More than a quarter of a century ago, Leo Rosten published the first comprehensive and hilariously entertaining lexicon of the colorful and deeply expressive language of Yiddish. Said "to give body and soul to the Yiddish language," The Joys of Yiddish went on to become an indispensable tool for writers, journalists, politicians, and students, as well as a perennial bestseller for three decades. Rosten described his book as "a relaxed lexicon of Yiddish, Hebrew, and Yinglish words often encountered in English, plus dozens that ought to be, with serendipitous excursions into Jewish humor, habits, holidays, history, religion, ceremonies, folklore, and cuisine-the whole generously garnished with stories, anecdotes, epigrams, Talmudic quotations, folk sayings, and jokes." To this day, it is considered the seminal work on Yiddish in America-a true classic and a staple in the libraries of Jews and non-Jews alike. With the recent renaissance of interest in Yiddish, and in keeping with a language that embodies the variety and vibrancy of life itself, The New Joys of Yiddish brings Leo Rosten's masterful work up to date. Revised for the first time by Lawrence Bush in close consultation with Rosten's daughters, it retains the spirit of the original-with its wonderful jokes, tidbits of cultural history, Talmudic and Biblical references, and tips on pronunciation-and enhances it with hundreds of new entries, thoughtful commentary on how Yiddish has evolved over the years, and an invaluable new English-to-Yiddish index. In addition, The New Joys of Yiddish includes wondrous and amusing illustrations by renowned artist R.O. Blechman.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
joys of yiddish:
thils is an updated version of leo rosten's original book. it appears a bit overdone in its scholarly definitions. i purchased the book as a gift for someone who was interested in learning something about yiddish.
sanitized for understandable reasons:
For example, for an honest translation and etymology of "shaygetz" or "shiksa," see the Meggido Modern Hebrew-English Dictionary: "sheqetz: unclean animal, loathsome creature, abomination...."
Sorta 'new' joys of yiddish:
I hoped there'd me more actual language and less American-isms. But I get it now that I've read it - and the introductions. It was not intended as such. But I didn't really know that before I bought it. It's a classic, and I still really had fun with it.
Get an older edition, without the irrelevant and/or PC footnotes:
There's no need to repeat the deservedly fine comments already posted about Rosten's book. I simply wish to recommend buying any edition PRIOR to this 2001 revision by Lawrence Bush. While Bush does preserve Rosten's witty text intact, he spoils things by adding agenda-driven footnotes throughout. Bush castigates Rosten for making Reform jokes (please! I was raised Reform, and I found them funny) and ruins the humourous "shadchan" (matchmaker) entry by going on at length about Jewish domestic abuse (a... more info
