The New Joys of Yiddish: Completely Updated

I'm not really quite sure what I thought this book was going to be. The intorduction was really good and I think is closer to what I was expecting, more of a story/history about Yiddish in the U.S. He speaks of how most linguists harrumph at the use of Yiddish in the States as an accent to the primary language, and with most Jews now living in either the U.S. or Isreal (where Hebrew, not Yiddish, is the default tongue) Yiddish as a language is dying. But the author thinks the way it has worked its way into the general lexicon is actually great. After the intro it becomes, more-or-less, a dictionary of Yiddish words that are heard in American (what the author calls Ameridish or Yinglish) and what they mean, occasionally with a history of show more its use, either in the old world or the new, and often with a story, that claims to be numerous, about its use. Very dry, not that funny. Eventually I stopped reading each one and just skimmed ahead to words I've actually used or heard others use. show less

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 little better and it's a great place to look up new words.

A bit dry to read cover-to-cover—it's basically an alphabetic list of Yiddish terms commonly heard in English, interspersed with jokes and anecdotes for many of the entries—but well worth a read! This updated edition is more accessible (and less sexist) than the original 1960s edition, with lots of useful notes and updates. This is a particular delight if you have Yiddish-speaking grandparents, but anyone with an interest in Jewish culture will find something to like or to learn, I think.

For every Jewish word, you get a definition and often a story to go along with illustrating the point and definition.

At last! I've finally managed to find a copy of this wonderful book. I used to have a copy of the original, but foolishly lent it to somebody and forgot to whom!

Lexicon with new entries; originally published in 1975

O jazyku jidiš Leo Rosten v předmluvě říká: „Jidiš je Robin Hood mezi jazyky. Krade lingvisticky bohatým, aby obdaroval chudá ptáčata.“ Nové, doplněné vydání knihy, která ve zkrácené podobě již potěšila mnoho českých čtenářů, je jakýmsi slovníkem, v žádném případě však suchopárným, ale naopak velmi živým, moudrým a zábavným. Slovník jidiš výrazů posloužil autorovi knih o učiteli angličtiny (Pan Kaplan má třídu rád) k veselému portrétu dnes již polozapomenutého jazyka s osobitou květnatostí a expresivitou, doplněnému řadou židovských a jidiš příběhů a anekdot. Čtenář brzy zjistí, jak mnoho slov, která každodenně používá, přešlo do češtiny z jidiš, show more co to znamená, když se o někom řekne, že je mešuge nebo naopak chachem, co je to šofar a kde je Gehena. show less