Entry tags:

ethnic studies, language

The New Joys of Yiddish
The New Joys of Yiddish

By Leo Rosten; revised by Lawrence Bush

Published by Three Rivers Press, 2001

This is a trade paperback measuring 7" by 9" and running to 458 pages including a brief English-Yiddish glossary at the back, plus 32 pages of preferatory material.

Leo Rosten's original book, The Joys of Yiddish, was a big hit. Since Rosten's death much has changed that has an effect on the book, given that it is more than just a dictionary of Yiddish words in English, but also a commentary on Jewish culture. Bush's revision is more than an update, however. He says in the Introduction:

"Rosten recognized that Yiddishkayt, the pathways and spirit of the language, was finding a new homeland in American culture. Unlike many Yiddish scholars, he delighted in this fact and treasured every Yiddish word or phrase, intonation or sentence structure, that had entered into English usage. Each, to his mind, was a "carrier" of the complete genetic code of Yiddish. In writing The Joys of Yiddish, Rosten was mapping the Yiddish genome.

"The map was incomplete, of course. Rosten left out the double helix of modern Yiddish literature and poetry. He avoided the recombinant material of Yiddish political rhetoric and social criticism. He ignored most of the non-American strains of Yiddish culture. He chose humor, anecdote, and breezy erudition as his best tools because, as he wrote in his preface, "a good story is exceedingly hard for anyone to forget." As a result, certain more sober Yiddishists were unhappy that Rosten, the kibitzer, won the commercial "patent" on Yiddish through the success of Joys. (A punch line from one of his many jokes might serve to express their attitude: "Eh! If I had his voice, I'd sing just as good!")

What this book is is a semi-dictionary of Yiddish words and phrases that have entered the English language, at least in some locales. Unlike the book Anglish/Yinglish, which I reviewed last September 3rd, this one does more than simply provide a definition and pronunciation. It gives colorful illustrations of the words' use, often in the form of anecdotes and jokes, that help provide a rich sense of the words' special unique meaning and flavor. Consequently the entries are often closer to encyclopedia length than dictionary length, and there are far fewer of them than in an ordinary dictionary.

For an example of what is included, here are the first fifteen entries in the "C" sequence, alternate transliterations omitted:

• cabala
  
• Chaim Yankel
  
• chairlady
  
• challah
  
• Chanukah
  
• Chasid
  
• chaver
  
• chazzen
  
• cheder
  
• Chelm
  
• chevra
  
• chillul hashem
  
• chometzdik
  
• chotchke
  
• chozzer
  

Here is one sample entry, a shorter one:

pupik

Pronounced PU (the u of "put") -pik, to rhyme with "look it." From Russian: pupok, "navel."

Navel.

Pupik is used in a variety of broad, colorful expressions - ironic, maledictory, and ribald.
A sheynm dank in pupik ("a pretty thanks in the navel") means "Thanks for nothing."
"Zol vaksn tsibeles in zayn pupik!" - "Onions should grow in his navel!"
"What does he do? He sits around all day looking at his pupik."

A classic definition of an unrealistic, impractical type is this: "He's the kind who worries whether a flea has a pupik."

This is a really fun and educational reference book, a good one to refer to or to read cover to cover.