LL-L "Etymology" 2004.08.16 (10) [E]

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From: John Baskind <jbaskind at mac.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2004.08.16 (06) [E]

Op 16 Augustus  2004, het john feather
<johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk> geskryf:

> Mark queried whether It is correct to say that "Break a leg" arises
> from
> folk etymology. I assumed that the Hebrew blessing got contracted and
> perhaps distorted and was then re-analysed and re-formulated because
> of the
> superficial similarity of "baruch" and "Bruch". If the process had
> been a
> deliberate one like the schoolboy jokes I would say that a pun was
> involved

Grammatically accurate Hebrew for the expression earlier quoted here is
"bracha v' hatzlacha", (short 'ah'--apologies I haven't worked out how
to make IPA phonetic reps. work  in AppleMail) , accent on final
syllable, but in 1920s New York, where the expression was first
recorded, it would have been pronounced "brochuh v' hatzlochuh
(Yiddish, so o as in or, but short, accent on first syllable).  It
seems improbable that "break a leg" could have sprung from this source.
Good pun, though!

BTW, the closest Yiddish equivalent I know of the Hebrew phrase above
is "mazel un gluck", which was the customary greeting at the conclusion
of a diamond purchase among Antwerp Jewish diamond dealers. I was told
that this is now the common phrase used in the diamond trade,
regardless of the ethnic origins of the participants.

Shalom, zei gezunt en bly lekker,

John Baskind
mailto:jbaskind at mac.com

BTW, if anyone can help me with my AppleMail difficulty, please contact
me off-list. I'd appreciate the help.

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

Dag, John, un a groysn dank far di derklerung!

> "bracha v' hatzlacha"

I take it that would be והצלחה ברכה, and in Yiddish pronunciation this
Hebrew phrase would be _bróxe vehaclóxe_ (x = [X] = Dutch <ch>, c = [ts]),
in more "elevated" mode __broxó vehacloxó_.  Apparently, at least this ברכה
_broxe_ ('blessing') part entered Rothwelsch (a now extinct jargon used by
marginalized people) and from there mainstream German.

Kumpelmenten,
Reinhard/Ron

P.S.: John, have you tried to insert the IPA symbols in your wordprocessing
program and then pasting them into your email program?

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