"The Gorgeous George of Canadian literature" – Michael Wex
The response to the New York Times' weekend Yiddish question and answer competition on Ben Schott's vocabulary blog was unprecedented.
451 comments were left on the page A Bissel Yiddish?. Wex tells me that 451 is the gematria of tanna, a mishnaic sage. Unless the Mishna itself is the subject of discussion, the word, however, generally means idiot in Yiddish.
After much sifting, discussing and editing Wex's responses have now been posted here on the New York Times website. I should say half the responses - there was so much material that the NYT is running half today and half tomorrow.
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