A Half Truth
a halber emes iz a gantser lign A half-truth is a whole lie. Jewish Proverb
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40 Yiddish Words You Should Know
My Nana, of blessed memory, was fluent in Polish. Her mother (whom everyone says I look and act like!) was fluent in Polish, German, English and Yiddish. I didn't realize until I was in my 30s that my Nana's Polish was sprinkled liberally with Yiddish terms, picked up from her grandmother - that I heard so often I assumed they were Polish. Rozumiesz? The Yiddish language is a wonderful source of rich expressions, especially terms of endearment (and of course, complaints and insults). These are some of their wonderful words you have to learn to use: 1. baleboste - A good homemaker, a woman who’s in charge of her home and will make sure you remember it. 2. bissel - Or bisl - a little bit. 3. bubbe - Or bobe. It means Grandmother, and bobeshi is the more affectionate form. Bubele is a similarly affectionate word, though it isn’t in Yiddish dictionaries. 4. bupkes - Not a word for polite company. Bubkes or bobkes may be related to the Polish word for “beans”, but it really me...
