מענדעלע

Regarding a recent inquiry about the meaning of "shmooze", I always assumed that it is an American English corruption of the Yiddish verb _shmuesn_ meaning to exchange pleasantries in a friendly informal chat. I haven't had occasion to use the word "shmooze" but in hearing those who do use it I get the impression that it still has the same meaning as the original. I did, however, once hear someone use it in the sense of buttering someone up as in "You gotta shmooze him [referring to a supervisor, for instance] so he'll give you a new computer." This, of course, veers drastically from the original Yiddish and it really grates on my ears.

Al Grand

Peter Gutmann asked about Yiddish version of "The Merchant of Venice" [7.093]. At least one translation exists:

Shaylok, oder Der koyfman fun Venedik. Translated by Joseph Bovshover (1873-1915) / Nyu York: Hibru Poblishing Kompani, 1899. 2nd ed 1902. 116 p.

see also

Tsvi Sholem Prilutski, Der koyfman fun Venedig, Sheylok : ertsehlung nokh Shekspirs komedie / Varsha: Tsukerman's folksbibliothek, 1898. 30 p.

Avraham Morevski, Shaylok un Shekspir / Vilne: Fraynd fun Yidishn teater, 1937. 95 p. English translation: Avraham Morevski, Shylock and Shakespeare / St. Louis: Fireside Books, 1967. 2nd ed 1985. 95 p.

Moses Rubin, Tipn un geschtaltn: "Di yidn", "Der koyfman fun Venedig", "Nathan der weize" / Buenos Aires, 1939. 125 p.

Iosif Vaisman Chapel Hill

FWIW, the only _shmuz_ I know in Yiddish or _shmooze_ in Yinglish means roughly 'chat', both as a noun and a verb (shmuzn in the infinitive in Yiddish of course). Never heard it used with the meaning 'kiss up'. Where I come from, one who kissed up was a _tokhes lekher_ or, as it was abbreviated in our Yinglish, a _T.L._ This, btw, was occasionally the source of inter-cultural confusion as the non-Yinglish speakers among us called a kisser-upper an _A.K._ (from _ass-kisser_), while _A.K._ for us meant 'old fogey' (from _alter kaker_). Frankly, for picturesque imagery, I think standard English wins hands-down here with its _brown-noser_, a term I never even heard till I left Brooklyn. ;)

Ellen Prince

I shall take advantage of Louis Fridhandler's plea for accuracy in quoting to ask whether the Mendelyaner at large still want to ban direct quoting. I personally have never understood the motivation for it and have never come across any other list or newsgroup with the same ban. As long as we have to paraphrase what we're replying to, there'll be instances of misquoting, at least from some people's point of view. How about allowing direct quotes?

Ellen Prince

[Note from the moderator: Mendele does not ban direct quoting. Examples can be found in the recent issues. However, Mendele strongly discourages excessive quoting. Many other lists and all Usenet groups have similar policies, that prevent the snowballing of multilayered quotations. Mendele's founding fathers modeled the list as "the Letters to the Editor page in any quality newspaper". Quotations in Mendele should be formatted accordingly to this model. - i.v.]

I am one of those who get extremely iritated with too a long davenen when the bal tfile shleps in der velt aran. So what should I say when we haven't even started and we are only discussing the word?!

If davenen would only take a fraction of the time we have spent over the word then not only would moshiekh have been here by now but he might even have been gone again.

May I humbly suggest a discussion of the word 'khiperen' which means a snappy davenen, but please don't take a yor mit a mitvokh over it.

David Herskovic

I don't have a specific answer to Peter Gutmann's query. However it may be of some interest that circa 1948, I attended a performance on Second Avenue in New York of "Shylock's Tokhter" with the great Maurice Schwartz as Shylock. Some of Shakespeare's language was there "Hot nit a yid ... " but the plot had some key changes. In the climactic courtroom scene, Portia's sophistries are answered by a bright young talmudic student. Reluctantly, the judge tells Shylock to take his pound of flesh. Shylock takes his knife, raises it, and then, Maurice Schwartz's shout reverberating through the theatre, calls out: "Ikh ken nit, ikh bin a yid"

It was wonderful!

Martin Davis

-shmuesn- in Yiddish, is to converse, discuss, chat. -ot dos iz a shmuesmeans whatever was said is worth thinking about. a-shmueser- iz a chatty person. I suspect that the English "schmooze" borrowed this Yiddish word upon which to build a new meaning and pronunciation.

elye palevsky

Re: sneezing. My in-laws, a"h, Litvaks both, used to say "tzu gezunt" on the first sneeze, "tzu lebn" on the second, and "tzu lange yorn" on the third.

Re: David Herskovic's list of superstitions. When you're being spoken about your ears burn. This one isn't restricted to Jews. In English we talk about ears ringing under such circumstances.

To scream 'mazel tov' when a glass or plate breaks: This one obviously comes from the wedding customs of (a) the mothers of both bride and groom breaking a plate together at the signing of the kesuba, and (b) the groom breaking a glass at the end of the ceremony.

Re: schmooze. There is a third meaning that no one has yet mentioned: a lecture, usually by a rabbi. A subset of this is the musar-shmues.

Rick Turkel

In reply to the request for titles of books by Shmerke Kaczerginski, here are the titles of several books in Yiddish, (1) Ikh bin geven a partizan (2 vol.) 1952 (2) Lider fun getos un lagern. 1948 (3) Khurbn Vilne. 1947 (4) Tsvishn hamer un serp. 1949

They may be available from the National Yiddish Book Center, in Amherst, Mass.

Regarding The Merchant of Venice (in Yiddish) try the same source. They do have a translation of Hamlet and of Shakespeare's Sonnets, as well as a volume of plot synopses of all of Shakespeare's plays. I'm not sure whether The Merchant .. was translated or if they can supply it.

Itsik Goldenberg