I recently had the pleasure of reading Judy Reiser's 2005 book, "Admit It, You're Crazy - Quirks, Idiosyncrasies, And Irrational Behavior."

In Yiddish, the word for crazy is "meshuge." If you are crazy as a loon, you are "meshugeh ahf toi't."  A crazy world is "a meshugeneh velt."

In my family--and perhaps yours--everyone has his or her own quirk.  With one relative you could "shpay im in poinim, meynt er az es regn"  (spit in his face and he thinks it's raining).  Another member of the family uses the famous line of Judge Judy:  "Es iz nit geshtoygn un nit gefloygn."  (It just doesn't make sense.)

Judy Reiser interviewed over 2,000 people about their quirks and idiosyncrasies for the book.  These men, women, and children had quirks about food, money, bathrooms, clothing, sleep, germs, ATMs, and co-workers.  Some, for example, never balanced their checkbook, but always kept the ATM receipts.  One woman never sits near the bathroom in a restaurant; another arranges her spices in alphabetical order. One 4th grader will keep the money received from the tooth fairy ("tson feye") until he/she has grown up.

As I read about the idiosyncrasies mentioned in the book, I attempted to relate them to MY background, often using Yiddish terms and expressions.

One male respondent eats desserts with the smallest spoon that he can find so it lasts longer.

I follow the principle:  Life is short; eat dessert first.

Another male confesses that the last words he must hear before he turns off the TV to go to sleep is somebody saying something positive.

I have told each of my sons before going to bed, "Ir zeit zaier gut-hartsik" (You are very kind), and you have "rachmones" (compassion).

One respondent says that when he goes grocery shopping, he picks a letter of the alphabet and buys only items starting with that letter.  On a C-shopping day he buys carrots, chocolate chips, cauliflower, cow milk, corn, etc.

On a K-shopping day, I buy knishes, kishka, kasha, kugel and kreplach.  However, I much prefer H-shopping days, where my Shop-Rite cart is filled with Halvah and Hamantaschen!

A male lawyer says that when he takes a bath, he uses one side of the washcloth for his body and the other side for his face. No exceptions.

I adhere to the Yiddish proverb that says: "Faren doktor un faren beder zeinen nito kain soides."  (From the doctor and from a bathhouse-attendant, there are no secrets.)

A female respondent says, "My mother always told me to go out of the house with my right foot first on the day of a big event such as the first day of school or the first day of a job."

My mother told my brother, Paul  (z"l), "No chupa, No Shtupa."

One respondent enjoys a 7UP float before going to bed.  (His wife brings the ingredients on vacation or they buy the items when they get there.)

I much prefer an egg cream--even though it has no egg or cream.  I will eagerly pay $5.25 for one at Maxie's Restaurant in N.Y.C.

An artist/sculptor says that she irons the newspaper before she will read it.  The New York Times is delivered to her doorstep every morning.  Before she will read it, she irons the outside of each section...

I still remember my mother washing the kitchen floor on Friday afternoon and putting down the Daily Mirror.  She would NEVER put The Forward ("Forverts") on the floor.  Irving Howe said, "You didn't tear, cut or muddy the pages of the 'Fortverts.' any more than you did the Torah."

One respondent had a little Boston Terrier. Although the dog is capable of eating breakfast by himself from his bowl, he sits on his owner's lap and eats his breakfast from his own special little spoon.

I think the dog deserves a B-A-R-K Mitzvah when he's 13!  Let's wish him a "Muzzle Tov!"

And one respondent says that her favorite number is twelve.  If she sees thirty-six, she thinks of how to make it twelve in her head. She'll divide by three...

I like the number 18--"chai."  Literally, it means, "life."  The two Hebrew letters that make up the word chai have come to symbolize long life.  I usually give Bar/Bat Mitzvah and wedding presents in multiples of 18 as an implied wish for a long life.

And, finally, one male once unintentionally wore one black shoe and one brown shoe to an important business meeting.  No one noticed.

During the summer of 1955, before starting N. Y. U., I worked in an office in Jamaica, New York.  During the first day of work I spent one hour looking for a "circular file." No one ever told me that a "circular file" was an euphemism for the garbage can!