Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 20.020 May 28, 2011 1) leytsan (Aubrey Jacobus) 2) Der eybeshter iz der mekhutn or mazl-tov (Dafna Sheinwald) 3) Yiddish in the writings of Rav Hutner (Gershon Freidlin) 4) Yiddish proverb (Lyubov Dukker) 5) Jerusalem Zoo (Alex Manaster Ramer) 6) shlepe-bobe (Mekhl Zlotowski) 7) shlepe-boble (Perl Teitlbaum) 8) Rivka Basman Ben-Haim (Zelda Kahan Newman) 9) Matla (Zachary M. Baker) 10) tsugl (Irwin Mortman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Subject: leytsan Date: May 19, 2011 The word LEITSAN appears in my research of a Dutch Askenazi family. It is suggested that it means Clown. Early Dutch Yiddish did have a special vocabulary. Has anyone come across this word as an entertainer of some sort? Aubrey Jacobus 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 17, 2011 Subject: Der eybeshter iz der mekhutn or mazl-tov Perhaps the song can be found here: http://faujsa.fau.edu/jsa/find_albums.php Dafna Sheinwald 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 16, 2011 Subject: Yiddish in the writings of Rav Hutner Abraham was the first Jew by choice; his son, the first to be born a Jew; Jacob--from him onward, Jewishness could not be revoked. Gershon Freidlin 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 16, 2011 Subject: Yiddish proverb Re: "Der khazer zol hobn herner, volt di velt keyn kiem nit gehat." (Ignaz Bernstein, "Juedische Sprichwoerter und Redensarten"). "Ven a khazer zol hobn herner, volt er ibergekert di velt." (Israel Furman, "Yidishe shprikhverter un rednsartn) I believe it is meant as derisive response to somebody expressing malicious intentions, but not having - thanks God - any means to fulfill them. It has exact counterparts - or very similar ones - in Slavic languages, like: "Ne dal bog svin'e rogov - a bodushcha byla!" Regards, Lyubov Dukker 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 17, 2011 Subject: Jerusalem Zoo Hi all, "The Economist" magazine claims, a few weeks ago now, that the Jerusalem zoo hasput up a sign in Yiddish on the cage of some animal that looks like a pig but isn't (peccary, I think) saying "dos iz nisht a khazer." Since this is not good Yiddish, I was wondering whether the story is just a typical Israeli joke that the reporter took to be a fact. Alex Manaster Ramer 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 17, 2011 Subject: shlepe-bobe "Shlepe-bobe" is the Yiddish pronunciation of the Polish "Slepa Baba," a game called "Blind Man's Buff" in English and "Colin Maillard" in French. "Slepa" means "Blind" in Polish and "Baba" is "Bubbe" or "Bobe" according to the various Yiddish pronunciations. A grys fyn Pariz, Mekhl Zlotowski 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 16, 2011 Subject: shlepe-bobe Perla Sneh asks about a children's game in the geto called shlepe-bobe. In this case, I think shlepe is the Polish word Blepa [blind]. It's a game where you put a blindfold on a person and spin him/her around. The person then tries to catch one of the other players while blindfolded. I've also heard the game called blinde ku (blind cow). P. Teitelbaum 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 23 Subject: Rivka Basman Ben-Haim Please announce to the list-serve the appearance of a blog on the prize-winning Israeli poet, Rivka Basman Ben-Hayim. There one can hear the poet reciting her own poetry. (Comments and/or suggestions can be left at the site or addressed to me at [email protected]) The blog can be found at: http://yiddishpoetry.commons.gc.cuny.edu Thank you, Zelda Kahan Newman 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 16 Subject: Matla Alexander Beider, in his Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names, correlates Matla to the name Meyte, which derives ultimately to Meytin, meaning "maiden" or "girl." In addition, he writes, "The forms starting with Mat- could also be influenced by the existence of the common German Christian name Mathilda or its Czech and Polish forms, Matylda. " Zachary M. Baker 10)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 14 Subject: tsugl Maybe you can assist me in this odd query. A friend asked me the other day if I know the meaning of the Yiddish word "tsuggle" (the transliteration is questionable). I did not know its meaning and the friend said it means fellatio. My first attempt was to determine if there is a Yiddish word for fellatio and I was not successful. Then I tried to find a meaning for tsuggle also without success. I hope that you can assist me in this odd query. Very truly yours, Irwin Mortman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 20.020 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, direct your mail as follows: Material for Mendele Personal Notices & Announcements, i.e. announcements of events, commercial publications, etc., always in plain text (no HTML or the like) to: [email protected] (IMPORTANT: in the subject line write "Mendele Personal") Material for postings to Mendele Yiddish literature and language, i.e. inquiries and comments of a non-commercial or publicity nature: [email protected] IMPORTANT: Please include your full name as you would like it to appear in your posting. No posting will appear without its author's name. 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