E-MAIL, EMAIL, OR "ELEKTRONISH POST"?
That is the question

by
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe

Syosset, New York

Language is always changing!  The editors of the shorter Oxford English Dictionary explained that people "are not confident about using hyphens anymore" and "don't know what they're for."  As a result, many hyphenated words were either combined or made into two separate words.

These previously hyphenated words are now becoming two words:

fig leaf
ice cream ("ayzkrem" in Yiddish)
pin money
pot belly
test tube

A headline in the Sept.  20, 2007 issue of The Wall Street Journal read, "Hyphens Are Vanishing.  Blame E-Mail.  Sorry,
Email."

An examination of several Yiddish dictionaries shows that many Yiddish words are hyphenated.  Let's examine some of
them.

1.  "baruch ha-bah!" ("Welcome," according to June Levitt Nislick)

2.  "bas-yekhide" (a female only child)

3.  "b'suleh-shaft" (virginity)

4.  "eyn-ore" (evil eye)

5.  "farkoyf-tsetl" (bill of sale)

6.  "fancy-shmancy" (pretentiously fancy, according to Ellis Weiner & Barbara Davilman)

7.  "feier-flig" (fire-fly)

8.  "gezunt-heit!" (Good health)

9.  "hakhnose-shtayer" (income tax)

10. "harts-brenenish" (heartburn)

11. "im-yirlse-hashem" (God willing)

12. "kaboles-ponem" (Welcome)

13. "khassen-kolleh" (an engaged couple)

14. "khazer-fleysh" (pork)

15. "khazer-kotlet" (pork chop)

16. "khevre-man" (finagler/guy)

17. "khezhbn-fier" (accountant)

18. "kishef-makher" (magician)

19. "klozet-papir" (water closet paper)

20. "krankn-shvester" (nurse)

21. "krank-heit" (sickness)

22. "kuni-leml" (simpleton/good-hearted fool)

23. "kvetsh-telefon" (touch-tone phone)

24. "loshn-Ashkenazim" (the mama-loshen--mother tongue--the language of the Ashkenaz.

25. "malakh-amoves" (angel of death)  (or) "meleish-hamovesess"

26. "nafkeh bay-is" (whorehouse)

27. "nit-enlekh" (unlike)

28. "nit-fardayung" (indigestion)

29. "nit-rikhtik" (incorrect)

30. "ois-shteler" (braggart)

31.  "oley-hasholem" (May she rest in peace_

32.. "oley-veytik" (earache)

33.  "pisk-malocheh" (big talker, little doer)

34. "shihi-pihi" (mere nothings)

35. "shik-yingel" (messenger)

36. "sholem-aleykhen" (hello)

37. "tateh-mameh" (parents)

38. "tokhes-leker" (ass-kisser)

39. "tshek-konte" (checking account)

40.  "tsofn-mizrakhdik" (northeastern)

41. "tualet-papir" (toilet paper)

42. "um-be-shrien" (God forbid!  It shouldn't happen.)

43. "ur-aynekel" (great-grandchild)

44. "ur-ayneklekh" (great-grandchildren)

45 "vash-tsimmer" (bathroom)

46. "vig-shtulekhl" (rocking chair)

47. "vek-zaiger" (alarm clock)

48. "veter-novi" (weather-prophet,
weatherman)

49. "vos-in-der-kort" (capable of doing
everything bad)

50. "yingeh tsats-kehl" (a young doll)

51. "zeyger-makher" (watchmaker)

________________
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe would NEVER leave out the hyphen in her smiley-faces.

33. "pits-pitslekh" (little pieces)

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___________________________________________
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe is the author of
two books:

"Yiddish for Dog & Cat Lovers" and
"Are Yentas, Kibitzers, & Tummlers Weapons of Mass Instruction?  Yiddish
Trivia."  To order a copy, go to her
website: MarjorieGottliebWolfe.com

NU, what are you waiting for?  Order the book!