The joys of Yiddish
Do you know the origin of "chutzpa," "mishmosh," "fin," "bubeleh," "megillah," "shammes," "cockamamy," "kineahora"? Do you know when to cry "Mazel tov"-and when to avoid it like the plague? Do you know where Yiddish began and how it grew? Have you ever entered the remarkable world of the...
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Do you know the origin of "chutzpa," "mishmosh," "fin," "bubeleh," "megillah," "shammes," "cockamamy," "kineahora"? Do you know when to cry "Mazel tov"-and when to avoid it like the plague? Do you know where Yiddish began and how it grew? Have you ever entered the remarkable world of the "shtetl"? Here is a book to be read and laughed over, no less than consulted - a contribution to linguistics, a "must" for lovers of English, a treasury of delights for anyone intrigued by the sparkling interplay of language and life.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780671830090 (0671830090)
Publish date: May 1st 1970
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pages no: 534
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
Humor,
History,
Reference,
Humanities,
Language,
Dictionaries,
Literature,
Jewish,
Religion,
Judaism,
Judaica
The New Joys of Yiddish is a terrific reference and a really fun book to sit down and read. It's filled with folklore, jokes, stories and comics as well as really useful pronounciation guidelines. I don't think I would ever try to use the words here but it helps me understand Jewish literature a lit...
A wonderful book; I've decided that Yiddish is the language of humor and insults, and Rosten's witty prose style makes this book read more like entertainment than reference.
12 years ago
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