When you were growing up, what did you call that piece of playground equipment that you climb up and then slide down? A former New Jersey resident recalls that when her family moved to Indiana, her playmates were startled when she called it a...
Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words! This week's minicast, available only online, is about the Yiddish expression "hak mir nisht ken tshaynik." It's what you say to somebody who's annoying you with a lot of talk...
Stand back! It's another missive from A Way with Words. This past weekend's show took a look at word-geek books suitable for reading and gift-giving. We also took a shot at explaining "gedunk" (which means "ice...
gevaltize v.— «In certain precincts of the Jewish community, a person who insists that the sky is falling, despite ample evidence to the contrary, is said to gevaltize—a neologism derived from the famous Yiddish cry of shock or alarm...
frum adj.— «“All of a sudden they decided this side of the town is not for them, they needed to go to the other side, because they’re more frum,” she said, using the Yiddish word for religious.» —“Two neighborhoods reveal...
baleboosta n.— «She was, in the truest sense, a baleboosta, a Yiddish term meaning a remarkable cook and “boss of the kitchen.” My father tells stories of her legendary cooking: Rolling out enough dough to cover the kitchen...