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In my lifetime I've had many jobs, full time and "dervalik" (temporary): secretary, camp counselor at Leonard-Leonore, adult education teacher, tutor, high school business educator, free-lance writer, and "mekhaber" (author).
Describing your work can be "shver" (difficult)--especially in "zeks"(6) words.
Smith Magazine has published a string of books with six-word memoirs. Contributors offer their life stories, tales of "libshaft" (love) or being "shvanger" (pregnant)--in exactly six words. Larry Smith shares the lessons learned from "shreklekh" (terrible) and "vunderlekh" (wonderful) bosses. Neal Conan, for example, said: Business suits suck. Hawaiian shirts rock.
Shown below are some 6-word expressions about work. Enjoy the Yiddish!
FYI: Work - "arbet To work - "arbetn" The salary - "di skhires" Job/livelihood - "parnusseh" The firm - "di firme" Business - "geshefts"
1. Goyisha office. Sole Jew. Phylactery phobia.
2. Now unemployed. Not end of world. "S'iz nit ek velt!"
3. Hardest work is to be idle. "Di shverste arbet iz arom tsu geyn leydik."
4. With luck one can do anything. "Mit mazl ken men alts ton."
5. Dell. H.P. Apple. Love "der kompyuter."
6. Don't do business "mit" a fool. "Mit a nar tor men nit handlen."
7. Let's talk about more cheerful things. "Lomir redn fun freylikher zakh."
8. I don't want to discuss it. "Ikh vil es farn moyl nit brengen."
9. The typewriter, The computer. The job! (Der shraybmashin. Der kompyuter. Di shtele.)
10. Sales. Work. Bring back the "shtupvegl." (A "shtupvegl" is a pushcart.) Arnold Fine says, "We had men who came around with little pushcarts. You knew you were getting the best price possible because there was practically no overhead. Essex Street in Lower Manhattan had both sides of the street lined with pushcarts. It was like a horizontal department store." Source: "I Remember When," July 14, 2000, The Jewish Press.
11. No job. No paycheck. Phooey. Feh!
12. Comfortable? Danks God, Make a Living.
13. The bottom line: I'm a "shnorrer." (Der untershte shure: Ich bin a panhandler.)
14. The boss? He's a "groisser gornisht." (He's a big good-for-nothing.)
15. A&S. Fortunoff's. Stores gone. No "arbet."
16. Year: 1920. I was a "shlepper." (A "shlepper" is one who drags; the kid who pushes the handtruck on 7th Avenue.). 17. FOOBS. $35,000 in debt. Oy gevalt. ("FOOBS" means "fresh out of business school.)
18. Work. Work. "Genug shoin." (Work. Work. Enough already.)
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