AWADmail Issue 219
July 23, 2006
A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day
and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages
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From: Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the net
Enuf is Enuf: Some Peepl Thru with Dificult Spelingz:
http://www.livescience.com/othernews/ap_060707_simpler_spelling.html
Politicians Fan Language War:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/20/navarrette/index.html
Soldiers' Words May Test PBS Language Rules:
http://nytimes.com/2006/07/22/arts/television/22pbs.html?ex=1311220800&en=132201c2731dccfe&ei=5088
http://tinyurl.com/hehqb
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From: David R. Ginsburg (pentaxATearthlink.net)
Subject: Charles V quotation
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/yenta.html
Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, is reported to have said,
"I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my
horse."
The original quotation is below:
Con mi caballo hablo en alemán,
con las damas de la Corte italiano,
para los asuntos de hombres en francés,
pero para hablar con Dios el español.
Charles V
Holy Roman Emperor
King of Spain (as Charles I) 1500-1558
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From: Todd Glassman (todd.glassmanATobermayer.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--yenta
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/yenta.html
Please allow me:
"... and Yiddish to talk to Bubby and Zaide about the grandchildren when
they are playing within earshot."
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From: Dan Osterman (dan_illustrationATyahoo.com)
Subject: And Yiddish to...
His mother, of course.
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From: Linda Owens (lindafowensATnetzero.net)
Subject: Re: Yiddish
I think that if I spoke Yiddish, it would be to my psychiatrist
(schmuck, putz, etc) or to my audience if I were a comedian.
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From: Peter Gordon (peterATjoool.freeserve.co.uk)
Subject: Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor
Charles, of course, should have spoken to his horses in Arabic, since the
Arab horse is and always has been the source of our best bloodstock. However,
as part of the team, with Fernando and Isabel, that rid Spain of its Moors
and cancelled the convivencia that was established in the peninsular for
some centuries, that would be too much too expect. Does the word convivencia,
living together in harmony of the ruling Moslems, the Jews and the Catholics,
have any equivalent single word in other languages? We could, today, do with
a word in every language and the concept.
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From: Michael Dresdner (janeandmichaelATmsn.com)
Subject: Yenta
Yenta was the name of the matchmaker in Sholom Aleichem's stories, several
of which were collected into what became the musical Fiddler on the Roof.
Sholom Aleichem, taken from the common greeting that essentially means
hello, was the pen name of Solomon Rabinovitz. Because Yenta was such a
busybody, her name became synonymous with that characteristic. Perhaps
because that characteristic is an advantage to a sachem (matchmaker).
I often run across people who believe that Yenta means matchmaker.
----------------------------
From: Sarah Scherk (sarahsATsan.rr.com)
Subject: Yiddishisms
What business is a yenta in? Yours!
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From: Skip Kotkins (skibipATaol.com)
Subject: Schmooze
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/schmooze.html
When it is a transitive verb, it most definitely has the connotation
of wanting to ingratiate oneself. "I wanted to shmooze him a little in
order to get a nice contribution to the charity."
But when it is an intransitive verb or a noun, it does not have that
connotation of ingratiating or trying to gain advantage. "Come on over
around six, we'll schmooze a bit and then have some dinner." or the
infinitive form: "We don't have anything planned, just a chance to
schmooze." or the noun "The event was just a schmooze, no program or
speakers."
Small nuances, but significant. Of course, that's Yiddish.
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From: Art Funkhouser (art_funkhouserATcompuserve.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--schmooze
In some of the Swiss dialects of German "schmooze" is roughly equivalent
to the American dating activity known as "petting".
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From: Suzanne R Glaser (suzzsezzATaol.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--maven
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/maven.html
I knew this word had made it into common usage when I heard someone
described as an "Islamic maven".
----------------------------
From: Anita Citron (anitac47AToptonline.net)
Subject: Shlub
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/schlub.html
The great thing about Yiddish words is that they are extremely rich -- the
definitions given never really give the full meaning of their use. They are
often better described in example rather than definition.For instance,
shlub is not just a clumsy oaf but also (and more commonly) a slob, someone
with food stains on his shirt, missing buttons, generally chubby, a boor,
badly dressed. A klutz would more fit "clumsy oaf" because, as commonly
used, a klutz trips over his or her own feet.
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From: Tracy Johnston (trackyjATacer-access.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--schlub
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/schlub.html
In the world of fibre arts, in particular the spinning that I enjoy, a
schlub is a little lump of short fibers caught in the long smooth ones that
you are twisting. You can leave it in to give a more "rustic", bumpy look
to the yarn, but I prefer to call them "nubbins".
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From: Art Haykin (theartATwebtv.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--shtick
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/shtick.html
Decades ago, there was a Jewish deli in our neighborhood, and in one
showcase were displayed all manner of goodies. I remember a sign on one
tray of goodies that read "A nickel a schtickel, plus a schtick pickle."
If you bought a kreplach or a matzo ball, or whatever for a nickel, you
also got a nice slice of a giant kosher dill.
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From: Maureen Roult (roultmATnetscape.net)
Subject: Re: this week's theme
You're a mensch, pursuing this theme. I love the Yiddish words that (at least
American) English has adopted. I couldn't live without "schlep", for example.
This is a theme you could easily spend two or three weeks on.
............................................................................
A living language is like a man suffering incessantly from small
haemorrhages, and what it needs above all else is constant transactions of
new blood from other tongues. The day the gates go up, that day it begins to
die. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)
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