"His books have not just been good for the Jews; they have been great." – Joel Yanofsky, Literary Review of Canada
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!We get a lot of pronunciation queries. Here's one:
I'm currently in a production of 'Ragtime' in Chicago, and we've got a question about the pronunciation of the word "Tateh". Given that he's a Latvian Jewish immigrant in the early 1900s, how would "Tateh" be pronounced? We've had two Tatehs and one pronounced it "Tah-tuh"... Read more here
We’re into the month of Elul now, when we’re supposed to begin examining our deeds and telling the truth to God and ourselves. Contempt for the kind of b.s. that we use to justify our dodgier actions has given rise to one of the most remarkable, not to mention useful, of Yiddish phrases: veys ikh voos (literally, “I know what”; more literally, “know I what”). Uriel Weinreich, in his Modern... Read more here
Transliteration of Yiddish words into English can be tricky. Here's an example:
What is the correct spelling you use for alte kocker/cocker/ or something like that?
Is it correct to use the expression to refer to an old guy shooting the breeze, a regular guy, etc., who is also old?
For general use, I'd spell it kucker (it rhymes with "sucker"; in more formal settings, I'd use the so-called scientific... Read more here
So where does the word zhlob come from?
What is the translation of the Yiddish word "Zlob" . When my father used it on me I understood it to mean something like slob. However the accompanying intonation and facial expression made it seem worse than simply a slob. Are there regional variations in meaning?
While similarity in sound has led to "zhlob" being used as a version of the English "slob" (as you... Read more here
Every wondered where the express Moishe Kapoyr comes from? You're not alone.
Would you be able to explain the origin of the Yiddish expression, Moishe Kapoyer, used, to the best of my knowledge, to describe someone who always appears to do things in a way diametrically opposed to they way they should be done? Thank you very much.
Kapoyr means upside-down. The original Moyshe Kapoyr was a character created... Read more here
