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Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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*The Yiddish word for fearful is "moyredik."
It is pronounced "moy-reh-dik."
"Moyre hobn"means to fear, and trepidation is a synonym
for "fear."
Medically speaking, your "dokter" defines "trepidation" as an involuntary trembling or quivering; a state of anxious fear; apprehension.
In 2008, the words "turmoil," "trepidation," and "precipice" have appeared in discussion of the stock market and the economy.
Michael Chabon admits to beginning "The Yiddish Policeman Union" with a bit of trepidation, despite its acclaim and fistful of awards.
In the book, "Up Your Score - The Underground Guide to the SAT" by Berger, Colton, Jiang, Mistry, Rossi and Wang" we learn a number of humorous BOGUS words ending in "pidation":
"prepidation' - fear of clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch
"strepidation: fear of getting a sore throat
"stripidation" fear of taking off your clothes
"trapidation" fear of getting stuck
"tripidation" fear of vacations, stumbling, and drugs
"troopidation: fear of getting drafted or of watching "Flags of Our Fathers"
Not included is the term: "Yididation"-- fear that YIVO will disapprove of your spelling of the Yiddish word "chutzpah," not "khutspe."
And then there's the wonderful story--about "moyredik" (trepidation/fear) titled, "Two Elderly People":
Two elderly people were living in a mobile home park in Florida. He was a widower ("almen") and she was a widow ("almone"). They had known one another for a number of years.
One "ovnt" (evening) there was a community supper ("vetshere") in the clubhouse, and the widower and widow made a foursome with two other singles. They had a "vuderlekh" (wonderful) evening and spirits were high. The widower gave a "blik" (glance) across the table, and the widow smiled coyly back at him. Finally, he plucked up "der mut" (the courage) and asked her, "Will you marry me?" After about 6 seconds of careful consideration, she answered "Yes. Yes. I will." The meal ended with a few more pleasant exchanges and they went to their respective homes.
The next morning, the widower was troubled and "moyredik" (fearful). Did she say 'Yes' or did she say 'No'? He couldn't remember. Try as he would, he just could not recall. He went over the conversation of the previous evening, but his mind was "pust" (blank) He remembered asking the question, but for the life of him he could not recall her response.
With fear and trepidation, he picked up the "telefon" and called her. First, he explained that he didn't remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage he then inquired of her, "When I asked if you would marry me, did you say 'Yes' or did you say "No'?
"Why you silly man, I said, 'Yes Yes. I will. And I meant it with all my 'harts' (heart)."
The widower was delighted. He felt his heart ship a beat. Then she continued, "And I'm so glad you called because I couldn't remember who asked me."
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