Observation ·
How “Kratsmakh” Became the Yiddish Word for Christmas
By PhilologosBy way of an ancient Roman holiday and two very similar Hebrew letters.
Yiddish
Latest Mosaic Content for Yiddish
Observation ·
Haketiya, the Spanish Yiddish
By PhilologosLike Ladino, Haketiya grew out of the Spanish of Jews exiled from Spain. Like Yiddish, it has a range of loving, spiteful, sarcastic, ironic, anxious, and superstitious expressions.
Monthly Essay ·
The Very Model of a New York Intellectual
By Dr. Ruth WisseAbraham Cahan was one of America's first great Jewish newspapermen, and set an example of independent thinking that the nation could sorely use today.
Observation ·
The Connection Between a Just-Discovered Ancient Hebrew Inscription and Modern Yiddish
By Philologos"An earthquake in biblical scholarship” is how the discovery has been described. That's true, as are the connections it reveals between ancient languages and modern ones.
Observation ·
Four Examples of What Happened to Yiddish After It Reached the United States
By PhilologosIn some cases, changes were minor. In others, Yiddish phrases were transformed nearly beyond recognition.
Observation ·
Yiddish Cinema Beyond the Shtetl
By Marat GrinbergThe Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema , a recent collection from a major distributor, adds to the canon of Jewish movies in fascinating new ways.
Observation ·
“Brandy” Comes from “Burned Wine,” and Other (Judeo-)Linguistic Notes about Liquor
By PhilologosA brief look at some of the many Jewish words relating to alcohol.
Response ·
Chaim Grade’s Eternal Argument
Committed to developing and supporting the intellectual, religious, and political leaders of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
Response ·
Watch Our Dramatic Reading of “My Quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner”
Committed to developing and supporting the intellectual, religious, and political leaders of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
Observation ·
Kamala, Mamale
By PhilologosWhy do Yiddish speakers refer to children by terms of endearment seemingly meant for adults?
Observation ·
Israelis Love to Call Each Other Cossacks Who’ve Been Robbed
By PhilologosA versatile fellow, this Cossack, identified simultaneously with Israel’s prime minister and his bitterest opponents! Who is he and who robbed him?
Observation ·
American English’s Love Affair with the Yiddish Word “Meh”
By PhilologosA brief history of an indifferent word.
Observation ·
There Are so Many Yiddish Expressions for Going Bankrupt
By PhilologosAnd most of them reveal a hidden admiration for the person who’s had the wit and the grit to get away with it.
Observation ·
Some Rare Words for Rare-Word Buffs
By PhilologosLet us sing of rodomont, Sinon, proditomania, and, in particular, grobian.
Observation ·
How Cappuccino Got Its Name, and What It Has To Do with the Coat Worn by Ultra-Orthodox Jews
By PhilologosOne word got turned upside down and downside up again.
Observation ·
Mies van der Rohe’s Misbegotten Change of Name
By PhilologosBefore becoming linked to the famous architect who was trying to escape it, the German word mies (rotten) made its way from Hebrew, to Yiddish, to a thieves' argot called Rotwelsch.
Observation ·
Contention; or, My Disputes with Irving Howe, Yiddish Academia, and Holocaust Memorials
By Dr. Ruth WisseContention was so much a part of modern Yiddish culture that, in any study of that culture, it was all but taken for granted.
Observation ·
The (Shockingly Low) Literacy Rate of Jews in Eastern Europe
By PhilologosThere were many more illiterate Jews in the Tsarist empire than we tend to think there were.
Observation ·
Last Month Philologos Asked for Language Help, and Got It
By PhilologosA Mosaic reader was able to solve the mystery of the Yiddish expression tapn a vant, “to grope a wall.”
Observation ·
Did This Odd Hebrew Expression Come from an Afro-American Folktale?
By PhilologosThe many hypothesized sources for the saying, “To have butter on one's head.”
Observation ·
What’s with the Hebrew Expression “To Jump over One’s Bellybutton”?
By PhilologosThe tale of the pupik .
Observation ·
Help: My Husband Passed Away, and I Want to Reconstruct the Bedtime Prayer He Taught our Children
By PhilologosPhilologos is quite certain the words of the prayer are in German, not Yiddish. But beyond that?
Observation ·
Do We Take Pleasure, or Do We Scoop It Up?
By PhilologosThe hidden roots of the Yiddish-American expression "to shep nakhes . "
Observation ·
The Yiddish–Dutch–German “Smallpox” Exchange
By PhilologosWhich language was patient zero for the old expression, "We've been smallpoxed and measled"?
Observation ·
Why Does “Making” Mean What It Means for American Ashkenazi Jews?
By PhilologosIf you don't know what it means, you can probably figure it out. (Or you can read this column.)
Observation ·
How Modern Hebrew Developed a Full-Blown Slang in Just a Hundred Years
By PhilologosIn part, it borrowed extensively from the slangs and vernaculars of other languages. Consider the case of de la shmatte .
Observation ·
Some Yiddish Words Jump into American English Quickly. Others Take Much Longer.
By PhilologosThe process results from, in equal measure, Jewish separateness and Jewish assimilation.
Observation ·
Of Noodge and Nudge, of Slob and Schlub
By PhilologosA look at the phenomenon by which Yiddish words become English words under the influence of other, similar-sounding English words.
Observation ·
The Origins of Foolishness
By PhilologosWhere does the Yiddish word narishkayt come from?
Observation ·
Why Yiddish Was Often a Source for Thieves’ Slang in European Languages
By PhilologosWhat we learn from the story of the Russian phrase shakher-makher , or wheeler-dealer.
