Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 18.022 March 29, 2009 1) Greenhorn (Aaron Kaplan) 2) Jealousy, Envy (Arnold Wishnia) 3) loksh (David Goldberg) 4) gliebes (Faith Nomi Jones) 5) Yiddish wedding invitation (Hershl Hartman) 6) "Di froyen in di getos" (Eliezer Niborski) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 12, 2009 Subject: Greenhorn I am surprised that no one has offered the following word derivation: It is a compound word deriving from green and horn. Green: This was the color of the identification card that was given to the new immigrants when they arrived in this country. Horn: This is a corruption of "Herren" or person. So, greenhorn is a person who carried the identification card when he came to this country. A little story that actually happened to me: I am a retired pharmacist. At the time of this incident, I was working in a pharmacy which filled prescriptions for welfare recipients. It occurred in the 1970's. A young Mexican boy brought a prescription order to me. I asked him for his identification card so that I could properly process the prescription. At first he did not understand me. I told him, "verde carta" (green card). Then, with a look of recognition, he said "una momento" ("One minute.") He dashed out of the store, leaving the prescription order in my hands. A short while later, he returned with a big smile on his face, carrying his immigration identification card and handed it to me. The immigration card was colored green, the same color that was given to the immigrants from Europe many years before. Immediately, I understood his error. Needless to say, I filled the prescription. The little joke was on me. Aaron Kaplan 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 25 Subject: Jealousy, Envy Shulem aleykhem ale (mayne eltern hobn geredt a varshever yidish). Redt men bloyz yidish oyf (keynmol nisht oyf Mendele?) Letstns hob ikh veynige gelegnhaytn tsu redn yidish un s'iz shver (and error-laden--please correct). Zolt ir mikh antshuldikn. I also subscribe to WordReference Forum, where I have tried, with no success, to arouse some discussion of Yiddish. A question came up about "Jealousy" and "Envy." Weinreich gives "kine," "mekane zany," and "farginen" for "envy", the first two for "jealousy" in general and "eyferzukht" for sexual jealousy. Is that your usage as well? Several asides: boy is Weinreich pre- (and even sometimes pro-) scriptive. He also never gives the phonetic form of the Hebrew on the Yiddish side, which makes life difficult at times (he also often refuses to give the definition of a perfectly good and common Yiddish word that has German roots, and directs you instead to an often obscure Hebrew equivalent). "Eyferzukht" is the exact transliteration of the German "Eifersucht." In Varshever dialect, an "n" is usually included (apparently influenced by Polish ??? -- as in Gesia Street = gey(n)she gas), as "aynferzikht" (here, my memory fails: I may even have heard "eynferzikht" and, as adjective, "eynfarzikhtig." I have only heard "farginen" is such phrases as "Ikh fargin dir" where it conveys, "Am I stopping you from ..." or "Do I begrudge you?") Apologies, and thanks in advance, Arnold Wishnia 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 13, 2009 Subject: loksh Noyekh Miller's reference to the English "string bean" for skinny reminds me of my father's standard description of a skinny person: a loksh. Dovid Goldberg 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 19, 2009 Subject: gliebes In a story by Shira Gorshman I have found the word "gliebes" - giml lamed yud ayin beys ayin samakh. The context is, "Alte un yunge froyen, geboygene unter zek kartofl un gliebes heytsung zenen undz antkegngekumen." Gorshman was from Krok but lived many years in Moscow. If anyone can provide a gloss, I would be grateful. Faith Nomi Jones 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 14, 2009 Subject: Yiddish wedding invitation In response to Eli Rosenblatt's query (Vol. 18.021,) I recently turned up my in-laws' 1927 Yiddish wedding invitation which reads as follows (preserving the quaint, high-falutin' Germanic wording and transcribing the archaic spelling via the YIVO Standard): mr. und mrs. mikhal gilston mr. und mrs. moyshe leyb shteyn laden aykh heflikhst* ayn tsu der khasene fun zeyere kinder roze tsu khayim am zuntag dem 2ten yanuar 1927 um 7 uhr abend in rev. ritshman's privat restaurant 151 ist brodvey nyu york (*heflikhst = most respectfully/cordially) Hershl Hartman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 9. 2009 Subject: "Froyen in di getos" Rukhl Eissenstat fregt zikh nokh vegn dem bukh "Froyen in di getos", aroys in 1946. Dos bukh ken men leyenen oder aroplodn gantserheyt funem vayterdikn adres: http://www.archive.org/details/nybc200952 mit di beste grusn, Eliezer Niborski ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 18.022 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: victor.bers at yale.edu (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: mendele at mailman.yale.edu 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. Submissions to regular Mendele should not include personal email addresses, as responses will be posted for all to read. 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