Wex

If at first you don’t succeed…

Sometimes I don't always get it the first time... I have heard of a Yiddish expression that in English means "It saves two others." However, I have never been able to find it or hear it in Yiddish. Can you provide the expression in Yiddish? Sorry, but it doesn't ring any bells with me. Do you have any idea of how the expression is used or which meaning of "save" is meant? The expression "It saves two...

Wex

Saying “Welcome” in Yiddish

Here's a lovely request we had from England recently: I am trying to translate the term 'Welcome' into Yiddish for a conference banner City and Hackney Mind are producing in London very soon! Can you help? If 'Welcome' is inappropriate please feel free to advice another similar term. We want people to feel welcome when they arrive. The correct phrase (I'm giving it in the plural, as I'm sure that you're...

Wex

Poo Poo Poo

Jews are superstitious. What's up with that? I think that this is a tradition, but I do not know how it came about. Why when we wish to avoid ain horah do we extend the pointer finger and the tall finger when we spit three times and then say poo, poo, poo? My guess (and it really is a guess) is that the fingers were there to keep anybody else from being able to catch the saliva and put a spell on the...

Wex

Oy daddy

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" and the other pronounces it "Tah-tay". Is either correct? We're just really curious!...

Wex

Yiddish old fart

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...