hair days, nudnik

Diana Ben-Aaron benaaron at CC.HELSINKI.FI
Mon Feb 14 09:52:55 UTC 2000


This is purely anecdotal, but I remember a woman who had recently moved
from Palo Alto to New York telling me in 1992 about a TV weatherman in
California who spoke of "sweater days" and "hair days."  Apparently
"sweater day" meant it was cold (he didn't seem to deal in "coat days"),
and "hair day" meant the kind of dampness that causes fine hair to fluff
up.  Does this ring any bells for Californians?

Also, I cannot resist repeating the definition of nudnik from a book
called Yiddish for Yankees, which I read long before actually hearing the
word used: "Someone who talks with his hands and his clothes.  And
sometimes with your hands and your clothes."

Diana ben-Aaron
University of Helsinki



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