A mechaieh, as Mr Rosten defines it, is a `pleasure, great enjoyment, a real joy...invariably uttered with a smile, a grin, a patting of the stomach, a pleased cluck or shake of the head'. That term is a perfect description of this wonderful book, written not only with humor but real care, love, erudition and depth. It is not only a collection of marvelous words and unforgettable jokes and stories, but a perfect introduction to both religious and secular Jewish culture in all its glory. This is one of the funniest books you will ever read, even if you aren't Jewish. In fact, in the 40 years this book has been around, I'm sure it's inspired a few conversions!
Where else can you learn all the nuances of the 29 different ways to say `Oy!' (which, of course, is not a word, but a vocabulary), the 19 different meanings of `Nu?' and the 20 situations where `Feh!' is the most appropriate thing to say? Or when (and when not) to say `Mazel Tov!'?
For those who are unfamiliar with Yiddish - and there are probably very few of you because it has so thoroughly penetrated the English language - it is the mamaloshen (mother tongue) of the Askenazic (i.e German, Russian and Eastern European) Jewish community, with comprises roughly 85% of Jews worldwide. It is a mixture of German, Hebrew, English, and various other European languages - I am not sure of the exact percentages but it's about 70% German. Words such as chutzpah, yenta, schlemiel, kvetch and dreck, as well as prefixes such as `sh' and `shm' (as in `Oedipus-Shmoedipus, as long as he loves his mother') and suffixes such as `nik' (beatnik, peacenik, nudnik) all come from this marvelous language. So do various lingustic devices such as scorn through reversed word order (`Already you're discouraged?'), shifting emphasis in a sentence from one word to another (`HIM you trust?' is very different from `him you TRUST?'), and frankly, too many to list in a review limited to 1,000 words.
As Rosten himself says, this is not so much a book about Yiddish itself or a Yiddish dictionary but a book how English has been affected by Yiddish and immeasurably enriched by it.
The book is written in dictionary format, where every word is given at least one definition and pronunciation, and then illustrated with at least one if not more stories, some poignant, most hilarious. In fact, I think more dictionaries and word books should use Rosten's approach - it's a lot easier to retain vocabulary if you're laughing your head off and will never forget the story the new word is used in. Because of this format, you don't have to read it from cover to cover (although you'll probably want to), but can simply open to a random page and discover a treasure.
I also really like the somewhat old fashioned sweetness and innocence of this book. Although it is occasionally slightly vulgar (e.g. the entries on `schmuck' and `putz'), and Yiddish is one of the best languages around for invective, rarely, if ever, do we see the kind of schadenfreude and sheer mean-spiritedness that often passes for humor these days.
There is also a very valuable appendix with some 60 articles on various Jewish rituals, customs, and superstitions ranging from Anointing to False Messiahs to Yom Kippur.
I do have some minor quibbles. One is that some of the transliterations into English are to my mind a little strange. I have never seen `yeshiba' for `yeshiva' elsewhere, for example. Also, this book IS 40 years old and some of the social trends it discusses and makes fun of are long past. The Lower East Side of New York, for example, is no longer a poor Jewish neighborhood, and (SOB!) the Catskill culture seems to be dying out as many of the hotels have been sold. I'm not sure if Jewish suburban matrons are still taking on such ultra-assimilated names as Dyanne and Sadelle and Shirlee. I also doubt if very many people my age - I'm 31 - know what the Hays code is, let alone understand a joke about it. I'm not saying any of this material should have been left out, but especially since this is a new paperback edition Rosten might have added some new material reflecting the foibles of the more modern Jewish and Yiddish speaking communities. Then again, I haven't read all of his books yet, and that material might be in some of his more recent works.
And finally, some of the BEST Yiddish phrases are probably way too vulgar for this PG rated book!
Still, this book is essential for anyone even remotely interested in Judaism, Jewish culture, immigrant culture, languages, or a whole host of other subjects. As I said before, you don't have to be Jewish - in fact, one of the biggest mavens (experts) on Yiddish was none other than James Cagney! I assure you that you will have a huge grin on your face every time you put this book down - if you put it down. Frankly, the book is worth buying for the stories under "Oyrech" and "Talmid Chachem" alone.
Alright already! I've kvelled (gushed) over this book enough. From ME you need to hear more? If you don't buy it, you're meshuggeneh (crazy)!
