POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN BY HOWARD RICHLER IN THE TORONTO GLOBE AND MAIL
Have you ever noticed how rich in words of contempt the
Yiddish language is?
Even Yiddish-origin people who do not speak Yiddish use
them.
They are literally a part of what we think of as the New
York City character or Jewish humor.
Without making a big effort, we have: schmuck, meshuggina,
zhlub, wus, dreck, putz, goi, gornisht, schlepper, klutz, schlemiel, kvetch,
luftmensh, megillah, momzer, nebbish, nudnik, pisher, schlock, scmultz, shtunk.
These are generally not foul language or curses, just words
full of contempt for something one is observing.
If there is truth in the idea that language reflects other
deeper things in people, then these words of contempt say a great deal.
