Word: yiddishisms
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Anyone defining schlemiel and schlimazel should consult a Yiddish lexicon or A New Leaf. Traditionally, a schlemiel is a person who spills the soup; a schlimazel is the one on whom he spills it. In this film the schlemiel is Henrietta (Elaine May). The schlimazel is Henry (Walter Matthau...
Singer, the author of Satan in Goray and The Slave, delivered an essay in which he emphasized that Yiddish writers must be rooted in the Yiddish culture in order to be successful. "It is no accident," he said, "that the great Jewish writers come from places where Yiddish is read...
Besides the essay, Singer read an amusing short story about a successful Yiddish writer in America. The writer only knew a handful of English words, but he was able to bribe enough critics to become rich...
...question period afterward, Singer speculated on the future of Yiddish writing in the U.S. "Eventually there will be 100 million people in America who will need Ph. D. topics," he said. "Some of these people are going to have to browse through Yiddish documents...
Singer also commented on the richness of the Yiddish language. He said that there were 20 ways to say that a man was poor in Yiddish while there was only five or six ways to do so in the English language...