Yiddish as a Second Language: Difference between revisions

This trope goes back quite a ways in American television, almost to the point of being a [[Dead Horse Trope]], without passing through the stages of Clever Idea -> Trope -> [[Subverted Trope]] -> [[Discredited Trope]]. (Mainly because its roots are another fifty years back, in vaudeville.) The characters -- somecharacters—some portrayed as being Jewish, [[Ambiguously Jewish|some not]] -- will—will pepper their dialogue with words and phrases in Yiddish (or more specifically, in Yinglish). Translations and subtitles are not provided, and meanings must be inferred from context. This occurs in both dramas and sitcoms, sometimes without regard to the setting city of the show, though it most often appears in shows set in [[Big Applesauce|New York]], where it's most common in actual speech, and [[Los Angeles]], where ''schmooze'' -- a—a Yiddish word if ever there was one -- isone—is a way of life. The criminal argot of East End [[London Gangster|London Gangsters]]s has also absorbed a few Yiddish words.

Thanks to this trope, however, several Yiddish terms have become a standard part of American English vernacular. Concentrated in large American cities and spreading out worldwide, common Yiddish terms like "putz," "schmooze," "[[Word Schmord]]," are slowly becoming standard English words. This trope evolved from the early movies and TV -- censorsTV—censors were aggressive in editing out curses, sexual references, etc. However, most of these early censors did not speak Yiddish, so the writers, actors, and producers ([[You Have to Have Jews|who often did]]) used Yiddish curse words as a way of [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]].

* [[Spider-Man]], particularly the Ultimate universe version, is fond of peppering his speech with random Yiddish, especially during fights -- despitefights—despite the fact that he's Lutheran, not Jewish. But then, he's from New York City. In fact, his home neighborhood in Queens, Forest Hills, is ''very'' Jewish.

{{quote|'''Lars Olfen:''' The ''naches''<ref>joy</ref> that I'm feeling right now... 'cause your dad was like ''mishpoche''<ref>family</ref> to me. When I heard I got these ticket to the Folksmen, I let out a ''[[Squee|geshreeyeh]]'',<ref>squee</ref>, and I'm running with my friend... running around like a ''vilde chaye'',<ref>wild beast</ref>, right into the theater, in the front row! So we've got the ''shpilkes'',<ref>nervousness</ref>, 'cause we're sittin' right there... and it's a mitzvah,<ref>good deed</ref>, what your dad did, and I want to try to give that back to you. ''Okeinhoreh'',<ref>not the word he meant to use; ''alav hasholem'' means "rest in peace," this is more along the lines of "knock wood"</ref>, I say, and God bless him.}}

* This abounds in the works of [[Harry Turtledove]], most prominently in those sections of his ''World War'' series featuring the Russie family, and also in several sections of his American Empire trilogy. While what they say always fits with the meaning of the word, they are sometimes idiomatically incorrect -- noincorrect—no one would actually use the word the way the character does.

*** Subverted when Donna -- aDonna—a blonde Midwesterner -- tellsMidwesterner—tells Toby that Josh is recovering from being shot, and he doesn't need Toby "going over there and getting him ''fuhtushed.'' Toby, a New York Jew, corrects her pronunciation of "''fartoost''" and tells her, "don't bring the Yiddish unless you know what you're doing."

* In ''[[Welcome Back, Kotter]]'', title character Gabe Kotter -- aKotter—a classic New York Jew -- occasionallyJew—occasionally threw out the odd Yiddish word, although far less often than one might expect. And Epstein completely averted this trope, embracing his Puerto Rican side almost to the exclusion of his Jewish heritage.

* The new musical "In the Heights," which takes place in Washington Heights (upper Manhattan with a predominantly Hispanic community) has several Latino/a characters use Yiddish rather believably in their daily conversations, similar to their usage of Spanglish (although less frequently, for obvious reasons). Prior to a wave of Puerto Rican and Dominican immigrants into the area Washington Heights was a rather Jewish neighborhood, and the characters probably picked it up from one of the innumerable senior citizens with a rent-controlled apartment dating back to the 40s -- in40s—in which case the Lenny Bruce quote above becomes applicable.

* New York Senator Al D'Amato is widely believed to have lost his Senate seat because he, as Toby Ziegler might put it, "brought the Yiddish without knowing what he was doing." In the closing days of a tight race against then-Congressman Charles Schumer, D'amato publicly referred to the Jewish Schumer as a "putzhead," without apparently being aware of what the word "putz" ''means'' in Yiddish. <ref>"penis," with similar connotations to "prick."</ref> The resultant furor alienated the state's large Jewish community, which had previously been very supportive of him, and he lost by a ten-point margin.