Yiddish, you say? Nu?: A Yiddish Wordbook - Paperback

by Sasha Newborn (Author)

A vocabulary of Yiddish terms, common expressions, and proverbs. Many Yiddish terms have entered the English language, describing character or emotion (usually displeasure) that have no ready equivalent, such as klutz, kvetch, shmoose, or kibbitz. Yiddish as a language grew out of Medieval German and Hebrew, and spread through Eastern Europe among Ashkenazi Jews. With the worldwide spread of Jewry in many countries, Yiddish plays two roles: as a language unto itself, and as a "lending" language for terms and attitudes about business, sexuality, or human relations.

Author Biography

The editor, Sasha Newborn, lived in New York City for several years, and has been a small publisher (Mudborn Press, Bandanna Books, Beta Books) for forty years, now living in Santa Barbara. Newborn has written two novels; edited several anthologies; translated texts from Greek, Urdu, Russian; published bilingual texts; and modernized a number of classics, including the Shakespeare Director's Playbook series.