The Kvetch Thread

@Roberta,

Oy abruch is likely maybe oy a broch, loosely translates to, 'what horrors, this is most terrible.' or used as a mild curse such as oh hell or oh dammit!

Roberta wrote:

So I tried again to find oy abruch on google. Where was I directed? To the hebonics thread on a2k started by someone named Roberta. Not helpful, but definitely a small world moment.

I wish Phoenix was around. She'd probably know.

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@Ragman,

a brocheh would be blessing.

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@Sturgis,

I will restate ...baruch means 'blessed' - as in 'baruch atoh adonai' ... blessed are you, Lord.

Brucheh, brucheh (and all it's alternate spellings) is the noun form, a blessing.

However, I'm unclear about the phrase, 'Oy, abruch'.

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@Sturgis,

Sturgis, You got it.

Oy a broch

"This is a curse, a plague. Like "Damn it!" but more so. A broch is a way of expressing disgust, misery, disaster. If a guy wants to tell you he's miserable, he's nauseated, he's overwhelmed, he's disgusted, he's at his wit's end, he's heard the end of it, he wants to give up, he wants to run away, he wants to get out of town, he wants to destroy himself, it's all over, there's no end in sight, there's no way to get out of it, all of this can be said in one phrase, “Oy, a broch.”

Thanks muchisimo.

Ragman, I know about bruchehs. But that wasn't what I heard my family saying. A broch. Who knew? Now we do thanks to Sturgis.

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@Roberta,

That's cool. Of course, I know you know about brocheh.

FWIW, in my family Yiddish was spoken by my folks (to keep young ears from hearing unwanted news gossip), but I never heard that phrase.

So, niu, Sturgis is lansdman?

1 Reply

@Sturgis,

I am out and about, and working on my iPad. Needless to say, I am still not completely proficient at it. I saw your query, and wanted to answer.

Anyhow, I knew what a bruch meant, but checked with the "gantsah megillah"
Dictionary. Unfortunately, I still have not mastered cutting and pasting on this gizmo, so I could not give you the link, but give me a few days.

"A bruch" is a curse, or dammit, quite the opposite of a brucheh. When I first saw the post about it, my first thought,(freely translated), was "a pox on both your houses."

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@Roberta,

Roberta wrote:

New editing project. I'm working on the annual update of a book about taxes. One of life's little ironies.

Frankly I'm sick of life's little ironies. But I need the work.

Here are a few more. All this work all of a sudden will probably put me over some limit. I'll have to give back some of my social security, and I'll probably lose my Medicaid.

Hey LLIs, stuff it!

Oh vey! [sigh]

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@Ragman,

Ragman wrote:

So, niu, Sturgis is lansdman?

Technically, yes. My grandfather was born Jewish in Lemberg which is now Lviv and in the Ukraine. Mother was Jewish, converted to Christianity (during WW2), my first religious rite was by a rabbi, baptised as a Methodist a few months after that, and then went home to our apt. over a synagogue (s0 began my confusion).

My Yiddish is spotty at best; but know certain phrases and use them in day to day talking.

To Roberta, glad to have helped.

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@Phoenix32890,

Thanks, Phoenix. I knew you'd know. As tsar said, you know everything. What a burden.

Hope you're enjoying your travels.

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<sigh>

ech, I was wrong again.

<big sigh>

1 Reply

@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

<sigh>

ech, I was wrong again.

<big sigh>

Not AGAIN!!!!!

<even bigger sigh!>

G'day Andy!

1 Reply

@margo,

G'day, Margo.
I AM so trying not to make a habit of it.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Hey, Andy. I was wrong too. NBD. Sometimes a person is right, and sometimes that same person is wrong. So be it.

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@Roberta,

As usual, Boita, your magnanimity overwhelms me. So what's to kvetch about? Gornischt.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Gornischt? Never!

I could kvetch about the weird and increasingly louder sounds I make when I stand up. But I won't.

I could kvetch about my failing memory. But I won't.

I could kvetch about my rapidly decreasing intelligence level. I'm considering that as a kvetch because if I don't do it now, I might forget how to write before I get rolling.

I could go on, but I won't. I gotta get back to work. To paraphrase the author, procrastination is the cause of futzing around.

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@Roberta,

Just remember this -- never put off until tomorrow what you could put off til after Shabbas.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

Just remember this -- never put off until tomorrow what you could put off til after Shabbas.

Shabbas! Whatever happened to Passover?

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@dlowan,

Good point, Deb. Peissach only comes once a year.

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My computer didn't have sound for a while. I managed. I got used to it, kinda. The sound is back. Now every time it makes a noise I jump. I'll adjust--if I don't fall off my chair and hurt myself.

Spent all day thinking it was Sunday until I turned on the tv. Saturday shows. This happened last week when I found out to my surprise that it was Friday. This time I thought the tv was wrong. I was so sure it was Sunday that I assumed there was some kinda conspiracy to confuse me.

I haven't fully adjusted to tomorrow being Sunday.

Seems to me that I've got too much adjusting to do. Not one of my strengths.

1 Reply

@Roberta,

Don't sweat it, Roberta. Ever since I retired, if I didn't have my date book, I would never know what date it is.

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The Kvetch Thread

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