Customer Reviews

Just Say Nu: Yiddish for Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Oy, Shprintse, what a book! It's a lecture on Yiddish, no doubt, and also on religion as the essential part to understand what's going on in the language. And it's so funny on such a high level that one may think the jokes will be missed -- but that's what I feared when I read "Born To Kvetch" already which has turned into a hit instead. Wex is not resting on the success of BTK (don't even think of Dennis Rader or the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company). JSN risks to introduce its own transliteration on top of YIVO's. But, hell, it works and turns pronunciation into fun! This is not a Yiddish for Dummies. Kvelling on scholarship, life and love, Just Say Nu manages to unite science, fun and understanding of a language that -- and this book proves it -- has SURVIVED hell.

With Just Say Nu, Michael Wex has again given us something rare in popular literature about Yiddish, a laugh out loud synthesis of scholarship and humor. It's an entry point to Yiddish that I wish had been around when I started studying the language as an undergraduate.

In fact, Just Say Nu should probably have been published before Born To Kvetch. It covers the basics that Kvetch (which covers much more advanced cultural contexts of Yiddish life) skipped over. Just Say Nu literally starts at the beginning, covering the nuances of language basics (like greetings and interjections) and delves into the many non-verbal aspects of Yiddish conversation.

Just Say Nu will give the you the conversational tools to handle any Jewish situation, whether it's running into Rabbi Goldberg at the burlesque house or getting your pain in the ass brother or sister to pass the milk at the table.

I only have one quarrel with Mr. Wex. He claims that Yiddish is unique in that it can diminish human misery without providing a concomitant increase in happiness. Yiddish brings me closer to the entirety of Jewish experience, both the good and the bad, the cursed and the blessed, the happy and the reserved. Just Say Nu, and the richness of Yiddish within it, did indeed provide an increase in happiness.

This is a great book with all of the idioms of "real" Yiddish, that you will never learn at a YIVO class. The author describes the "zaftike" expressions of "poylishe yidn" with great talent. Frankly there were one or two places where his etymology is suspect (at least to me) and his transliteration system takes some getting used to (even for those of us who speak Yiddish fluently.) Notwithstanding these minor shortcomings it is an excellent work that deserves to be in the bookshelf of every serious Yiddish student, teacher, and speaker. Alot of these expressions are dying out even among the Yiddish-speaking Orthodox communities, where subtle language shift is taking place, and some of the racier expressions are never used by them in any case. Familiarizing yourself with these idioms will make it a helluva lot easier to read Isaac Bashevis Singer (and others) in the original.

It is less "cutesy" than "Born to Kvetch", which I also recommend highly.

I loved Born To Kvetch in so many ways. Just Say Nu, however, feels like the outtakes from Wex's first book on Yiddish. It seems to be based on lectures and classes Wex has given on the Yiddish language through the years and has a very disjointed feel. Just Say Nu is clever and insightful in spots, but the reader should understand that the Yiddish Wex is talking about is really a Polish-based dialect that he learned as a kid. The subtitle for this book should be, "How to Say Clever Things in Yiddish That Come From a 1000 Square Kilometer Area in Poland." Time and time again, I would read a phrase in this book and think, that's not how I or my parents would say such a thing. Once I settled down and figured out that this book was really about a regional dialect that Wex knows well, not a wide-ranging book about general Yiddish (if such a thing was possible), I enjoyed quite a few parts. If you don't know Yiddish, however, I'm guessing this book would be hard to finish. Wex is a wonderful lecturer. But lecture notes don't necessarily translate into a great book. That's the case here.

Wex points out that in Yiddish one tends to go for the negative more than the positive. And in fact this work which aims to help us learn how to speak Yiddish also provides insight into the 'Yiddish mentality and culture'. It has a small dictionary at the end, and also a small grammar section. It has sections on 'Greeting and Meeting' ' Stages of Life'
'Food and Drink' 'Family Life' 'Protective Phrases' 'Madness, Fury and Driving' 'Health and Illness' ' Love and Sex' ' Happiness and Pleasure'.
It has much humor and taken small bits at a time, as nosherei it is a truly enjoyable and instructive work.
However in the spirit of the book I will register a few complaints. How after all could one learn to speak Yiddish without learning how to complain? The spelling is not the spelling, and the pronunciation not the pronounciation of the world of my childhood. That does not make it wrong, it makes it irritating for me. I too found myself again and again less interested in new words and concepts then in my memory of old ones. And also, perhaps above all learning the 'meaning' of 'words and phrases' I heard in childhood but did not know the meaning of.
I was surprised at how many Yiddish words I know because of my knowing Hebrew. And it seems to me Wex does not emphasize enough the Hebrew origin of much in Yiddish.
On the whole however I will do what should be done here, and 'fargennen' ' praise and compliment this wonderful 'sefer'.
And this of course said with the memory and knowledge in mind of what happened to the great share of those for whom Yiddish was truly their mameloshen. May God preserve their memory and their souls.

But seriously, folks....

Now I finally know something about the history behind some of the yiddish words I heard from relatives and at the synagogue.

The appendices were the part I read first. For movie trivia buffs, there is an appendix that includes an explanation of the Yiddish spoken by Ed Begley Jr. in the movie "A Mighty Wind", among others. Even one early Daffy Duck cartoon (my personal role model) contains a Yiddish sign.

The language explained ranges from common usage to graphic descriptions, especially in the chapter on love and sex, so parts of this book may be unsuitable for children. A few superstitions are well-explained, as are perspectives on other religions, especially Christianity.

The author's Liberal political bent is also reflected in some of the comments he makes in his book. While I disagree with Mr. Wex's politics, his comments are examples of free speech. Ironically, Mr. Wex is from Canada, yet most of his political comments are regarding the US. He's the Neil Young of Yiddish!

His book "Born to Kvetch" is now in my wish list.

This is a book for us that used to be spoken to in Yiddish when we were children and forgot a lot of the words. It shows that Yiddish doesn't have to die in our generation!I enjoy Jewish themed books totally.

Although I haven't finished the whole book but so far, I love how it teaches you the language of Yiddish along with some comical sides of using it for the present days. The book I bought from thrifbooks is an elegant copy. Even though it's used but I thought it was a brand new one with the plastic hard cover. Fast excellent shipping. Strongly recommended!!!

I was a bit disappointed with this book. It's written in a style that's hard to
follow.

The book arrived here quickly as expected, in the condition expected. It is informative,
great fun and historically (hysterically) interesting.
C. Lynch