Just Say NU: Yiddish for Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do)

by Michael Wex

Book Overview

In his New York Times bestseller, Born to Kvetch, author Michael Wex led readers on a hilariously edifying excursion through Yiddish culture and history. With Just Say Nu, he shows us how to use this remarkable language to spice up conversations, stories, presentations, arguments, and more, when plain English will not suffice (including, of course, lots of delightful historical and cultural side trips along the way).

There is, quite simply,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061657328
• ISBN13: 9780061657320
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Just Say Nu

The book arrived here quickly as expected, in the condition expected. It is informative, great fun and historically (hysterically) interesting. C. Lynch

Not perfect, but not that bad either

Wex points out that in Yiddish one tends to go for the negative more than the positive. And in fact this work which aims to help us learn how to speak Yiddish also provides insight into the 'Yiddish mentality and culture'. It has a small dictionary at the end, and also a small grammar section. It has sections on 'Greeting and Meeting' ' Stages of Life' 'Food and Drink' 'Family Life' 'Protective Phrases' 'Madness, Fury and Driving' 'Health and Illness' ' Love and Sex' ' Happiness and Pleasure'. It has much humor and taken small bits at a time, as nosherei it is a truly enjoyable and instructive work. However in the spirit of the book I will register a few complaints. How after all could one learn to speak Yiddish without learning how to complain? The spelling is not the spelling, and the pronunciation not the pronounciation of the world of my childhood. That does not make it wrong, it makes it irritating for me. I too found myself again and again less interested in new words and concepts then in my memory of old ones. And also, perhaps above all learning the 'meaning' of 'words and phrases' I heard in childhood but did not know the meaning of. I was surprised at how many Yiddish words I know because of my knowing Hebrew. And it seems to me Wex does not emphasize enough the Hebrew origin of much in Yiddish. On the whole however I will do what should be done here, and 'fargennen' ' praise and compliment this wonderful 'sefer'. And this of course said with the memory and knowledge in mind of what happened to the great share of those for whom Yiddish was truly their mameloshen. May God preserve their memory and their souls.

Excellent for people who already know Yiddish

This is a great book with all of the idioms of "real" Yiddish, that you will never learn at a YIVO class. The author describes the "zaftike" expressions of "poylishe yidn" with great talent. Frankly there were one or two places where his etymology is suspect (at least to me) and his transliteration system takes some getting used to (even for those of us who speak Yiddish fluently.) Notwithstanding these minor shortcomings it is an excellent work that deserves to be in the bookshelf of every serious Yiddish student, teacher, and speaker. Alot of these expressions are dying out even among the Yiddish-speaking Orthodox communities, where subtle language shift is taking place, and some of the racier expressions are never used by them in any case. Familiarizing yourself with these idioms will make it a helluva lot easier to read Isaac Bashevis Singer (and others) in the original. It is less "cutesy" than "Born to Kvetch", which I also recommend highly.

No Kvetching Here- Wex Has Done it Again!

With Just Say Nu, Michael Wex has again given us something rare in popular literature about Yiddish, a laugh out loud synthesis of scholarship and humor. It's an entry point to Yiddish that I wish had been around when I started studying the language as an undergraduate. In fact, Just Say Nu should probably have been published before Born To Kvetch. It covers the basics that Kvetch (which covers much more advanced cultural contexts of Yiddish life) skipped over. Just Say Nu literally starts at the beginning, covering the nuances of language basics (like greetings and interjections) and delves into the many non-verbal aspects of Yiddish conversation. Just Say Nu will give the you the conversational tools to handle any Jewish situation, whether it's running into Rabbi Goldberg at the burlesque house or getting your pain in the ass brother or sister to pass the milk at the table. I only have one quarrel with Mr. Wex. He claims that Yiddish is unique in that it can diminish human misery without providing a concomitant increase in happiness. Yiddish brings me closer to the entirety of Jewish experience, both the good and the bad, the cursed and the blessed, the happy and the reserved. Just Say Nu, and the richness of Yiddish within it, did indeed provide an increase in happiness.

Linguistics and Laughs

Oy, Shprintse, what a book! It's a lecture on Yiddish, no doubt, and also on religion as the essential part to understand what's going on in the language. And it's so funny on such a high level that one may think the jokes will be missed -- but that's what I feared when I read "Born To Kvetch" already which has turned into a hit instead. Wex is not resting on the success of BTK (don't even think of Dennis Rader or the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company). JSN risks to introduce its own transliteration on top of YIVO's. But, hell, it works and turns pronunciation into fun! This is not a Yiddish for Dummies. Kvelling on scholarship, life and love, Just Say Nu manages to unite science, fun and understanding of a language that -- and this book proves it -- has SURVIVED hell.