Sam Levenson's Yiddish Glossary (1951 or 1946)

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MEET THE FOLKS:
A SESSION OF AMERICAN-JEWISH HUMOR
with Sammy Levenson
New York: The Citadel Press
1951
(The book was issued in 1946; 1951 may just be the sixth printing.  Check LOC
records.  This adds to several other Yiddish word lists that I've added to
the ADS-L archives, such as KOSHER-AMERICANS--ed.)

Pg. 110:
      FAMILY LIFE
   HOME, SWEET HOME
DIE BUBBEH  A pensioned-off baby-sitter
DER ZADEH  Grandchild's press agent
MISHPOCHEH  Foreign Relations Committee
DER M'CHOOTEN  The leader of the opposition
AN AIDIM  An additional name on the letter box
A KOLLEH MOID  A juvenile delinquent
GOLDENEH CHASSENEH  See _finstereh yor_, then multiply by 50
A GRUBBER YOONG  Roughly speaking
A POTCH  Proven method for attracting a child's attention
AN ALTEH MACHASHAIFEH  A woman one year older than your wife
A TSVILLING  Double or nothing
A KOONTS  Quintuplets
ONGEBLOZZEN  Young father who wanted a boy...
TSORRES  Something you get from children
NOCHES  Something you get from grandchildren
A VANNEH  Softening-up process
A TOOMEL  A birthday party
A KOCHLEFFEL  The next door neighbor
GEDULT  Feeding the baby
(Pg. 111--ed.)
A PARTECH  Garment used by mothers to wipe babies' noses
A GLICK  Five daughters
NISHT GESHTOIGEN OON NISHT GEFLOIGEN  Louie's excuse for playing hookey
   FOR THE LADIES
RYSEN DIE FLAISH  Getting a manicure
DANKEN GUT!  Diaper service
GIB ZICH A SHOCKEL  Rumba lesson
SAICHEL  Something you need besides money to catch a husband
KOM DERLEBT  Collecting on life insurance
A VATIG  Reducing exercises
BRATER VIE LAINGER  An old girdle
A GRAISEH MITZIEH  A daughter-in-law
A HARTZ VATIG  The lady next door buys the same hat
AY, GOOT!  Taking off a pair of new shoes
A SHLIMOZZEL  A woman who is allergic to fur
FARDINEN A MITZVEH  Laughing at your husband's jokes
   FOR MEN ONLY
A SHVIGGER  John's other wife
A CHOLEM  Visit from Betty Grable
A LIVONEH  A bald head
VOS HOB ICH DOS GEDARFT?  Marriage
A BUBBEH MEISEH  21 plus
(Pg. 112--ed.)
BORVESS  Informal
A NISHGOOTNICK  A hen-pecked husband on his night off
NADAN  Matri-Money
A KITSEL  A sign of paternal affection (up to age 16)
HELFEN VIE A TAITEN BAHNKES  Hair tonic
   PLEASE OBLIGE
FARDREY ZICH DEIN KOP!  Go and get a hair-do!
NEM ZICH A VANNEH!  Go jump in the lake!
A SHANEH, RAINEH, KAPORREH!  A sterilized curse
BRECH A FOOS!  Last words of a losing argument
VER DERHARGET!  Greeting to a man who steps on your corn
Pg. 113:
      FOODS
Pg. 114:  What better lunch for a school child than cold _koogle_ from the
previous night with a crust that looked like the scales of a prehistoric
mammal, with (Pg. 115--ed.) a side dish of yesterday's _tsimmes_ and a seeded
roll oozing _hock-flaish_ in all directions.  For dessert, a penny for a
"twist" and back to school raring to go--to sleep. (...)
   Soup could offer a variety of surprises--_kreplach_ (meat balls with sport
jackets), exquisitely shaped (Pg. 116--ed.) by the sculptural genius of a
_balabusteh_, who always planned the structure of the _kreple_ so that a
tempting bit of the buried treasure should show through, just enough to make
the mouth water.
   Or soup might contain _lokshen_, which hung like weeping willows over the
_flaishigeh leffel_.  The excess _lokshen_ could either be sucked into the mo
uth or bitten into.
   What better contribution to _fressen_ have we given the world than the
incomparable _kishkeh_ (sections of fire hose)?  They tell me my _zadeh_
stuffed his own _kishkeh_ with cow's _kishkeh_ to the age of 94.  He carried
around a permanent heartburn which kept his body warm and protected him from
the severe Russian winters.
(Pg. 117--ed.)
   MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE
CHICKEN ZOOP  Oil on troubled waters (Not "Jewish penicillin"?--ed.)
MEIN BUBBEH'S TOM  Pickled herring at McGuinness'
SHMALTZ  Liquid heartburn
KREPLACH  The eternal triangle
RETACH  Repeat performance
SHNAPPS  Jewish anti-freeze
SMETENEH  Cold cream
A LEK OON A SHMECK  Hors d'oeuvres
ZAMD  Spinach
LOX  A fish used to wake the family on Sunday A.M.
LOX'N BAGEL  Romeo and Juliet
SCHAV  The Green Pastures
KASHEH, KOOGLE, KNISHES, KNADEL, KREPLACH  The Jewish "K" rations
FARSHIMELT  Penicillin
TSIMMES  14-carrot stew
KASHEH  The Jewish version of Serutan
BAGEL  Has no meaning by itself.  _See_ LOX'N BAGEL
GEHAKTEH TSORRES  A five-cent hamburger
A FINE-KOCHEN  Edible ping-pong balls
YOACH  Liquid lead
KNUBBLE  A breath-taking vitamin
GRIBBENES  Jewish popcorn
GESHVOLLEN  Bubble gum
VOORSHT  The K'Nobel prize
A GLEZEL TAY  The pause that refreshes
HOCK FLAISH  Blood and sand
(Pg. 118--ed.)
      CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
KISHKEH  Wedding ring
KOSHER  A restaurant that serves no butter with meat meals
(Pg. 119--ed.)
STRICTLY KOSHER  A restaurant that serves no butter even with dairy meals
MATZOH  Temporary filling for cavities
SHMECK TAHBICK  Marijuana
A SHYLEH  The 64-dollar question
YONTEFDIK  Tight shoes
A SHABBES GOY  A pilot light
A POOSHKEH  A Jewish piggy bank
BET-GEVANT  Fire-escape decorations
VUNTSEN  Yer fodder's moustache
SHADCHEN  Jewish Manpower Commission
A SHOFER  An ill wood-wind that nobody blows good
A SUKKOH  A Quonset hut
A SHANEH GELECHTER  Getting hiccups on Yom Kippur
HERRING A fish with a useless head and tail
A LOTTEH  Square in the pants
BLINTZES  Dairy sleeping bags
A SCHMOOZ  A local call
(Pg. 120--ed.)
      AY, GOOT!
      OY, SCHLECHT!
   (...)  The KRECHTS may mean any of the following in any order:
NO MAIL TODAY!
THIS YOUNGER GENERATION!
SUCH RADISHES!
LOVE IS A BEAUTIFUL THING!
MY FEET BURN LIKE FIRE!
THE LAUNDRY RUINS EVERYTHING!
THOSE GUYS IN WASHINGTON!
WAS THAT A BEAUTIFUL FUNERAL!
THE DOCTOR SAYS I'LL BE ALL RIGHT
REMEMBERING WHOM YOU COULD HAVE MARRIED!
COMMENT ON THE MAID'S WORK
(Pg. 121--ed.)
HOW'S BUSINESS?
LETTER FROM THE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE
A NEW SET OF UPPERS
WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU A SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN...
   AY, GOOT! _or_ IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO ME!
A FARGENIGEN  Front row at the follies
A SIMCHEH  Wasserman negative
SHTAIN REICH  An expensive tombstone
GENOOG IZ GENOOG  And in conclusion...
A MACHAYEH  Seltzer water
KOVED  Allowing the other guy to pay the check
GESHMOK  Sleeping  a the movies
MOCH'N A GVALD  Winning at Bingo
A HAISEH VANNEH  Southern comfort
A SHTICK NOCHES  Finding a nickel in a phone booth
A SHTICK NAHR  The dope who puts it back

   OY!  SCHLECHT! _or_ IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO A DOG!
A LIVAYEH  Moving to the suburbs
GOT VAISS  I'll see you tomorrow if I'll live
A FARSHLEPTEH KRENK  A boat ride up the Hudson
KALT  The tenant's radiator
VARIM  The landlord's thermostat
OLAV HASHOLEM  Signing off
A ZIFTS  Exhale
(Pg. 122--ed.)
CHROPPEN  SHort wave
A FROSK  Shock treatment
A KVITCH  Opening of a mystery drama
A TSOOCHEPENESH  A trailer
FOLG MIR A GONG  Is this trip necessary?
HAYZERIG  A portable radio
BOACH VATIG  Something you get because you ate something that Momma told you
not to eat
A KOP VATIG  How much to tip the waiter
A FINSTEREH SOHF  Falling into a manhole
A FARDROSS  Throwing in a penny and getting no gum
(Pg. 123--ed.)
      COMMERCE
(...)  proffet, interres, benk, mugetch, lendler, discont, zex protsent,
checkbooch, risit, co-maker, and dropp-debt!
(Pg. 124--ed.)
BILLIG  A pre-war word meaning "cheap."  Has dropped out of both Yiddish and
English.
SHLECHT  Advertising for a partner
A CHOCHMEH  Sending a lawyer-letter to a creditor, and getting a
lawyer-letter in return
A GANTSEH M'GILEH  Income tax, simplified form
A SHVITZ BUD  Mechanism for putting through telephone calls
OHS SHIDDECH  Give me back my deposit!
NEBECH  In the 80% income tax bracket
A BUBBEH MEISEH  Money refunded cheerfully
BALABOSS  A man who can work 16 hours a day if he wants to
(Pg. 125--ed.)
      CHARACTERS
   ...the NUDNIK, the SCHNORRER, the LITVAK, etc.
(Pg. 126--ed.)
A GONTSER K'NOCKER  A man who does crossword puzzles with a fountain pen
A SHNORRER  The guy who insists you pay him the money you owe him
A FUNFENYIK  A nudnik with sinus trouble added
A NUDNICK  An authority on your subject
A SHTARKER CHORKTER  A guy who can eat just one salted peanut
A PISK  A tobacco auctioneer
A SHLOCK  A woman who is her own mother-in-law
A MIYESKITE  A very educated girl
GALITSIANER AND LITVAK  An interfaith meeting
A SHICKER  On a liquid diet
MOISHE KAPOYER  A man who forgetrs his own towel in a hotel
A KOBTSEN  A Civil Service worker
A SIDDER  One who watches babies
A YENTEH  A "news commentator" without a sponsor
KOOM ICH NISHT HEINT, KOOM ICH MORGEN  The new maid
MISHMOOGEH AHF TATE  A vegetarian with heartburn
DER MALECH HAMUVESS  A motorcycle policeman
A CHOZZER  A pig who eats like a horse
A VILDER MENTCH  A litvak with a herring
A GROBBER YOONG  A baseball umpire
A BAZEH CHAYEH  A bus driver
FARBLUNDJET  A kosher butcher in Scarsdale