LL-L "Expressions" 2002.02.19 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 19.FEB.2002 (08) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: "John M. Tait" <jmtait at wirhoose.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Expressions" 2002.02.11 (02) [E]

Ron wrote:

I had always assumed (without ever checking ...) that English
>"riffraff" was of Yiddish origin, because one Yiddish word for
>'riffraff' is _erev-rav_, obviously of Hebrew origin, though I have
>never been able to figure out the etymology in Hebrew (something with
>'evening'?).

This isn't _?erebh_, evening, but _?e:rebh_, with a long 'e' in the first
syllable, apparently from a root _?arabh_, to mingle (sorry I can't be more
specific - my Hebrew dictionary is AWOL along with a lot of my books, owing to
domestic upheaval, so I resorted to a concordance; here endeth the excuses
:-)>).

The word _?e:rebh_ occurs in Nehemiah in connection with the exclusion of
people
of mixed race, and the phrase _?e:rebh rabh_ in Exodus, describing people who
accompanied the Israelites when they left Egypt, where it is usually
translated
'mixed multitude' or something like 'many (_rabh_ = many) other people.'

John M. Tait.

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