Page 23 - Shalom Toronto Lifestyle Passover 2020

Yiddish in Two Words
By David Birkan
Learning Yiddish?
Master two simple words in your Mommeloshen and you’ll be a maven. All the rest - vocabulary, structure and expressions are all details. The first word is OY !
The second word is NU! Each is a vessel that can contain an astounding gamut of emotions.
Scene: Your kitchen
You’ve invited too many people and they all say they are coming.
Oy? Long and interrogative. Really. I didn’t know. Oy. Short and dry. Wow. That’s a surprise. Nu? So what. It’s not my business. Nu? Long and interrogative. What are we
going to do about it? Nu. Short and declarative. So what else is
new, or it will sort itself out.
One of them sprained her ankle and can’t come.
Nu? Short and interrogative. So it’s taken care of. She asked if her brother could come in her place.
Oy. (Long and dropping in pitch) Just when I thought...He’s going to bring two bottles of wine and a pot of soup.
Nu. (Long rising and declarative again) That would be great.
The Machatunim “in-laws” can’t come. They plan to stay south, until Shavuos.
Nu, nonchalantly “Well, Okay.” Or Nu Mayleh; mayleh modifies Nu. It has no meaning by itself. It turns Nu into a resigned “So be it” combined with, “That’s not bad news is it.”
Kayle and Shannon slipped off the road in the blizzard.
They are both in the hospital now. Oy Vey! With an accent on the Vey which rises in pitch. “That’s terrible. How are they?” “Thank God, nothing serious.” Oy Vey. With a sigh and a drop in pitch in the Vey. “What a relief.”
They said they’ll be coming after all.
Oy Vey. You should be able to figure out the tone and pitch here, Nu? If you can’t, say a short Oy and start reading these instructions from the top.
Nu?
David Birkan teaches KARATE for SENIORS at Betel Centre
SHALOM TORONTO Passover 2020 Page 23