Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Born To Kvetch by Michael Wex - Available

Born To Kvetch

Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods

by Michael Wex
Michael Wex
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available

As the main spoken language of the Jews for more than a thousand years, Yiddish has had plenty to lament, plenty to conceal. Its phrases and expressions paint a comprehensive picture of the mind-set that enabled the Jews of Europe to survive persecution: they never stopped kvetching about God, gentiles, children, and everything else.

In Born to Kvetch, Michael Wex looks at the ingredients that went into this buffet of disenchantment and examines how they were mixed together to produce an almost limitless supply of striking idioms and withering curses. Born to Kvetch includes a wealth of material that's never appeared in English before.

This is no bobe mayse (cock-and-bull story) from a khokhem be-layle (idiot, literally a ""sage at night"" when no one's looking), but a serious yet fun and funny look at a language. From tukhes to goy, meshugener to kvetch, Yiddish words have permeated and transformed English as well. Through the fascinating history of this kvetch-full tongue, Michael Wex gives us a moving and inspiring portrait of a people, and a language, in exile.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 21, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780061173240
      • File size: 299349 KB
      • Duration: 10:23:38

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Oy! Is this ever a treasure trove of Yiddish phrases, philosophy, and pronunciation, going far beyond the simple Yiddish words that have found their way into the American vernacular. Author Wex delivers chapter and verse in a sly, mocking yet wise, bold style, sure to amuse and educate even the Yiddish novice. Hear slang that snaps, crackles, and "schnapps" as Wex brings listeners the tangiest put-downs, curses, and terms of outrage in the language. A fascinating history of Jewish village life and modern mindset, customs, and mores, BORN TO KVETCH will leave you with a stitch in your kishkes and a "so nu?" on your lips. D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 1, 2006
      Most people's view of Yiddish is likely one of innocuous humor, whining and over-the-top curses. This extremely engaging portrait of a language reveals the droller, sharper and even more hilarious side of Yiddishkite. Like any truly excellent biographer, Wex delves deeply into aspects of Yiddish hidden in plain sight, exposing a richness and history all but lost today. Insults and kvetches
      (complaints) are the only way an oppressed exile can cope: an art form of cutting down the very essence of the thing that is being insulted all the while hiding the true level of insult from anyone not steeped in the culture. The audio format adds life as intonation and pronunciation are clear but the loss of a glossary is a small misfortune. (Although the addition of track listings on the CDs is a plus.) The Canadian author's bizarre, somewhat hypnotic reading style—with its randomly elongated vowels—is a cross between Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man
      character and a classic Yiddish whine. It will either continually amuse or drive listeners up the wall. Far more engrossing than linguistics should be, this audio will educate, entertain and enrich the perceptions of its listeners. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, July 11, 2005).

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 11, 2005
      Fortunately, despite its title and cover photo, this is not a kitschy book about a folksy language spoken by quaint, elderly Jews. It is, rather, an earthy romp through the lingua franca of Jews, which has roots reaching back to the Hebrew Bible and which continues to thrive in 21st-century America. Canadian professor, translator and performer Wex has an academic's breadth of knowledge, and while he doesn't ignore your bubbe
      's tsimmes
      , he gives equal time to the semantic nuances of putz
      , schmuck, shlong
      and shvants
      . Wex organizes his material around broad, idiosyncratic categories, but like the authors of the Talmud (the source for a large number of Yiddish idioms), he strays irrepressibly beyond the confines of any given topic. His lively wit roams freely, and Rabbi Akiva and Sholem Aleichem collide happily with Chaucer, Elvis and Robert Petrie. Academics, and others, will be disappointed at the lack of source notes, and a few errors have crept in (the fifth day of Sukkot is not Hoshana Rabba, for instance). Overall, however, this treasure trove of linguistics, sociology, history and folklore offers a fascinating look at how, through the centuries, a unique and enduring language has reflected an equally unique and enduring culture. Agent, Gareth Esersky
      .

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading