"PUWN-yapple"

       It's hard for me to see or hear a certain word without thinking of my mother's story of herself and her sister Rose when they stopped at a drug store for a treat on the way home from school.

       Mom, her four sisters and brother grew up in America, learned English as a first language.  So it's understandable the two couldn't keep from laughing when a man came up to the soda fountain near them and asked for a "PUWN-yapple sundae."

       The counter guy couldn't catch it and asked, "What was that?"  "A PUWN-yapple sundae.  PUWN-YAPPLE."

       The man spoke Yiddish natively, no doubt.  But Ida and Rose got the lecture of a lifetime from their dad when they told the story that night at home.  "Don't make fun and hurt a man's feelings!"