LL-L 'Etymology' 2007.01.02 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L - 02 January 2007 - Volume 01
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From: Ronald Veenker <veenker at atmc.net>
Subject: LL-L 'Names' 2007.01.01 (01) [E]

On Monday, January 1, 2007, at 11:44  AM, Lowlands-L List wrote:

> Someone wrote:

> > > Un a brokhe oykhet oyf dayn pupik!
> > [And a blessing onto your belly button as well!]

Rinardo/Ron,

I recall your telling me that you do Yiddish but I have lost track of
the lister who offered the "blessing" above.  I spent several years in
a yeshiva (though a Gentile scholar) and seem to remember a discussion
about _pupik_ "navel" being used in some Yiddish regional speech as
"anus."  E.g., in the well-known curse: Es soll tziblis in sayn pupik
waksn.

Can you straighten me out on this lexical issue?

Ron Veenker

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Ciao, Ronaldo!

As far as I know, Yiddish פּופּיק pupik has only one meaning: 'navel', a
Slavonic loan; cf., e.g., Polish pepek, Czech pupík, pupek, Russian пупок (
pupok), пуп (pup), all meaning only  'navel'.

I have a feeling the other supposed meaning is based on folk etymology among
English speakers.

> Es soll tziblis in sayn pupik waksn.

This sounds wrong and rather Germanized to me (and not only the spelling.)

I'd expect the following:

Es zoln tzibeles waksn in zayn pupik
עס זאָלן ציבעלעס וואַקסן אין זײַן פּופּיק

And the clear meaning would be "May onions grow in his belly button!"

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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From: Heinrich Becker <heinrich.becker at gmx.net>
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology' 2006.12.31 (05) [E]

Dear all,

may all of you be blessed in 2007 too. Hope for many interesting
contributions.

I know the word "killen" or in more childish language "kille kille maken"
from the deep of my beginning to speak in a good sense of tickling, never as
a torture.

There is a saying left in my hometown imitating a very unexperienced clumsy
young farmer who tried to get closer to his adored girl on a party
in the Low German words: Söll wi auk äs noaoh buten gohn un kille kille
maken? De annern doht dat auk!
In English: Shall we go outside for awhile and tickle. The others too do
that.

I don't think, he was up to torture his adored one, though she seemed to be
as clumsy as he himself.

G: killern  or LS: "Kille, kille maken" arouses in my environment positive
feelings, however.

Een guett Nijohr för ju alle.

Heinrich Becker
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