I heard from a number of people offering additional Yiddish phrases that should have been discussed in yesterday's post. My law partner, Kerry McCormick, reminded me that one of her and my favorites is "tuchas offen tisch," which, in literal translation, means, "Put your butt on the table." Its closest English equivalent is "Let's have a meaningful, no-nonsense discussion of the issues."
Kerry described herself as, "one of the office shiksas." You can look it up.
My friend, Rabbi Howard Apothaker, suggested I discuss "Gai kocken in yam!" As he observed, the phrase has many uses in various appropriate situations. Its literal meaning (somewhat cleaned up) is "Go relieve yourself in the ocean." In general, it is a dismissive response to some foolish behavior.
A dear friend and former colleague, Rexanne Hosafros, now an expat in Florida, told me her favorite is "zaftig" -- an adjective generally employed to describe a full-figured woman.
No doubt, there are many other Yiddish words and phrases that you and I might encounter. If you have questions about what the Jews called the "Mamaloshen" -- the Mother Tongue -- let me know and I'll try to track down an answer.
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