The Joys of Yiddish

Rating:
Summary: Even a nebech will brighten up with this book
Review: A nebech is more to be pitied than a schlemiel because you can nevr dislike a nebech .. you can only feel sorry for him. Therefore, make a poor nebech smile with a gift of this charming book. My mother, aleha ha-shalom (may she rest in peace) loved this book because she, as someone fluent in Yiddish, knew how dead on right Rosten is in his understanding and explanation of the nuances of Yiddish. For someone like me, who is not fluent, but understands the flavor of Yiddish, this book is a gem because in a charming and humorous way, it increases the depth of my feeling for the mama loshen (mother tongue). If you were to just open this book for the jokes, it stands well as a great book of Jewish humor. Together with it's instruction on how to understand the flavor of Yiddish, this book is five star plus! This book is one that I open over and over again. It never becomes tiresome. I have literally been using it for decades and it seems as fresh and new as the day I first opened it. Oy ... a book that has been in print since 1968 must have something going for it. I recommend this modern classic.

Rating:
Summary: A JOY OF A BOOK
Review: THE JOYS OF YIDDISH is a delightful little dictionary of Yiddish words and expressions that have worked their way into the English language, or at least should have. I can't count the times I've heard people with no background in Yiddish use words like "mavin" (expert), or "shnuk" (a real pitiful character), or dozens of others.

Rosten's frequent approach is to take a word or expression, explain its pronunciation, define it as nearly as is possible, and give an anecdote or example of its use. When the word lends itself to humor, Rosten usually opts for a humorous anecdote.

For an example, I've chosen the word "chutzpah." It is pronounced to rhyme with foot spa, with the ch rolled in your throat to give the German gutteral "kh" sound, not like the ch in "choo-choo." The nearest you can come to defining "chutzpah" in English is unmitigated gall or perhaps brazen effrontery. An example of "chutzpah" is the man who, after killing his mother and father, asks the court for mercy because, after all, he IS an orphan.

There are hundreds of such examples in the book. There are also many more serious examples of words that do not lend themselves to humor.

At the end of the book there are appendices which discuss Jewish Traditions, Ceremonies, Religious Writings, Names, and more.

Rosten has evidently done his research to come up with the many hundreds of entries in the book. He has provided a valuable research document and a book that can be opened to almost any page and elicit a chuckle or two.

Rating:
Summary: Mirthful Account of a Joyful Language
Review: Yiddish, though born of suffering, is an amusing language, and the late Mr. Rosten explained it in such a way as to be universally enjoyable. There are philological snobs who sniff at and recoil from this book. Those with edelkeit and a sense of absurdity (the one needed and possessed by the founders of this delightful tongue) would do well to purchase this.