August 2011
25 posts
Mid - מיד
Mid - מיד \MEED\ Adjective:Tired, weary. Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms: farmatert (פארמאטערט), oysgematert (אויסגעמאטערט), oysgemutshet (אויסגעמוטשעט).
German equivalents: leer, matt, müde.
Etymology: The word derives from Middle High German “müede,” from Old High German “muodi.” Cognates include ...
Birobidzhan
For those interested, Birobidzhan (between the rivers of Bira and Bidzhan) is a territory in the far eastern reaches of the Former Soviet Union (right near the border with China) which was designated a Yidishe Avtonomne Gegnt (יידישע אווטאנאמנע געגנט) - Jewish Autonomous Region - by the Soviet Union in 1934 and in which Yiddish was spoken as the official language (wouldn’t it be awesome...
Tukh - טוך
Tukh - טוך \TUKH\ Noun \ Neuter \ Pl. Tikher:A cloth. Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms: gevant (געוואנט), shtof (שטאף), tsayg (צייג), vare (ווארע).
German equivalents: das Ganzleinen, das Gewebe, der Lappen, der Stoff, das Tuch.
Etymology: The word derives from Middle High German “tuoch,” from Old High...
Viklen - וויקלען
Viklen - וויקלען \VIK-len\ Verb \ Past Participle: Geviklt:1. To wrap, swaddle. 2. To wind, spin (with the reflexive particle zikh [זיך]). Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms: gartlen (גארטלען), hiln (הילן), ringlen (רינגלען), roln (ראלן).
German equivalents: einhüllen, einpacken, umwickeln.
Etymology: The word derives from...
Yiddish Heavy Metal?
For those interested, the Forward recently featured a blog post on the emergence and growing popularity of two Yiddish-language heavy metal - that’s right, Yiddish-language heavy metal - bands, one from Sweden and the other from Israel. The first, Dibbukim (which includes a female vocalist), just released its first album “Az a Foygl un Goylem Tantsn” (When a Bird and Golem...
Tretn - טרעטן
Tretn - טרעטן \TRET-en\ Verb \ Past Participle: Getrotn:
To step, tread, trample.
Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms: doyres zayn (דורס זיין), toptshen (טאפטשען). German equivalents: schreiten, trampeln, treten.
Etymology: The word derives from Middle High German “treten,” from Old High German “tretan,”...
The Oy Way
For those interested, The Oy Way is a forthcoming book by Harvey Gotliffe which combines some form of physical relaxation therapy with Yiddish vocabulary and phrases. Partly in jest, partly seriously, the author describes movements and exercises that are meant to lead a person down the “path of most resistance.” So if you’re looking for something mildly entertaining,...
Veynen - וויינען
Veynen - וויינען \VEYN-en\ Verb \ Past Participle: Geveynt:To cry, weep. Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms: krekhtsn (קרעכצען), yenken (יענקען), yomern (יאמערן) (although the first two words have more to do with groaning and moaning than with actual crying). German equivalents: heulen, triefen, weinen.
Etymology: The word...
Poetry in Hell
For those interested, Poetry in Hell is a website that features translations by Sarah Traister Moskovitz of the many poems composed, collected, and hidden away during the war years in the Warsaw Ghetto. Moskovitz has gone through each of the poems carefully and sorted them into five groups, based on theme: Nature; Home, Love, Life; Ghetto, Hunger, Struggle; Death, Anger, Mourning; and ...
Shver - שווער
Shver - שווער \SHVER\ Adjective: Difficult, heavy, hard. Note: This sense of shver differs entirely from the one denoting a father-in-law (even as we might be tempted to connect the two meanings…). Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms: harb (הארב), koshe (קשה). German equivalents: diffizil, kompliziert, schwer, schwierig....
Livern - ליווערן
Livern - ליווערן \li-VER-en\ Verb \ Past Participate: Gelivert: To supply, transport. Alternate spelling/pronunciation: lifern (ליפערן). Synonyms: ariberfirn (אריבערפירן), ekspedirn (עקספעדירן), farzorgn (פארזארגן), transportirn (טראנספארטירן), tsushteln (צושטעלן).
German equivalents: ausrüsten, beliefern, beschaffen, besorgen, leisten, liefern, vertreiben, zustellen.
Etymology: This relatively...
Arbeter Ring/Workmen's Circle
For those interested, the Arbeter Ring/Workmen’s Circle is a secular Yiddishist social justice/labor movement organization that was founded in New York in 1900 by a group of Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants who found the economic and working conditions in the United States at the time unfair and decided to do something about it. Ever since then, they have been advocating for social...
Anonymous asked: Your word for meat grinder doesn't sound familiar. I remember ground meat to be "gemolleneh fleisch". The verb --Ich darf zumollen die fleisch. Is there another word for the tool that made that happen--the meat grinder?
Beyn - ביין
Beyn - ביין \BEYN\ Noun \ Masculine \ Pl. Beyner:A bone.
Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonym: etsem (עצם).
German equivalents: das Bein, der Knochen.
Etymology: The word derives from Middle High German “bein,” from Old High German“bein,” ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bainan and from the Proto-Indo-European...
Tsikl - ציקל
Tsikl - ציקל \TSIK-el\ Noun \ Masculine \ Pl. Tsiklen:A cycle (both temporal and mechanical). German equivalents: der Kreis, der Lauf, der Zyklus. Etymology: The word derives from Late Latin “cyclus,” from Ancient Greek kyklos, ultimately related to Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (circle, wheel). Cognates include Danish “cykel, cyklus,“ Dutch “cyclus,” Estonian...
Yiddish Cinema and More
For those interested, The Yiddish Cinema is a website which collects the names of and some brief information about all of the Yiddish films (both silent and those with sound) that were produced between 1911 and about 1950 in Eastern Europe and the US. A project of Dr. Chantal Catherine Michel, who wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on social upward mobility in Yiddish cinema and the conflict between...
