Mother tongue

I have always been fascinated by how languages develop, steal from one another and become gloriously wealthy as they are added to, whether by immigrants or invaders, or latterly, the media and the phenomena of the global village.

I have never been linguistically gifted, but have enjoyed coming from a dialect speaking household. I am sure this helped me when I lived here and there over the years, as dialect speakers tend to “tune in” quite quickly to other varieties of English around them. English is also very easy to play with, if it is your native tongue.

If ever there was a language to get my creative juices flowing, it’s Yiddish. When it is written with Latin script (instead of traditional Hebrew letters), I can even understand bits of it, as so many words are rooted in German. The dictionaries of Yiddish run to volumes. In drunken, Falstaffian excess, it has imbibed from whatever land it has been used in, and swollen, good humouredly to “popping point”, then reclined by a fire, dozed for a while, and supped some more.

At one time, it was considered almost dead. Given that a large proportion of its speakers were obliterated in the Holocaust, it is a miracle it survived at all.

The last few nights I have chuckled away to myself as I have read excerpts from a small Yiddish dictionary, sent to me by my mother-in-law. She was raised with Yiddish, but no longer speaks it. A pity, as I would have loved to have learned some of the “mama loshen” from her.

So, “wet your whistle” and try a few of these, Yiddish first and with an occasional Yorkshire dialect equivalent:

BALEBOOSTEH – A domestic goddess (think Nigella Lawson) - don't think we have domestic goddesses in Yorkshire:-)
BOYCHIK – a bit of a lad (whatever rogue springs to mind) RAPSCALLION
DRAYKOP – a smooth operator or someone who tries to trick you (used car salesman?) KITTLE
OY GEVALT! – “Good Grief/Gordon Bennett!” BYE ECK / GUM
KLUTZ – Clumsy oaf (think Frank Spencer) GORMLESS – accident prone, silly
KVETCH – To complain or moan CHUNTER - to grumble
MESHUGGENER – mad or crazy person ‘ARF BAKED – a simpleton
MISHMOSH – a hodgepodge
MENSH – a man of fine qualities a good human being JANNOCK – someone reliable
PUT THE MOCKERS ON – spoil the chances of success (makkes = plagues)
NEBBISH - a weak, inept person FECKLESS – useless (referring to a person)
NOSH – Food eaten between meals
NUDNIK – a pest / bore (or PHNUDNIK – a bore with a Doctorate)
SCHLEMOZZEL – an uproar BLUE MURDER
SHLEP – drag or carry a long way UGGEREM
SHLOCK – junk or something poor quality
SHMALTZ – extreme sentimentality BLUBBERIN’
SHMEGEGGE – miserable idiot BARMPOT - stupid person
SHMOOZE – to chat up
SHPRITZ – to squirt
SPIEL – a persuasive argument