Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Yiddish in His Own Mind
Word a day keeps the doctor away. No, that's an apple. But "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," my Grandma said. (I thought it was a Jewish expression for that reason, but I'm afraid it's more universal than that.) I also thought "spatula" must be Yiddish because it sounded so funny and foreign to my American-born ears. Actually, it's Late Latin in origin with the same or related root as "spade" for turning over soil as "spatula" turns over pancakes. And that's ... all the Jewish expressions I have for you today--none.
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Don ... although I am partial to the Irish speak-ease my Dad bestowed upon us, of late my Jewish friends from New Jersey have been teaching me the Yiddish phrases. I suddenly feel like a well traveled lassie.
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