Reply
Mon 12 Jan, 2004 02:47 pm
please take the poll
vote as many times as you need
Active vocabulary or passive?
Since you are both kind of new around her, you might want to talk a look at the
Hebonics discussion.
Um, I don't think "finagle" is Yiddish, though my dictionary is a little vague on its derivation...
What are you, CRAZY????
You didn't say what you wanted, not so as I could understand, anyway.
Am I a schlemiel?
Oh yes, I read it again. Didn't see the blue border, first time.
Actually, most of the noted words are Yiddish loanwords.
And sionce both Yiddish and English are Germanic languages, it's not surprising at all to find them here - and since Yiddish is short for yidish daytsh ('Jewish German'), there are even much more Yiddish loanwords in German :wink:
Walter,
On another thread it was said that the American word "dude" is from German dudenkopf = fool
Could you comment please, PM if you wish.
Sorry to butt in, folks.
I am a schmuck.
L'chaim!
McTag
I don't know, from where the authors of the Concise got this information, but after having looked up some books in the university library, I only can conform the definitions already said on that thread : didn't find any 'Dudenkopf' at all, dummkopf that I am:wink:
Gosh Phoenix I would disagree with that dictionary: or at least offer an alternative
I think schmuck comes directly from the German Schmuck (same spelling, different pronunciation) which means jewellery and I think it is an ironic reference, just as the British refer to the "crown jewels" when talking about the wedding tackle.
However I could be wrong about that. It might be a Polish serpent.
Remember that old song (recorded by the Andrews Sisters?) "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"?
Yes, McTag, there are quite a few linguists, who think a connection between the German and the Yiddish Schmuck is very possible.
JEWELS - "Many of the terms for the male genitals refer to the value of these organs - thought by some to be man's most precious possessions. These include ?'family jewels,' ?'jewelry,' ?'trinkets,' and ?'treasure' (also used for the female genitals). Even the Yiddish term 'schmuck' is a pejorative use of the low German term for ?'jewels' and implications of value shape such other euphemisms for male genitals as ?'private property,' ?'ladies' treasure,' and ?'ladies' delight." From the "Wordsworth Book of Euphemism" by Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver (Wordsworth Editions, Hertfordshire, 1995)
(As said, I've been to university library today and used their intranet. Thus, I could have look at both the Yiddish faculties in Germany [there are only five chairs of Yiddish worldwide].)
Surprising how many Yiddish words there are in other languages! In English you have Yinglish (Yiddish words in the English language), with a subdivision in America, called Ameridish. Yinglish is for example 'bagel', 'mish-mash' and 'kibitzer'; Ameridish is for example 'schmegegge' and 'utz'. From the Dutch language I know that words like Mokum (other name for Amsterdam) en '(de) mazzel' (good luck) are derived from Yiddish. But I think Yiddish has had more influence in American society and language than in the (Western-) European societies / languages, for the number of Jews from Eastern Europe, of whom many spoke Yiddish, going to America was much higher than the Eastern European Jews going to Western-Europe. And then there was also the Holocaust (Shoah)...Oy (has 29 meanings)!
Where's m'shuganah? Or schpiel?
Rick d'Israeli wrote:But I think Yiddish has had more influence in American society and language than in the (Western-) European societies / languages, for the number of Jews from Eastern Europe, of whom many spoke Yiddish, going to America was much higher than the Eastern European Jews going to Western-Europe. And then there was also the Holocaust (Shoah)...Oy (has 29 meanings)!
The word "Yiddish" comes from "yidish daytsh," meaning "Jewish German" and is based on Middle German.
There are in German - especially in spoken, everyday German and in (local) dialects - more similarities than with most other languages :wink:
(Out of the five full university chairs on Yiddish worldwide, two are in Germany.)
True, but Yiddish is more a language, it is also a culture, and from that point of view, Yiddish theatres, the sort of "Yiddish lifestyle", has had more influence in America I think than it has in Europe
That's not all that surprising, since being a Yid in Germany was not real popular not all that long ago.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace