Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 5.117
September 20, 1995

1) Zalbe- (Peter Kluehs)
2) Honik lekn (Adah Lappin)
3) Honik lekn (Mendy Fliegler)
4) Honik lekn (Dovid Moishe Goldstein)
5) Honik lekn (Michael Shimshoni)
6) Hey tsigelekh (Leybl Botvinik)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 19 Sep 1995 21:20:00 +0200
From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de
Subject: Zalbe-

nokh dem vos Anno Siegel hot shoyn zeyer sheyn derklert [5.115] di ale protim
funem prefiks zalbe-, vil ikh bloiz zugebn, az der shver mayner, geboyrn
in yor 1888 un geshtamt fun a dorf noent Stuttgart, hot nokh alts banutst
dem oysdruk *sbander*. lemoshl, er hot gekont zogn: lomir geyn sbander in
kretshme trinkn a glezl vayn oder tsvay. farshteyt zikh, az di yunge layt
kenen shoyn nisht dos vort. hayntsutog me zogt dortn oykhet *tsuzamen*.

kh'vintsh aykh alemen a gut nay yor mit mer honik lekn un veynik tsores!!

peter kluehs
wehrheim, germany

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 95 23:17:03 IST
From: f46047@vm.biu.ac.il
Subject: Lekn honik

In response to Andrew Cassel's question about 'lekn honig' [5.115]:

First:  the phrase is always used in the negative - men lekt nisht keyn
honig; or, keyn honig lekt er dort nisht, etc.

An English equivalent would be:  he didn't have it easy - which certainly lacks
the colour of the Yiddish.  More colorful, but less precise, might be 'it
wasn't all roses'.

Adah Lappin
Netanya

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 22:40:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: efliegle@CapAccess.org
Subject: Honik lekn

To answer Andy cassel about lekn honik. The meaning of this expression is
as follows:

1. It is said sarcastically: "Er vet shoyn lekn honik derfin", as if to say,
he did well and benefitted, but at what expense?

2. It is said as if the person receiving a benefit, did so unexpectedly.

The definition obviously equals to benefit.

Mendy Fliegler

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 19 Sep 95 23:03:22 EDT
From: 73051.2257@compuserve.com
Subject: Lekn Honik

In 5.115.2 Andrew Cassel asks about "lekn honik".  I think  that an engish
equivalent  might be " a bed of roses".

As an example, the following:

Each evening it was the practice of the father to stop on the way home at
the local bar in the shtetl for a few beers. The mother constantly sent
her son to collect his father. One night the father refused to come home
and told his son " Zog dayn mame az zi zol du kumen tsu mir". When his
wife arrived he told her "Farzikh vos ikh trink".  After considerable
prodding she took a mouthful and spitting it out shouted "Oy, s'iz biter
vi gal." Her husband responded  "Vos meynstu, ikh lek honik do?"

Dorian (Dovid Moishe) Goldstein

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 95 09:41:42 +0200
From: mash@weizmann.weizmann.ac.il
Subject: Honik lekn

In Vol. 5.115 Andrew Cassel asked  for the meaning of "lekn honik", as
given  in  his  zeyde's  newsletter  in "hobn  shoyn  keyn  honik  nit
gelekt..."

This expression is also found in modern Hebrew, most likely translated
from Yiddish,  as lelaqeq  d'vash.  It means  enjoyment, or  having an
easy time, but it is *always* used  in the negative, as in the example
above "nit gelekt".  If someone is given  a hard time by his boss, one
could  use  this  phrase  (with  the  negative  "nit").   The  literal
translation is simply licking honey which  I wish all Mendelniks to do
with the apple on rosh hashone.

Michael Shimshoni

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 95 07:13:55 IST
From: leybl@telecomm.tadiran.co.il
Subject: Hey tsigelekh...

Ver es iz farinteresirt in gor a sheyner araynblik in dem inyen tsigelekh
un yidisher folklor, lid un mayse, zol araynkukn in dem bukh: "Motivn Fun
Tsig un Tsigele- a shtudie" fun avrom beker (leivik-farlag, 1987,
tel-aviv), 152 zaytn mit nokh 5 zaytn a raykher bibliografye, un 3 zaytn
an indeks fun nemen (shrayber, dikhter, forsher, kinstler) vos vern
dermont, oder zeyere verk tsitirt oder ibergegebn inem bukh.

Ikh gib do iber di titlen fun di kapitlen:
- araynfir vort (fun dr. y.kh. biletsky (z"l))
- der tsig-motiv in der mitologie fun felker
- di tsig in der talmudisher agode
- fun amalteya biz tsu khod godyo un nokh vayter...
- der mehus fun folkslid
- folkslider nusakh khod godyo
- literarishe khod godyo lider
- literarishe tsig lider
- der tsig-motiv in humor
- di tsig un der shnayder
- dos tsigele in viglider
- di tsig in der kunst
- di tsig in der astrologye un in der geografye
- bibliografye
- indeks fun nemen

es geyt do arayn a raykhe koleksie lider fun di vikhtikste dikhters in
der yidisher literatur. teylmol nor oystsugn, ober oft, dem gantsn tekst:
fun meyer kharats, frid vayniger, h. leyvik, a. goldfaden, peretz
markish, itsik manger, efrayim oyerbakh, dovid eynhorn, hirsh osherovitsh
(5 lider!) moshe nadir, un nokh a sakh andere.

hot mir a gut gezunt yor, hey-tashnav (hey-tof-shin-nun-vov = 5756)

leybl botvinik
netanya

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End of Mendele Vol. 5.117