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*According to Frank Handler, the Yiddish word meaning a short involvement with a spouse is "a kurtse zivegshaft." "Kurts" means short or brief.
Dr. Paul Glasser (YIVO) suggests "kurts tsuzamenlebn."
72 days of marital bliss? Yes, that's how long Kim Kardashian was married to Kris Humphries before she dumped him. They sold the TV and photo rights for an incredible $17.9 "milyon" dollars. This means that they earned about $250,000 for each day they were married.
Ernest Borgnine ("Marty") also had a short-lived marriage; he was married to Ethel Merman for just 3 days in 1964. The two stars from the Golden Age couldn't work things out. Borgnine said that his marriage unraveled during the honey- moon. In Ethel Merman's memoir, there's a chapter titled, "My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine." It's followed by a blank "zayt" (page.)
Jason Alexander's marriage to Britney Spears may be the record-holder for shortest marriage--55 hours--(1/3/04 to 1/5/04). They were granted an annulment.
And Cher and Gregg Allman were married for 9 days in 1975. Gotta watch out for those Las Vegas weddings. Just three days after divorcing Sonny Bono, Cher and musician Gregg Allman spontaneously flew to Vegas in his Lear Jet to wed. She soon discovered that his drug and alcohol problems were too much for her, and filed for divorce ("get") after only nine days.
"Shoyn genug." (That's enough.)
Rabbi Perl, Chabad of Mineola, wrote: "There's a lot about the story of Kim Kardashian's marriage that seems to have elicited tremendous public interest and comment, but I have a question that no one seems to be asking. Why do we care?.. She claims to have tried hard to make the marriage work. But even in Hollywood, 72 days seems to be a new low. I would have thought commitment meant giving it a little longer (at least 73 days)."
Joan Rivers said, "Marriage isn't a contest to see who is most often right. Marriage requires being what the Japanese call 'the wise bamboo,' which means you bend so you don't break.
Treat your spouse with the flexibility and respect you would give to a top client. Think how we treat clients: we smile, we are polite, we listen to their ideas.
Never forget that your spouse is your most important client." Source: "From Mother to Daughter" (Birch Lane)
Shown below are some "komish" (funny) marriage terms/trivia/Yiddish expressions all dealing with marriage:
"Az me git ois a tochter, iz arop a horb fun der plaitseh." (When you marry off a daughter, a hump is off your back.)
"Matzahisha, matsah tov." (Whoever finds a wife, finds great good.)
"Chasuneh hobn nemt a shtundeh, ober far a gantzen leben hot min tsores." (Getting married takes an hour, but for a whole lifetime one has troubles.") (I find this quote rather "pesimistish" (pessimistic.)
"Isha yesh la ketubah; pilegesh ain la ketubah." (A wife has her marriage contract--ketubah--a mistress does not.)
"Vu dos veib iz a malkeh iz der man a mailech." (Where the wife is queen, the husband is a king.)
"Ven a man hot chasineh, er git zein froi a k'subeh--un die mameh a get." (When a man marries, he gives his wife a marriage certificate, and his mother--a divorce.)
"Gai, farshtai a maidel. Zee vart oif ir chaseneh, un dan ven zee gait tsu dee chupeh, zee vaint." (Shalom Aleichem) (Go understand a girl; she looks forward to her wedding, and weeps when she walks to the marriage canopy.")
"Holy acrimony is another name for marriage." from "The Bethesda Bulletin of The Episcopal Church"
"altar eggo" - Wedding breakfast Patsy V. Felmet
"altar ego" - much-married braggart Ann Tuck
"Honeymoon" - Trip newlyweds take to exotic, romantic resort to discover passion, love and what their spouse really does in the bathroom." "The Marriage Dictionary" by Tom Carey
"Tragedy" - A bride ("kale") without a can opener.
"karat dangler" - n. A woman who finds it of utmost importance to flaunt her engage- ment ring/wedding ring at all times. (Note: Let's hope that it's a "bessereh kvaliter" (better quality) than "kinstlech tsirung"--costume jewelry.)
"Hybride" - The woman in a mixed marriage. Craig Wolfson
"defiance" _ v. To break an engagement. Judy Moscowitz
"divarriage" - The continuing overinvolvement of these once-married, now-divorced parents, with one-foot-in- and-one-foot-out relationships. Karen Karbo
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton [re: Bill] "He's the kind of person you really want to be married to for 30 years because he washes dishes."
There's a Yiddish saying, "If your wife laughs at your jokes, it means that you either have a good joke or a good wife."
"Bridezilla" - style-fixated bride who has taken [wedding] fussiness to a new level.
"Union shop" - Marriage broker M. C. Brackley
"Scatrimony" - elopement Carole S. Lyons
"Off White" - The color of the dress your mother-in-law ("shviger") suggests you OUGHT to be wearing at your wedding. "The Marriage Dictionary" by Tom Carey
"Shotgunwedding" - A case of wife or death
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Marjorie Wolfe has been married to the same man, Howard, for 53 years. Her favorite Yiddish expressions: "Der man iz der balebos--az di veib zaine lozt." (The husband is the boss--if his wife allows.)
Source: "Yiddish Wisdom, Yiddish
Chochma"
"A veib macht fun dem man a nar oder a har." (A wife can turn a husband into a fool or a master.")
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