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 -- some portrayed as being Jewish, [[Ambiguously Jewish|some not]] -- 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 Yiddish word if ever there was one -- is a way of life. The criminal argot of East End [[London Gangster|London Gangsters]] has also absorbed a few Yiddish words.

 

 

If a character speaks in Yiddish as sole proof of Jewish authenticity, then they may be practitioners of [[Informed Judaism]]. If a senior character has the accent as well, they're an [[Alter Kocker]].

Compare [[All Jews Are Ashkenazi]], [[Jews Love to Argue]].

 

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=== Moshln ===

 

== Animeheitln (Anime) ==

** This song turned up in Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, as well.

 

== Karikaturschurnaln (Comic Books) ==

{{quote| '''Mary Jane''': Where do you know Yiddish all of a sudden?<br />

'''Peter''': I picked it up.<br />

 

== Heitln (Film) ==

* A wonderful instance appears in the film ''[[A Mighty Wind]]'': Ed Begley Jr. plays Lars Olfen, a first-generation Swedish-American Public Television executive who nonetheless laces everything he says with a vast amount of Yiddish:

{{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.}}

* A common gag in [[Mel Brooks]] films, usually doing them himself.

** The Yiddish-speaking Indian chief in ''[[Blazing Saddles]]''. His headdress actually reads "Posher l'Kesach": roughly, "Posher for Kassover." When he meets Bart's family, he says in Yiddish, "Blacks!" When one of the other Indians raises his tomahawk, Brooks says, "No, no, don't be crazy. Let them go!" After Bart's family has ridden away, Brooks mutters, "Have you ever seen in your life?" He finishes in very Yiddish-accented English, "Dey darkuh den us! Wuff!"

*** Interestingly, the Englishmen he's talking to understand some Yiddish words.

{{quote| '''Robin Hood''': You've just entered the territory of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. <br />

'''Robin Hood''': (''the Merry Men react negatively'') No, no, we're straight, just merry. }}

 

** A [[Those Wacky Nazis]] [[Take That]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu2NqfISm9k rap music video as Hitler].

* Eddie Murphy's urban conman running for Congress in ''[[The Distinguished Gentleman]]'' impresses a Jewish senior citizen by contradicting her in Yiddish, which he apparently picked up playing gin on Miami Beach. He is also shown driving through several neighborhoods while talking on a megaphone using an accent common to each neighborhood, including sounding like an [[Alter Kocker|old Jewish man]] with Yiddish-peppered sentences.

* Both of the old comedians in ''The Sunshine Boys'' (played by [[George Burns]] and Walter Matthau) liberally use Yiddishisms. Both of them are veterans of the old [[Borscht Belt]] comedy circuit.

* In ''[[Independence Day]]'', Judd Hirsch plays a Jewish man and drops a lot of Yiddish.

* Used by every Jewish adult in ''[[A Serious Man]],'' and justified by that they are all conservative Jews in the late 60's.

* In ''Robin and the Seven Hoods'', Frank Sinatra at one point feels like he's being noodged. "It's an old Italian word."

* In ''City Hall'', Mayor's aide John Cusack (who's supposed to come from Louisiana) mispronounces "schtick" as "stick", prompting Bridget Fonda to snap at him to "get the cornpone out of your Yiddish" if he's going to get anywhere in New York City politics.

* 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 -- no one would actually use the word the way the character does.

** [[Fridge Brilliance|In an alternate universe, perhaps idioms developed differently...]]

* [[Vorkosigan Saga|Miles Vorkosigan]] uses a noticeable amount of Yiddish words, despite living around 1000 years in the future. He ''is'' portrayed as having an above average knowledge of the past, but it's interesting that this part of a High German language of Jewish origin was preserved.

** Given that Barrayar had a huge Russian influence, and modern Russian can be compared with New-York English in its level of Yiddishisms, [[Fridge Logic|it's not that surprising]].

== Televisie ==

* Mike Myers as Linda Richman in the "Coffee Talk" sketches on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.

** "L'Chaim! That's bottoms-up from right-to-left"

** There's a subversion in the fifth-season episode "[[Meaningful Name|38 Across]]", where Hawkeye spends the entire half hour seeking the Yiddish word for "bedbug" in order to finish a crossword puzzle. Father Mulcahy suggests he "ask Shapiro", but [[Southern-Fried Private|Private Shapiro]] tells him in a classic cornpone accent that his family's lived in the [[Deep South]] for seven generations and he hasn't a clue ([[Truth in Television|since Jews in the American South are generally descended from German Jews, who considered Yiddish a low-class corruption of German]]). Doubly subverted in that Hawkeye finally gets the answer from a whitebread WASP Admiral who tags along when a friend of Hawkeye's misinterprets a call for help on the puzzle as a medical emergency.

** Non-Jewish characters also use Yiddish words and phrases, most notable Val, Grace, and occasionally Niles, though only for comedic effect.

* [[Aaron Sorkin]] loves this one, especially when he can subvert it:

** ''[[The West Wing]]''

*** Most characters especially the New York-area Jews Toby and Josh, will successfully pepper their speeches with Yiddish... and Jed and Leo, probably thanks to a lifetime of politics, will have at least a passing familiarity. In "Enemies Foreign and Domestic", Jed comes out with a beautifully inflected ''Vas vilst du fun mein layben?''

*** Subverted when Toby goes into a monologue about how a particular night is special, CJ interrupts "We dip twice and eat gefilte fish?" He replies "Suzie Creamcheese, do not attempt the Haggaddah" and she responds "I know how to bless the soup, too."

*** Subverted somewhat in flashbacks about Toby's father, showing him fully conversant in Yiddish as a member of the Jewish Mafia.

* As a New Jersey Jew, Jon Stewart frequently uses this trope on ''[[The Daily Show]]'', but reprimanded Brian Williams for using one too many Yiddish words in an interview:

{{quote| '''Stewart:''' What's with the Yiddish tonight? What's with the -- "shmaltzy", and the "just gave me a little schpilkis, but" -- "I took my punim over there", bing bang boom -- <br />

Schlemiel, schlmazel,<br />

Hassenpfeffer incorporated! }}

* ''[[Seinfeld]]'' has 'The Yada Yada' episode, where Tim Whatley converts to Judaism for the jokes. He uses a few yiddish words in the episode.

* Barbara Brownstein, Cody Martin's [[Twofer Token Minority|Jewish/Japanese-American]] girlfriend in ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]'', likes to show off her Judaism by tossing the occasional Yiddish word around.

** In one episode, even London uses some Yiddish when she mentions she celebrates Hannukah (for the extra presents).

** ''House'' also presents us with Cuddy's incredibly [[Jewish Mother|Jewish]] mother, who isn't even Jewish. (She converted, but seems to have gone whole-hog; it rather reminds one of a certain [[The Big Lebowski|Walter Sobchak]]).

* On [[Covert Affairs]], Eyal distracts Annie while pickpocketing her by telling her she has some "schmutz on her collar".

* [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] in one episode of ''[[Northern Exposure]]'', Joel Fleischman finds out that the local Indian tribe has adopted several Yiddish words and phrases into their native language, due to the influence of a 19th Century Jewish doctor who joined the tribe and became one of their heroes. When the ''very'' Jewish Dr. Fleischman starts casually using Yiddish with the local Indians in an attempt to connect with them, he's told (by them) to knock it off because he sounds like a poser.

{{quote| What am ''I'', chopped [[Hold Your Hippogriffs|flarn]]?<br />

For ''this'' you wake me up? }}

{{quote| '''Luciano''': ''Meshuge bisl yingl.'' (Crazy little kid.)<br />

'''Lansky''': ''Che cose potente fare?'' (What can you do?) }}

* In an early episode of the ''[[Law and Order]]'' mothership, Cragen responds to his detectives reporting that their last lead failed to pan out with "What's less than nothing? Minus zero? Negative ''bupkis''?"

* In the ''[[Two and A Half Men]]'' episode "Captain Terry's Spray-On Hair", when Alan pretends to be Jewish so he could use a Jewish dating service, he uses as many Yiddish expressions as he can.

 

== Muzik ==

* Used liberally in the Voltaire song "[http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858742436/ Coin Operated Goi]".

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe2UXccid40 "Bei Mir Bist Du Shein"], a big hit for [[The Andrews Sisters]] back in the day.

 

== Meyreve Karikaturn (Western Animation) ==

* The [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney version]] of ''Hercules'' managed to have ''Hades'' throw various Yiddishisms into his speech, despite ostensibly being from [[Anachronism Stew|ancient Greece.]]

** It's James Woods. [[Large Ham|He can get away with that.]]

* Timon's mother (a meerkat) in The Lion King 1 1/2

* In ''[[Brandy and Mr. Whiskers]]'', Mr. Whiskers' [[Organ Autonomy|brain]] speaks with a Yiddish accent. Whiskers himself does not. Whiskers appears to be capable of thinking on a Whiskers level without the aid of a brain (the plot of at least two episodes revolves around Whiskers' brain getting fed up with being ignored, and leaving), so maybe it's not so surprising.

** Minerva Mink and Slappy herself are fond of the Yiddish insult "yutz", meaning "idiot".

* ''[[Futurama]]'''s John Zoidberg, from the [[Space Jews|Space Jew]] race of Decapodians: "Hello? Attack Earth! Yeah I know it's a schlep, just do it!" He also says "Mazel Tov".