Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 18.020 March 5, 2009 1) pitseritse (Borukh Katz) 2) pitseritse (Doris Beth) 3) pitseritse (Hershl Hartman) 4) pitseritse (Jack Berger) 5) pitseritse (Meyer Wolf) 6) pitseritse (Noyekh Miller) 7) greenhorn (Borukh Katz) 8) greenhorn (Dina LΘvias) 9) geleymter terk? (Yankl Falk) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 27, 2009 Subject: pitseritse It seems clear to me, though I've not heard of the expression before, that the word derives from the Yiddish verb putsn - to clean or shine up - which has a reflexive form: putsn zikh - to dress up. So a "pitseritse" could be a woman (hence the ending) who indulges in such behavior to such an extent that it attracts the descriptive noun. The verb likely comes from the simpler noun, puts, meaning finery or (says Uriel Weinreich) splendor or ostentation. Further back than that I cannot, alas, go. Borukh Katz 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 20, 2009 Subject: pitseritse When we sat outdoors in our immigrant neighborhood, many moons ago, Yiddish was the language of conversation. A "farpitster, farshmirter yidl " passing by was referred to as "pitseritsi" along with an adjective I choose not to mention. My parents emigrated from a shtetl not very far from Odessa. Doris Beth 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 20, 2009 Subject: pitseritse My mother, also an Odeser, pronounced it "pitsheritse" to denote a spoiled young girl who was iberklayberish -- excessively restrictive in her tastes -- perhaps an Odeser version of the Valley Girl? Hershl Hartman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 20, 2009 Subject: pitseritse A guess: in Russian, to chirp is "pishcheh." Possibly a scrawny little thing, only capable of chirping, is a "pishtsheritse." Hence a possible association of something like "the mouse that roared." Regards, Jack Berger 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 20, 2009 Subject: pitseritse A petsheritse is a kind of mushroom, said to be succulent. I have a citation from Sholem Aleykhem's "Ayznban Geshikhtes": Zi iz geven a gerotn kind, a shtils, an erlekhs, a guts un a klugs, un sheyn -- sheyn vi di gantse velt. Ikh hob zi beemes lib gehat, vi mayns an eygn kind. Kinder veyst ir dokh, vaksn, vi petsheritses; eyder me kukt zikh arum, aha -- me darf shoyn klern mikoyekh khasene makhn. I do not have a copy of the volume at hand, so I cannot provide its location right now. Meyer Wolf 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 20, 2009 Subject: greenhorn This word actually goes back in English usage to the mid-sixteenth century (OED) and comes from the color found in immature and new plant growth, and its derivatives. We speak of "green wood," for example, when referring to lumber that has not been properly dried (matured) for use in building or firewood not yet ready for use. So it's an imported word into Yiddish - or if you like, a Yinglish word! Borukh Katz 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 20, 2009 Subject: pitseritse Larry Friedman's query (Mendele 18.019) brought back agreeable memories of my bobe's cooking. She grew up in a dorf and perhaps for that reason made liberal use of those dried mushrooms, probably imported from Poland, that she called pitseritses. Its use to describe skinny people may derive from the desiccated look they share with that flavorful fungus. The English "stringbean" conveys the same idea. Noyekh Miller 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 20, 2009 Subject: greenhorn Open your Webster's Dictionary and you'll find the definition of greenhorn! It has nothing to do with Yiddish, though the term came to be widely used for newcomers to America, often Jewish refugees from Europe. Dina LΘvias 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 20, 2009 Subject: geleymter terk? In response to Stephen Berr's posting in Mendele 18.019, I think the phrase is "geleymter terk" (crippled Turk). That's how my grandfather and mother used to refer to someone who was particularly clumsy -- usually, me. The term "geleymter" commonly refers to someone who is particularly clumsy. But why a Turk? My pure speculation is that this pejorative came out of Romania or some nearby area under Ottoman rule, where uniformed Turks were not unusual. (My family's Galitsyaner roots are very close to the old Austrian-Ottoman border.) Perhaps one of you can give more context to this? Yankl Falk _____________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 18.020 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. 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