Fwd: etymology of Hebrew/Yiddish word

[Sarah Benor]

Dear Jewish Languages list,

 

I just heard about an old Israeli slang term "yatzmach," used as an insult for "worthless person." Does anyone know how this word is used, who uses it, how it is pronounced (yats vs. yots) and possible etymologies? According to web searches, it seems to be used as "penis" in Jewish English, and there's some speculation that it comes from the phrase "V'yatzmach purkaney viykareyv m'shiychey..." added to the kaddish in Sephardic traditions.

 

Also, does anyone know if this word is related to the Jewish English word "yutz," and if not, what other possible etymologies there are for "yutz"? I also wonder if it's related to the Jewish English word "kratzmach" ('Christmas').

 

Thanks,

Sarah

[cohen.izzy]

Hi, Sarah --

 

Just a hunch. No proof.

 

YaTZMakH seems to be a euphemistic reversal of Talmudic kHoMeTZ ben Yayin = degenerate son of a worthy father, unworthy of his ancestry.

 

Vinegar is worth-less than wine.

 

Ciao,

Izzy

cohen...@gmail.com

054-754-2744

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[Gideon Goldenberg]

Yotzmakh – Hotzmikh and the blind shlimmazl

Hotzmikh is well remembered as the name of the blind dangerous shlimmazl in Goldfaden's

"Kishufmacherin" and on other occasions where this Jewish folkloristic figure takes central part. 

I am far from being an expert of these matters, but such a figure should probably have had popularity in Jewish folklore even before Goldfaden. "Yotzmakh der blinder" is mentioned as a name that should be known to the readers in S. Shakhnovitch's Purim story "Der Monopol" (Yomim Toivim Almanach - Purim, Warsaw 1927, pp. 23-34), where the meaning of this name is just as we have known it used in Hebrew context (mainly by Hebrew of speakers with Yiddish background). I have seen somewhwre verses like "Yotzmakh iz a blinder, vil er makhn kinder, vil er makhn nokh treft er nisht &c.".

I believe that participants in this forum better versed than I am in Yiddish folklore and literature will be able to tell much more about this yotzmakh.

Yours,

Gideon Goldenberg.

[Simeon Baumel]

Hi Sarah,

 

   It could come the Hebrew "Lo Yutzlach", meaning an unsuccessful person.

Also just a guess...

 

Shimon