sympathizing with him, because the audience felt for him. Long story short, I'm not a fan of surprises or pranks, especially when emotions are involved.

Also, I posted earlier an Avi Schmo post with a picture of my husband.  I was thinking of occasionally posing with or taking pictures with everyday jewish guys, because I though Schmo meant regular old guy, now I know it means idiot or cuckold.  I guess that makes me the dummy, but hey I'm just learning Yiddish.

I feel I should also explain the Avi Schmo instead of Joe Scho.  There isn't much of one except I was looking for an apparently jewish name to use.  Joe doesn't sound too jewish.  Avi Schmo has a nice ring to it.

If you have a picture of your Joe Schmo or Avi Schmo as I like to say, feel free to post them here.  :)

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Avi Schmo!

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Yiddish of the Day

I just stubbed my toe and then hit my head, separate events, both painful.  So today, I'll describe myself.

Yiddish word of the day:

KLUTZ: Also known as klots.  Refers to a dense, clumsy or awkward person.

Used in a sentence:

I will not take offense if you call me a klutz, its one of my more endearing traits.

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Yiddish of the Day

I realize that Shixa isn't the correct spelling of the term, so I wanted to clarify.

Today's Yiddish word of the day:

Shiksa: AKA shikse or more recently Shixa.  This is a term used in reference to a non jewish girl, most often used in a derogatory sense, but more recently is used satirically.  Such as my blog shixagal.  (Satirical, not derogatory)

Used in a sentence:

As a shiksa, I'd like to be most like Charlotte in Sex in the City.  She represents us well.

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Where did Yiddish come from?

I'm a fan of the internet, as you might be if you are reading my blog.  I was looking into writing today about the origins of Yiddish and ended up reading for a couple of hours about all things Yiddish.   I started writing this blog because I wanted to become more acquainted with my husband's ancestry and now realize we are even more connected than I knew before.

My mom's family is from Germany and my dad's family is from Scotland/Ireland.  In reading about Yiddish, I've learned the origins of this language.  From what I have read Yiddish is used by Ashkenazi Jews that is related to German.  YAY!  AJ and I are connected through Yiddish.  This is another reason I should learn the language.

Besides leaning the origins, I found out there is a resurgence of Yiddish happening in America and its being called "Yinglish"  or "Ameridish", but my favorite term is "frumspeak".  "Frumspeak" is another reason I love NY, apparently its associated with the Yeshivas and Orthodox Jews living there.

Before I go on, I would like to say if you are interested in studying Yiddish and are thinking my blog is where to find your answers.  I'd say, there are a couple of websites you should use.  I'd like to give credit to Wikipedia and google and also would like to know where they were when I was writing papers in college.

So hopefully in writing my blog, you will think of me as a mentsh and know my intentions are honorable while courting the Yiddish language.  Also remember, I'm not a maven on the Yiddish language, just inspired by it.

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Yiddish of the day

Yiddish word of the day is Oy Vey. Oy Vey means my goodness or are you kidding me or oh no. Used in a sentence: Oy vey, I can't believe I offered to drive across country with Lisa. Oy Vey!

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Yiddish of the Day

My Yiddish word of the day is Feh. Feh: means ugly, bad. (also spelled Fe in my previous post) Used in a sentence: Rush Limbaugh is Feh, nor because of his looks but because his ignorant comments. :) I couldn't resist making fun of Rush, since he does it to himself.

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Yiddish of the Day

I was trying to expand my vocabulary with a Word of the Day dictionary.  Time for a change.  From now on its Yiddish of the Day.

Yiddish of the Day:

Zoftig:   healthily plump and vigorous

Used in a sentence:

As an actor I am considered zoftig.

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I'm bringing Yiddish back...

That's right I said it.  I'm bringing Yiddish back.  If Justin Timberlake can bring sexy back, then I think I'm in the right to do the same for Yiddish.  Of course, some would say Yiddish never left, but I definitely think it needs a boost.

This past week my husband and I flew to Florida for his Grandfather Marty's funeral.  While we were there, we sat Shiva at Grandma Gertrude's aka Gigi's place.  Marty and Gertrude were married for 70 years and obvious soul mates.  While sitting Shiva, I had the time to sit and talk with relatives.  This is when it occurred to me.  There are a bunch of words they use, that aren't in my normal every day vocabulary.  What are these strange words?  Is it a form of Hebrew? I'll tell you, its Yiddish.  So much of Yiddish has already made it into the English language lexicon, but there are quite a few words that haven't.

My plan is to bring attention to words that are used everyday and then also share words that aren't.

So first things first, I am going to improve my vocabulary by not referring to someone as an A**H*LE but refer to them in an endearing Yiddish way.  When referencing jerks, my new terms will be

SHMO: Foolish or stupid person, naive person

SHMOK:  jerk, fool, idiot, contemptible person

SHMEKELor SHMEKELE:  D**K or P*NIS

MESHUGENER: mad man or crazy person

I'll let you know if calling someone a shmok makes me look Fe.  Of course if it does, they can kiss my tucus.

If you have any good Yiddish words that you use to replace derogatory words, I'm all ears.