Jack’s Winning Words 12/3/13
“Chutzpah, charm, charisma, you can’t buy it.  Either you have it, or you don’t.”  (Colm Feure)  “You’ve got the nerve; you have the gall; you have the audacity!”  None of these says it like the Yiddish word, Chutzpah.  Chutzpah says it best!  Other Yiddish words that have become part of every day conversation are: klutz, schmooze, spiel and glitch.  Can you think of more?  BTW , chutzpah isn’t always a negative.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  you are a mensch, jack... thanks for all you do!====JACK:  Laverne and Shirley used to say on their TV show..."Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!"  Do you know what means?

 FROM PH IN MINNESOTA:  what song did they sing at the Jewish/Catholic wedding??   answer"  Oi-vay Maria!!====JACK:  Only a schmuck would send a joke like that.====PH  i would not mind being a Schmucker and heir to the jam and jelly fortune!====JACK:  Or have the name, Kosher, and have all the dill pickles you'd want.

 FROM IKE AT THE MIC:  SCHLEMEIL-Is someone when served hot chicken soup spills it on the table.
SCHLEMAZEL-Is someone when served hot chicken soup spills it on themself.====JACK:  What Yiddish expression would you use to describe yourself?====IKE:  I try to be a "mensch"..

 FROM TARMART REV:  Lutefisk!?!? ====JACK  I see that you've learned to speak in tongues.

FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I always thought "schlep" was a good word for what it meant. I think it is one of those words that sounds like its meaning.====JACK:  That's called, onomatopoeia!

 FROM HR IN MICHIGAN:  Meshigunah    mensch   Schlemiel  To name just a few ====JACK:  I'm surprised to see how many are part of our our everyday talk, without knowing that we're speaking Yiddish.

 FROM BATTMAN:  Well said my friend!!!====JACK:  You have charm...in the positive sense.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Saw a comment worth collecting: "It doesn't matter if your glass is half full or half empty. Be thankful that you have a glass, and there's something in it!" Lutherans and Baptists might differ in the desired contents...:-)   I have always thought"Chutzpah" showed some character and personality, a lively spirit, so to speak. We've  all enjoyed the colorful Yiddish  words incorporated into everyday talk! My niece married a Jewish Dr. so I've heard some first-hand.====JACK:  Sometimes my Jewish friends tell jokes, and they're only funny if you know some Yiddish. 

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Schlemiel, Cockamamie, Not politically correct, but a black person is a Schwartzer.  Schlepper.====JACK:  Another one of your cockamamie answers...The etymology of the word, cockamamie, says that it's from the French (process of transferring designs, using decals) and is sometimes erroneously claimed to derive from Yiddish.====PFC:  ACTUALLY DECAL IS DERIVED FROM DECALCOMANIA. YOU USED IT CORRECTLY IN REPLYING TO MY REPLY . IF YOU DON'T WANT THIS KIND IF RESPONSE TO WW, SAY SO, AND I WILL OBLIGE====JACK:  Enschultig meir:

 FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  i like shmatah, (sp?), that comfy house gown one wears around the house...or out depending on how eccentric one is!====JACK:  Most of us wouldn't go out of the house wearing that which makes us comfy in the house.====MARY: i never acquired that filter.  i try to leave the house each day as comfy as i can.   lot's of acceptable fashion feels like jammies.====JACK:  We are who we are...by what we say, do and wear.

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Off hand I can't think of any other words.  There was one that my relatives used in Belgium many years ago.  By the way I am receiving the tweets of Pope Franciis,which is pretty interesting.  His tweet today is "We are all called to be friends with Jesus.  Don.t be afraid to love the Lord."  Right now he has 3.3 million followers.====JACK:  I wonder if the Pope uses any Yiddish expressions.

 FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:  How about "nosh" and "goy" and "kosher" and "mazel tov"?...There must be others. ====JACK:  Indeed, there are more.  There is such a thing as a Yiddish dictionary.

  FROM JS IN MICHIGAN:  I have always said the same about class.  Either you have it, or you don’t.” ====JACK:  John Wooden