| fepzomdw |
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From a schlimiel to a schlimazel
Every language has a thing unique to offer. One time i lived in a pond village in Papua Brand new Guinea and when I began to comprehend some of the language I realised there were numerous words for says of water. Yiddish, my parents' native language, as befits any nation of wanderers, has several curses.
Picture this scene. A new husband and wife are quarrelling. They argue in the kitchen. Where else? The kitchen is the heart of an immigrant's house. And they argue in Yiddish. Says the wife: May the umbrella enter your stomach and throw open. And the husband replies: I hope you lose your teeth, but one the teeth should remain so you can have a toothache.
Your argument could continue for hours and still certainly not run out of curses: May anyone be like a wrought iron chandelier, hanging by day and also burning by night. May you resemble an onion, along with your head in the ground plus your feet in the air. May well an entire orchestra type in your stomach, and also I'll be the conductor. May possibly you have a sweet loss of life and have a wagonload of sugars run over you.
I am assembling a volume of Yiddish curses. It will be a hot seller, especially among political leaders. Here is my favourite, the mother of all curses, a gift to work with in these anxious times. I received that in Scheherazade, a cafe in Acland Street, St Kilda, in which, to this day, former Far eastern European refugees gather, swap stories, jokes, the latest gossip and, once the need arises, curses.
With a Sunday morning, one of several regulars sits down at my table and states: Aron, I hear you might be collecting curses. Here is the best one. May your feet be manufactured of wood, the stomach contain drinking water, and your head be generated of glass. Therefore, when your feet catch fire, your abdomen will boil, as well as your head will explode. The word explode, however, is a poor interpretation. In Yiddish the appearance is platz, which means a mix of exploding and imploding, fission along with fusion. In other words, in case you platz,parajumpers norge, you're in a real wreck.
Many of these curses lose much in translation. This is the problem in all different languages, especially such a hybrid language as Yiddish, with its mixture of German and ancient Hebrew, and its dropping of Polish, Ruskies, Romanian, Hungarian, Ukrainian and Slovene dialects. One way to solve this predicament is to leave the text as they are, in the unique,Parajumpers Kodiak, and allow them to create their way into the English language. After all, this is how 'languages' develop and develop.
Indeed, there are already several Yiddish words that have made this kind of journey.
Consider the appearance chutzpah. The closest approximation in British translation is oral cavity, or audacity. But this won't capture the heart and soul of the word. A person who practises chutzpah is someone who murders his parents, then asks for the court's whim because he has become the orphan.
Take the word shpiel. To do a shpiel is to perform a schedule, or to promote ones latest wares. A shpiel is what we now contact spin, a way of adding ones questionable activities in a positive light.
There are other words who have just begun to help make their way, surprise,parajumpers jakke oslo, into the mainstream vocabulary. Perhaps I can assist them to on their way. I will give attention to just one category, the various Yiddish expressions for loss. In the shtetl, the impoverished Eastern European townlets associated with my ancestors, there have been many ways of being a loser.
Take for example schlimiel and also schlimazel. A schlimiel is a clumsy person, a cultural misfit.
The schlimiel falls about his back and breaks his nostril. In contrast, a schlimazel is someone who is always experiencing bad luck. He may end up being gifted, clever along with able, but, sad to say, misfortune is their lot. To sum up the real difference: a schlimiel is the individual who spills the hen soup, and the schlimazel may be the one on who it is spilt.
We have compiled a list of many of the many Yiddish terms pertaining to loser. Alas, we do not have the time to explore the how to go about each one, but examine them aloud and you will sense their heart and soul. A loser could be called a pisher, a yold, the shmutte, a shmendrek, a shmugegge, a schlumper, a shnorrer, a paskudnik, nudnik or nogoodnik. Another variant involving loser is the schlepper,where to buy canada goose online, someone that drags his high heel sandals so often, he would need an entire shoe store to fulfil their needs.
My favourite word for loser can be nebekh. A nebekh is a no person, a complete nonentity. As one saying puts it, every time a nebekh leaves the room, you really feel that someone has come inside. My personal theory, even so, is that nebekhs are, probably, the true saints worldwide. And when I examine what we regard since winners in these times involving aggression, and of might is right, perhaps as being a loser is not so ignoble after all.
But I digress. I'm in danger of becoming a nudnik. There is a word that should make its way into the English language as soon as possible. A nudnik is often a complete bore, the pest, a source regarding intense irritation. Every time I write a novel, my great fear is that I am becoming a nudnik. To be a phudnik, is even worse. A phudnik is a nudnik having a PhD.
I have not received a doctorate as yet, on the other hand have to confess, I am working on it. However no matter how hard I aim, no matter what honours will come my way,parajumpers, I understand, deep in my cardiovascular, that I will always continue to be a nebekh. And I should be thankful for that. After all, nebekhs , like all true losers will, sooner or later, acquire the earth.
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