Curses
Harry Farkas
(Please note: I am transliterating from remembered pronounciation.)
YIDDISH:
a schvartz your also a schvartz your auf dir = a
black year on you
a cholyera also a cholyera auf dir = a cholera on you
a grosse macher = a big-shot (sarcastic)
gey im Gehenna'm aron = go to hell
and the ubiquitous kish mir im tuches = kiss my ass
Russian:
Yup twyu mat also yup twyu dushu mat = go f*** your mother (your mother's grave or spirit) - I'm told this one is now popular in Israel.
byatt = whore
Hungarian:
koorva = whore
And now a story. The Hungarian word above is spelled 'curve'. Two newly arrived Hungarian immigrants were driving in the country when they saw a sign that warned "Curve Ahead". They looked at each other and exclaimed (as you all would expect), "Is this a great country or what!"
Does anyone remember any of the 'evil-eye' curses? They (and others) have slipped my mind.
--
Harry Farkas
Read Weirdology Network and Bizarre Occurrences in Innerart Artbits:
http://innerart.com
Garry
more than a little Yiddish slipped in) was "Sha Krecht, choleria, shlag
bit'm traf, a dooges abat." The first three I understand as "Dog's blood"
(i.e. S.O.B.), [get the] cholera, may you be hit with the plague. The
fourth I have no idea.
Harry Weiss
: --------------4F016CAC7907D01C2CB5F667
: Hungarian:
: koorva = whore
I think that is Polish. The well know Polish curse Koorva Mat.
--
Harry J. Weiss
hjw...@netcom.com
j rosenbaum
>Hungarian:
>koorva = whore
>And now a story. The Hungarian word above is spelled 'curve'. Two newly
>arrived Hungarian immigrants were driving in the country when they saw a
>sign that warned "Curve Ahead". They looked at each other and exclaimed
>(as you all would expect), "Is this a great country or what!"
that's a good story, but the word is actually spelled "kurva" and
pronounced "koorvoa". (the hungarian a is pronounced like a mix of o
and a, similar to the hebrew a in "amen".) "c" in hungarian is always
pronounced "ts".
Fred Rosenblatt
<gar...@sprynet.com> wrote:
> >
> >Does anyone remember any of the 'evil-eye' curses? They (and others)
> >have slipped my mind.
> >
One of the stories in a collection of science fiction, no less (I think
the author was William Tenn) consists entirely of two grandmothers waging
a terrible war of words consisting entirely of praises of each other's
grandchildren.
(What made them so terrible was the absence of the qualifier "kayn aynhora"
that would have kept the evil eye from falling on children thus praised).
Harry Farkas
phonetics. It also made for some very interesting spelling in English. I
found it so baffling and occasionally hilarious that my Mother got
embarrassed and stopped trying to write me.
While their writing was suspect, my parents could converse intelligibly in
many languages. As I mentioned to j rosenbaum in an email, Hungarians, being
highly nationalistic, have a reputation (not unlike Americans, including me)
for only learning and speaking their own language, including some who have
lived many years in the US. This brings to mind a couple of stories, one that
I can't document other than that my parents told it to me. The other happened
to my Mother..
1)
During the war, Hungarian troops (under German control) came to a village and
demanded to see the village leader. The village leader was a learned man who
spoke several languages, but not Hungarian. When he appeared before the
Hungarian commandant, who spoke only Hungarian, the commandant said, "What a
stupid man! He doesn't speak Hungarian."
2)
My Mother (who passed away last July) made annual trips for many years to
visit and care for her sister in Budapest. On one trip, the plane was
diverted to Czechoslovakia due to bad weather. The plane was a charter full
of Hungarian-Americans. Not a single passenger except my Mother could speak
any Czech, and she ended up translating and arranging currency exchanges for
the whole plane so they could get food.
Because I have a Hungarian name, Hungarians assume that I am also a Magyar.
This led to some consternation when I visited Hungary in 1989. My Hungarian
cousin finally resorted to introducing me as "Farkas nem besse magyarol
Harry" (Harry - he doesn't speak Hungarian - Farkas). So forgive me if the
Hungarian spelling was incorrect; didn't want to let it get in the way of a
good story. Guess I should have had someone reading the sign to them.
One last comment in the Hungarians' defense. Hungarian is not a Slavic
language and is not similar to the languages of the countries around it. I
have heard that the languages most similar to Hungarian are Finnish and
Sanskrit.
j rosenbaum wrote:
--
dltjxx
>One of the stories in a collection of science fiction, no less (I
think the author was William Tenn) consists entirely of two
grandmothers waging a terrible war of words consisting entirely of
praises of each other's grandchildren.
>(What made them so terrible was the absence of the qualifier "kayn
aynhora" that would have kept the evil eye from falling on children
thus praised).
I remember this story, but can't place it. Does anyone know anything
about it? The collection? The title?
Deborah
Diane & Ken
> (Fred Rosenblatt) wrote...
> >One of the stories in a collection of science fiction, no less (I
> think the author was William Tenn) consists entirely of two
> grandmothers waging a terrible war of words consisting entirely of
> praises of each other's grandchildren.
> ......snip......
> I remember this story, but can't place it. Does anyone know anything
> about it? The collection? The title?
>
> Deborah
I believe it 's in a short story collection called "The Square Root of
Man." Haven't seen the book since it went with my ex-husband 26 years
ago. I'm sure it's long out of print. There was another book, called
"Wandering Stars" with science fiction stories that had a Jewish
connection but I don't remember who the author or editor was. I vaguely
recall a story where an alien was recruited to make a minyan.
Diane
Cassandra
The story was (apparently) reprinted fairly recently in a short story
collection "Smart Dragons, Foolish Elves". It is a collection of humorous
fantasy stories. I recommend it!!
The book was edited by Alan Dean Foster (who wrote "The Last Starfighter"
which was made into a movie) and the story "My Mother Was a Witch" was
indeed written by William Tenn (which is a pseudonym).
I am of Native American descent, and particularly enjoy another of the
stories, which tells the story of what happens when the government breaks
their vow to let the Indians have a certain piece of land for "As long as
the sun rises or the grass grows green".
Hope that was helpful!
Cassandra
Jonathan Dresner
Diane & Ken <obel...@philly.infi.net> wrote:
>dltjxx wrote:
>
>> (Fred Rosenblatt) wrote...
>> >One of the stories in a collection of science fiction, no less (I
>> think the author was William Tenn) consists entirely of two
>> grandmothers waging a terrible war of words consisting entirely of
>> praises of each other's grandchildren.
>> ......snip......
>> I remember this story, but can't place it. Does anyone know anything
>> about it? The collection? The title?
>>
>> Deborah
>
>I believe it 's in a short story collection called "The Square Root of
>Man." Haven't seen the book since it went with my ex-husband 26 years
>ago. I'm sure it's long out of print. There was another book, called
>"Wandering Stars" with science fiction stories that had a Jewish
>connection but I don't remember who the author or editor was. I vaguely
>recall a story where an alien was recruited to make a minyan.
"Wandering Stars" was edited by Avram Davidson. The story about the
alien for a minyan might be "Looking for Kadak" by Harlan Ellison.
Jonathan
Gregory Marton
>Harry Farkas (hfa...@columbus.rr.com), who claims that:
>
>: Hungarian:
>
>: koorva = whore
>
>I think that is Polish. The well know Polish curse Koorva Mat.
It's Hungarian, all right, but the subsequent joke doesn't begin to work.
It's not spelled 'curve' at all. It's spelled 'kurva', and I'm not sure
what kind of street sign that could be mistaken for, except perhaps for
the name of a small town in either Poland or Pennsylvania.
I also well believe in the Polish curse, though I haven't heard it.
Languages in that area, strange as they are, share odd coincidences:
In both Hungarian and Finnish, for instance, "the train is coming" is said
"jo:na vonat". Upon closer examination, though, In Hungarian, "vonat" is
the "train", while in Finnish, it's the "coming". :)
Best,
Gremio
Y. Lee Coyote
wrote in <36C51C5B...@philly.infi.net>:-
>I believe it 's in a short story collection called "The Square Root of
>Man." Haven't seen the book since it went with my ex-husband 26 years
>ago. I'm sure it's long out of print.
>From this, I know not.
>There was another book, called
>"Wandering Stars" with science fiction stories that had a Jewish
>connection but I don't remember who the author or editor was.
"Wandering Starts -- An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction"
Editied by Jack Dann.
Harper & Row, Publishers; 1974.
ISBN 0-06-01944-0.
An interesting collection, IMHO.
>I vaguely recall a story where an alien was recruited to make a minyan.
Probably the story you're thinking of is Harlan Elison's "I'm Looking
for Kadak" which was writen for the collection and not previosuly
published. The search was for an alien but only from our point of view.
Y.
Posted and e-mailed.
Valid return address is <YLeeC...@Juno.com>
(Posting address is for the spammers)
bac...@vms.huji.ac.il
> My father's usual string of curses (he claimed they were polish, but I think
> more than a little Yiddish slipped in) was "Sha Krecht, choleria, shlag
Oy :-) You must mean: Psha Kref
Josh
>>Hungarian:
>>
>>koorva = whore
>>
>>And now a story. The Hungarian word above is spelled 'curve'. Two newly
>>arrived Hungarian immigrants were driving in the country when they saw a
>>sign that warned "Curve Ahead". They looked at each other and exclaimed
>>(as you all would expect), "Is this a great country or what!"
>>
>>Does anyone remember any of the 'evil-eye' curses? They (and others)
>>have slipped my mind.
>>
Alexander Grossberg
I grew up in a multi-lingual household. My parents could switch at will from Yiddish to Hungarian or Russian or Czech (or Polish or...), especially when they didn't want me to understand. Since I was seldom the 'voyle yingala' they wanted me to be, I got to hear curses in several languages from my usually mild-mannered parents, as did others who may have offended either of them. Unfortunately the result was that only the curses stuck. Here are some that may not have appeared in this thread:(Please note: I am transliterating from remembered pronounciation.)
YIDDISH:
a schvartz your also a schvartz your auf dir = a black year on you
a cholyera also a cholyera auf dir = a cholera on you
a grosse macher = a big-shot (sarcastic)
gey im Gehenna'm aron = go to hell
and the ubiquitous kish mir im tuches = kiss my assRussian:
Yup twyu mat also yup twyu dushu mat = go f*** your mother (your mother's grave or spirit) - I'm told this one is now popular in Israel.
byatt = whore
Hungarian:
koorva = whore
And now a story. The Hungarian word above is spelled 'curve'. Two newly arrived Hungarian immigrants were driving in the country when they saw a sign that warned "Curve Ahead". They looked at each other and exclaimed (as you all would expect), "Is this a great country or what!"
Does anyone remember any of the 'evil-eye' curses? They (and others) have slipped my mind.
--
Harry FarkasRead Weirdology Network and Bizarre Occurrences in Innerart Artbits:
http://innerart.com
I thought "kurva" was a whore in Polish?!
Mordechai Housman
>
> In article <36C51C5B...@philly.infi.net>,
> Diane & Ken <obel...@philly.infi.net> wrote:
> >dltjxx wrote:
> >
> >> (Fred Rosenblatt) wrote...
> >> >One of the stories in a collection of science fiction, no less (I
> >> think the author was William Tenn) consists entirely of two
> >> grandmothers waging a terrible war of words consisting entirely of
> >> praises of each other's grandchildren.
> >> ......snip......
> >> I remember this story, but can't place it. Does anyone know anything
> >> about it? The collection? The title?
> >>
> >> Deborah
> >
> >Man." Haven't seen the book since it went with my ex-husband 26 years
> >"Wandering Stars" with science fiction stories that had a Jewish
> >recall a story where an alien was recruited to make a minyan.
>
> alien for a minyan might be "Looking for Kadak" by Harlan Ellison.
Er, would that be "Looking for Kaddish" ??
Mordechai
--
Visit the Being Jewish web site
http://www.freeyellow.com/members2/beingjewish
and the Being Jewish Bulletin Board, at:
http://www.delphi.com/BeingJewish
dltjxx
>>>One of the stories in a collection of science fiction, no less (I
think the author was William Tenn) consists entirely of two
grandmothers waging a terrible war of words consisting entirely of
praises of each other's grandchildren.
>>I remember this story, but can't place it. Does anyone know anything
about it? The collection? The title?
>I believe it 's in a short story collection called "The Square Root of
Man." Haven't seen the book since it went with my ex-husband 26 years
ago. I'm sure it's long out of print. There was another book, called
"Wandering Stars" with science fiction stories that had a Jewish
connection but I don't remember who the author or editor was. I vaguely
recall a story where an alien was recruited to make a minyan.
>Diane
This last was a gem from Harlan Ellison. It was in one of my SF
story collections (which went I don't know where--they have a tendency
to disappear from my shelves, but I can't blame my ex-husband for
that.) I think it had "Blue" in the title. I still have Ellison's
"Mom", though (i.e., the man haunted by his mother's ghost, who wants
to fix him up with a nice girl. "That's why I was sent back. To find
you a nice girl, a partner to go with you on the road of life, a loving
mate who also not incidentally could be a very terrific cook. That's
what I can do to make you happy, my sweetness. I can find someone to
carry on for me now that I'm no longer able to provide for you, and by
the way, that nafkeh left a pair of underpants in the bathroom, I'd
appreciate your burning them at your earliest opportunity.")
Thanks for clearing up the Tenn story mystery. Guess another trip
to a couple of the larger used bookstores in town is on the agenda.
Deborah
enenko
Gregory Marton wrote:
> I also well believe in the Polish curse, though I haven't heard it.
> Languages in that area, strange as they are, share odd coincidences:
> In both Hungarian and Finnish, for instance, "the train is coming" is said
> "jo:na vonat". Upon closer examination, though, In Hungarian, "vonat" is
> the "train", while in Finnish, it's the "coming". :)
>
> Best,
> Gremio
I have to disagree. "The train is coming" is in Finnish 'juna tulee' and I
don't know any word in Finnish that sounds like "vonat".
Norbert Kruk
Helsinki, Finland
Anastasia Romonov
bac...@vms.huji.ac.il wrote:
> In article <002101be5578$ef6a2520$a6ec6ed1@g>, "Garry" <gar...@sprynet.com> writes:
> > My father's usual string of curses (he claimed they were polish, but I think
> > more than a little Yiddish slipped in) was "Sha Krecht, choleria, shlag
>
> Oy :-) You must mean: Psha Kref
>
> Josh
>
> > bit'm traf, a dooges abat." The first three I understand as "Dog's blood"
> > (i.e. S.O.B.), [get the] cholera, may you be hit with the plague. The
> > fourth I have no idea.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Harry Farkas <hfa...@columbus.rr.com>
> > Newsgroups: rec.humor.jewish
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 1999 6:01 PM
> > Subject: Curses
> >
> >
I don't recall anything specific about the evil eye curses but my mother used
to spit if anyone said anything that could bring bad luck. The evil eye is
feared in other cultures also. My mother definately believed in it. To keep
me healthy as a child she tried to get me to wear some garlic and other
smelly stuff in a red velevet bag on a black ribbon tied around my neck.
The devil was der tievel. A courve was worse than a proste menshe. A
lady-gayer was a male courve. And for double kill----ein klog is nisht genug.
AmusingGrace
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Anastasia Romonov
Cameron Kaiser
Interesting! In Polish, it's "kurva" but boy, is it *not* a nice thing to say.
Naturally, it was the first word my Warsaw expatriate Polish friend taught me.
--
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