Funny German Jewish Names
Joseph E. Levy
late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
to my uncle that the original family name was Sexfinger, which means "six
fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
run across many people with the family name Schmuckler, which means
"jeweler" in German.
--
Joe Levy.....
If I am not for me, then who will be for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And, if not now when?
hip...@delosnet.com
Sex=Sex in both German and English. And Dreyfuss is misspelled in German
as well. Pronounced Drayfuss here it means turning foot. Lipschutz
usually gets a big chuckle in this country. Personally I'm always more
amused by the Anglo named that end in -cock.
Joseph E. Levy <ruj...@tiac.net> wrote:
: I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
: --
: Joe Levy.....
--
alohacyberian
--
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Joseph E. Levy <ruj...@tiac.net> wrote in article
<rujoe38-1601...@p29.tc3.state.ma.tiac.com>...
Andrew J. Brehm
> I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
> late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
> to my uncle that the original family name was Sexfinger, which means "six
> fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
> the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
> Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
> a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
> quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
> run across many people with the family name Schmuckler, which means
> "jeweler" in German.
"schmuckler" must be an old word, I never heard it. But it sounds German
alright. The word in use, I believe, is "jewelier", which probably
derived from the French.
And I believe the original spelling of "seffinger" was "sechsfinger",
not "sexfinger", as "sechs" means "six" in German.
I don't know many funny names. Let me think...
Seinfeld: sein=be, feld=acre
Zelig: selig=late (as in dead)
Wertheim: wert=worthy, heim=home (large department store in Germany)
Einstein: ein=one, stein=stone
They are not really funny, but they all rely on a certain system which
is a bit funny. However, these names were meant to be funny at one time,
otherwise the families wouldn't have been named so.
I believe it was very common to give Jewish people funny names as they
couldn't do anything against it. Later these names were simply accepted
by both parts.
I know one joke about Hitler and a funny Jewish name, but I guess it is
too offensive to be told here, even tho it is against Nazis, but it
might be misunderstood.
Anyway, have fun.
--
Andrew J. Brehm
fan of Woody Allen
PowerPC 604e/233
supporter of pepperoni pizza
hip...@delosnet.com
environment. We learned a number of songs for the holidays and one that
was sung at Purim was called Hitler Hommentashn. NO JOKE! Hitler is
Yiddish for little hats which is the shape of the triangular pastry. The
song pre-dates the 30s.
To find "funny" names, one need only crack open the phone book. Here are
some I found in the LA white pages:
Altschule = Old School
Asche = Ashes
Bachrach = Brook Revenge
Baum = Tree
Belcher = you figure that one out!
Berg = Mountain
Blei = Lead
Dorf = Village
Eisenberg = Mountain of Iron
Fichner = again, you figure that on out!
Fuchs = not what you think!
Fogel/Vogel = Bird
Gelb = Yellow
Gottlieb = "Amadeus"
this list goes on and on... There was a time when Jews didn't have last
names. They were known by their patronimics (the son of...). The last
name is an interesting concept for creating geneology, but I believe each
country that the Jews settled in offered them something different in terms
of the names that they could have.
: I know one joke about Hitler and a funny Jewish name, but I guess it is
Andrew J. Brehm
> When I was growing up on the east coast I lived in a Yiddish speaking
> environment. We learned a number of songs for the holidays and one that
> was sung at Purim was called Hitler Hommentashn. NO JOKE! Hitler is
> Yiddish for little hats which is the shape of the triangular pastry. The
> song pre-dates the 30s.
Yes, that was exactly what the Hitler joke in my school was based on!
Of course only few people were able to fully understand the joke! :-)
In fact it was just me and about six friends of mine.
> To find "funny" names, one need only crack open the phone book. Here are
> some I found in the LA white pages:
>
> Altschule = Old School
> Asche = Ashes
> Bachrach = Brook Revenge
> Baum = Tree
> Belcher = you figure that one out!
Sorry, no idea. My German isn't that good, I'm afarid. :-(
> Berg = Mountain
> Blei = Lead
> Dorf = Village
> Eisenberg = Mountain of Iron
> Fichner = again, you figure that on out!
Might be related to "Fichte", which is a pine tree, ims.
"Fichner" might be someone resposible for some pine trees, like a
gardener or so.
> Fuchs = not what you think!
Fuchs = fox
> Fogel/Vogel = Bird
> Gelb = Yellow
> Gottlieb = "Amadeus"
>
John Fuller
Spickelmeyer. Spickel - speck or little bit. Meyer - boss. Little boss, or
boss of a little bit?
Merkin. From the dictionary at the library in Littleton, Colorado - A wig
for the female pudendum. Daphne Merkin writes for _The New Yorker_ magazine.
-John, the goy
--
"A conservative is one admires radicals centuries after they're dead."
--Leo C. Rosten
Dr.Matt
John Fuller <do...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
>Spickelmeyer. Spickel - speck or little bit. Meyer - boss. Little boss, or
>boss of a little bit?
>
>Merkin. From the dictionary at the library in Littleton, Colorado - A wig
>for the female pudendum. Daphne Merkin writes for _The New Yorker_ magazine.
>
That's funny, I thought Merkins were the people who lived south of
the Cannucks.
--
Matt Fields, DMA http://listen.to/mattaj TwelveToneToyBox http://start.at/tttb
"If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread,
they can sure make something out of you."
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Michel Boucher
>>Merkin. From the dictionary at the library in Littleton, Colorado - A wig
>>for the female pudendum. Daphne Merkin writes for _The New Yorker_ magazine.
>
>That's funny, I thought Merkins were the people who lived south of
>the Cannucks.
Those are Murrikuns.
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Battlefield/8738/
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For private mail, get the zed out.
GC Berry
means "black" and is pronounced shvartz in German), but when the family was on its way to America, they
heard there was terrible racism against "shvartzas" - - so they changed their name to Weiss (which means
"white").
"Joseph E. Levy" wrote:
> I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
> late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
> to my uncle that the original family name was Sexfinger, which means "six
> fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
> the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
> Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
> a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
> quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
> run across many people with the family name Schmuckler, which means
> "jeweler" in German.
>
Andrew J. Brehm
> It would have had to have been spelled Sechsfinger to mean six fingers.
> Sex=Sex in both German and English.
Wrong! Sex is an English word. It is only used in Germany TODAY. For
understanding the names, however, we have to go back into the Germany
(and the German) of the last centuries, where there was no unified
spelling (even today you have completely different spellings of Dutch
and German, and two different spellings within Germany).
I'm not sure, but the spelling "sex" for "sechs" might have been used in
certain regions near the north sea.
> And Dreyfuss is misspelled in German as well.
No. In the last centures many of today's "i"s were "y"s.
You can see that today in the spelling of Bavaria:
High German: Bayern (with "y")
Bavarian: Baiern (with "i")
(I believe, I might as well have mixed it up)
> Pronounced Drayfuss here it means turning foot. Lipschutz
> usually gets a big chuckle in this country. Personally I'm always more
> amused by the Anglo named that end in -cock.
Dreyfuss does mean three feet and stands for someone who can't walk very
well, I believe.
And I agree with you about the cock issue.
Barry Kaplan
[spelling?]
Arnold married a girl named Hillary Figg
Does this make her Hillary Figg-Raizen?
(luckily, Isaac Newton is dead)
Joseph E. Levy wrote in message ...
> I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
>late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
<SNIP>
Barry Kaplan
I figured she was an Indian or something. When someone told me she was an
AEPi (or TEP) sweetheart, I almost plotzed....when I figured it out 2
seconds later, I couldn't stop laughing!
Barry Kaplan
Joseph E. Levy wrote in message ...
<SNIP>
>fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
>the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
> Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
>a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
>quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
<SNIP>
Heribert Slama
hip...@delosnet.com wrote:
>It would have had to have been spelled Sechsfinger to mean six fingers.
Right. On the other hand, 'Sechsfinger' is _pronounced_ exactly as
"sex finger". It looks better than it sounds.
>Sex=Sex in both German and English.
Well, this word became part of the German language only about 60 years
ago. In earlier times it only meant "number 6".
>And Dreyfuss is misspelled in German
>as well. Pronounced Drayfuss here it means turning foot. Lipschutz
>usually gets a big chuckle in this country.
Which country? Are you a native German speaker?
(FYI, I'm from Vienna, Austria; I'm not Jewish.)
'Dreifus[s]' is modern German spelling, 'Dreyfus[s]' is ancient German
spelling; both are pronounced exactly the same way: "dry-fooss", never
"dray-fooss". No feet turned here - nobody getting tortured <g>.
What's funny about 'Lipschutz'? Does it make you think of
'Lippen-Schutz' (= lip protection/protector)? A native German
perceives this as rather far-fetched. Maybe, I missed the point. BTW,
the most common forms are 'Lipschitz' and 'Lipschuetz' which sound
almost the same ["lip-shits"]. (<oops>. No joke intended; anyway, it
sounds completely "neutral" in German).
>Personally I'm always more
>amused by the Anglo named that end in -cock.
I fully share your amusement about that suffix/appendix. It's also
funny when you put it in front; my favorite is:
"Cockburn"
which is coyly pronounced as "co-burn" :-)))
(according to Everyman's English Pronouncing Dictionary [British])
Sorry for the high percentage of serious content ;-)
To reduce the strain, here is a joke on the subject (which is a bit
rude):
***
During the 18th century all Jews in the Austrian monarchy were forced
to take on German sounding names. The civil servants often abused
their power by assigning ludicrous or offensive names. Bribes
sometimes helped (a bit)...
Isaac went to town to get a new name. When he returned, his wife
eagerly asked:
"What's our new name?"
"Umhh... Schweissfuss" [sweaty foot]
"Are you crazy! You took so much money with you; did you forget to
bribe the clerk?!!!"
"Oh, shut up. The 'W' alone cost me a fortune!"
(Sch_w_eissfuss ==> Scheissfuss [shit foot])
--
Heribert Slama <hsl...@datacomm.ch>
Systems programmer
Muttenz, Switzerland
Fred Kasner
--
//***** Fred Kasner ******\\
Heribert Slama wrote in message <36a22714...@news.datacomm.ch>...
judith lawrence
Jewish Sorority at GWU. We told her to be on the lookout for a Rhett Cohen.
--
Judy L Uni...@gte.net
Barry Kaplan wrote in message <77ud23$f...@bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net>...
Joseph E. Levy
(Heribert Slama) wrote:
[snip]
> During the 18th century all Jews in the Austrian monarchy were forced
> to take on German sounding names. The civil servants often abused
> their power by assigning ludicrous or offensive names. Bribes
> sometimes helped (a bit)...
>
> Isaac went to town to get a new name. When he returned, his wife
> eagerly asked:
> "What's our new name?"
> "Umhh... Schweissfuss" [sweaty foot]
> "Are you crazy! You took so much money with you; did you forget to
> bribe the clerk?!!!"
> "Oh, shut up. The 'W' alone cost me a fortune!"
> (Sch_w_eissfuss ==> Scheissfuss [shit foot])
>
> --
> Heribert Slama <hsl...@datacomm.ch>
> Systems programmer
> Muttenz, Switzerland
Reminds me of another one. Three Jewish men are discussing their
names, and how they were Americanized after immigration to the U.S.A. The
first one says, "My name is Harris. In the old country, it was Heimowitz,
but I Americanized it to Harris. The second says, "My name is Marsh. In
the old country, it was Moscowitz, but I Americanized it to Marsh. The
third fellow says, "My name was Americanized to Horowitz." One of the
other men protests that Horowitz is not an Americanized name. "Yes it
is," the third fellow insists. In the old country it was Nafkawitz."
[Scholarly note for the Goyim out there. The Yiddish word "nafkeh"
translates as "whore."]
P.S., as long as I have your attention. A couple of acquaintances of
mine swear to the following. One of them knew a urologist named Dr.
Cockburn; another knew an obstetrician/gynecologist named Dr. La Femina; I
personally knew an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hand surgery named
Dr. Nalebuff. And of course all of us of sufficient age recall the old
Smith and Dale comedy team and the famous Dr. Krankheit.
pyotr filipivich
> I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
>late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
>to my uncle that the original family name was Sexfinger, which means "six
>fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
>the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
> Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
>a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
>quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
>run across many people with the family name Schmuckler, which means
>"jeweler" in German.
This reminds me of the old joke. The old man is talking to the
young 'boy' (early twenties, but when you're, kein eine hora, three
score and ten, twenty is a boychik.) Anyway, the boychik is putting on
airs about being a "La Fontaine", and the old man has had it.
"I'll give you `la fontaine' - I knew your father back when he
was a "Spritzwasser' which was bad enough, bu I also knew _his_ father
back in the old country - Mort the Pisser!"
OTOH, I head of a German imigrant couple that wanted to name
their new daughter Helza. Their paster had a bit of a problem but
finally convinced Herr Poppin that Helza wouldn't really work out...
--
pyotr filipivich, AKA Nickolai Petrovich.
"Do not argue with the forces of nature,
for you are small, insignificant, and biodegradable."
And remember kids - homicide is the severest form of censure. :-)
Phillip Sego
what posessed his great-great-great whatever to choose this.
"Hmmm.. rusty bucket, nah... worn out shoes, nah... fork and knife? Nah..."
Or another one was "Golem". Really. And this family all could have gone to
Prague have passed.
Jfer
(explanation follows, and don't worry -- I needed it the first time I heard
this, too....):
Many people who move to Israel "Hebraicize" their name, from Polish/German
names like "Schwartz" (= Black) or "Weiss" (= White) to their Hebrew
equivalents (which would, in this case, be something like "Shachor" and
"Lavan").
So the story is that a guy named Katz moves to Israel and decides he's going
to do this as well, so he'll fit in better. So what does he do? He changes
his name to "Chatul."
Now, for those of you saying "Whoah...wait a minute..." here's the "Closed
Captioning":
1) "Chatul" is the Hebrew word for cat.
2) "Katz" is the German word for cat.
3) BUT! -- the Jewish name "Katz" is derived from an acronym for "Kohen
Tzedek," a *Hebrew* phrase meaning "righteous Kohen" (Kohen = priest).
I think the story is just meant to be sweetly ironic...
J
Joseph E. Levy wrote in message ...
> Reminds me of another one. Three Jewish men are discussing their
Mordechai Housman
Mordechai
Andrew J. Brehm wrote:
>
> <hip...@delosnet.com> wrote:
>
> > It would have had to have been spelled Sechsfinger to mean six fingers.
> > Sex=Sex in both German and English.
>
> Wrong! Sex is an English word. It is only used in Germany TODAY. For
> understanding the names, however, we have to go back into the Germany
> (and the German) of the last centuries, where there was no unified
> spelling (even today you have completely different spellings of Dutch
> and German, and two different spellings within Germany).
>
> I'm not sure, but the spelling "sex" for "sechs" might have been used in
> certain regions near the north sea.
>
> > And Dreyfuss is misspelled in German as well.
>
> No. In the last centures many of today's "i"s were "y"s.
>
> You can see that today in the spelling of Bavaria:
>
> High German: Bayern (with "y")
> Bavarian: Baiern (with "i")
>
> (I believe, I might as well have mixed it up)
>
> > Pronounced Drayfuss here it means turning foot. Lipschutz
> > usually gets a big chuckle in this country. Personally I'm always more
> > amused by the Anglo named that end in -cock.
>
> Dreyfuss does mean three feet and stands for someone who can't walk very
> well, I believe.
>
> And I agree with you about the cock issue.
>
> --
> Andrew J. Brehm
> fan of Woody Allen
> PowerPC 604e/233
> supporter of pepperoni pizza
--
Visit the Being Jewish web site
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alohacyberian
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visit NASA, play games, read jokes, send greeting cards & connect
to CNN news, NBA, the White House, Academy Awards or learn all
about Hawaii, Israel & more: http://home.att.net/~keith.martin/
Joseph E. Levy <ruj...@tiac.net> wrote in article
<rujoe38-1801...@p3.ts4.newyo.ny.tiac.com>...
> In article <36a22714...@news.datacomm.ch>, hsl...@datacomm.ch
> P.S., as long as I have your attention. A couple of acquaintances of
> mine swear to the following. One of them knew a urologist named Dr.
> Cockburn; another knew an obstetrician/gynecologist named Dr. La Femina; I
> personally knew an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hand surgery named
> Dr. Nalebuff.
> Joe Levy.....
Mordechai Housman
restaurant in New York City called "Shimmel's Restaurant."
Shimmel in Yiddish means mold.
I have never eaten there.
Mordechai
Joseph E. Levy wrote:
>
> I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
> late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
> to my uncle that the original family name was Sexfinger, which means "six
> fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
> the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
> Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
> a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
> quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
> run across many people with the family name Schmuckler, which means
> "jeweler" in German.
>
> --
> Joe Levy.....
>
> If I am not for me, then who will be for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And, if not now when?
--
Mordechai Housman
Which means "cats' elbows."
I kid you not.
Mordechai
--
Fred Goldrich
Joseph E. Levy <ruj...@tiac.net> wrote:
>
> And of course all of us of sufficient age recall the old
>Smith and Dale comedy team and the famous Dr. Krankheit.
To her dying day, my mother was never able
to take Walter Cronkite seriously.
-- Fred Goldrich
--
Fred Goldrich
gold...@panix.com
Nettie
Lear had named his daughter Chanda!
- Nettie
Harry Weiss
: In article <36a22714...@news.datacomm.ch>, hsl...@datacomm.ch
: (Heribert Slama) wrote:
: [snip]
: > During the 18th century all Jews in the Austrian monarchy were forced
: > to take on German sounding names. The civil servants often abused
: > their power by assigning ludicrous or offensive names. Bribes
: > sometimes helped (a bit)...
: >
: > Isaac went to town to get a new name. When he returned, his wife
: > eagerly asked:
: > "What's our new name?"
: > "Umhh... Schweissfuss" [sweaty foot]
: > "Are you crazy! You took so much money with you; did you forget to
: > bribe the clerk?!!!"
: > "Oh, shut up. The 'W' alone cost me a fortune!"
: > (Sch_w_eissfuss ==> Scheissfuss [shit foot])
: >
: > --
: > Heribert Slama <hsl...@datacomm.ch>
: > Systems programmer
: > Muttenz, Switzerland
: Reminds me of another one. Three Jewish men are discussing their
: names, and how they were Americanized after immigration to the U.S.A. The
: first one says, "My name is Harris. In the old country, it was Heimowitz,
: but I Americanized it to Harris. The second says, "My name is Marsh. In
: the old country, it was Moscowitz, but I Americanized it to Marsh. The
: third fellow says, "My name was Americanized to Horowitz." One of the
: other men protests that Horowitz is not an Americanized name. "Yes it
: is," the third fellow insists. In the old country it was Nafkawitz."
: [Scholarly note for the Goyim out there. The Yiddish word "nafkeh"
: translates as "whore."]
: P.S., as long as I have your attention. A couple of acquaintances of
: mine swear to the following. One of them knew a urologist named Dr.
: Cockburn; another knew an obstetrician/gynecologist named Dr. La Femina; I
: personally knew an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hand surgery named
: Dr. Nalebuff. And of course all of us of sufficient age recall the old
: Smith and Dale comedy team and the famous Dr. Krankheit.
I used to deal with an accouting firm in Willits, CA called Hunt and
Steele.
: --
: Joe Levy.....
: If I am not for me, then who will be for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And, if not now when?
--
Harry J. Weiss
hjw...@netcom.com
Bob Halpern
of someone who had been issued his last name for the plate. Someone
else objected. SCHMUCK which means jewelry. He won the right to
proclaim himself a SCHMUCK. Seems fair.
Mordechai Housman wrote:
>
> Yeah, but what about the other way around? There is (or was) a
> restaurant in New York City called "Shimmel's Restaurant."
>
> Shimmel in Yiddish means mold.
>
> I have never eaten there.
>
> Mordechai
>
> Joseph E. Levy wrote:
> >
> > I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
> > late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
> > to my uncle that the original family name was Sexfinger, which means "six
> > fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
> > the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
> > Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
> > a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
> > quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
> > run across many people with the family name Schmuckler, which means
> > "jeweler" in German.
> >
> > --
> > Joe Levy.....
> >
> > If I am not for me, then who will be for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And, if not now when?
>
> --
Barry Kaplan
Nettie wrote in message <780v6b$a3j$1...@server2.wans.net>...
>My father worked for Lear Jet years ago, I remember him telling me that Mr.
>Lear had named his daughter Chanda!
>
> - Nettie
>
Now, THATS a real shame!
Phillip Sego
Barry Kaplan wrote in message <783j1f$j...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
Joe Marber
(spelled phonetically). It means steel stick. Not quite appropriate
for his wife.
My sister told me she had a gynecologist named Dr. Cherry. Her
childrens' doctor is a pediatrician named, I swear, Barney Softness.
Joseph E. Levy wrote:
> P.S., as long as I have your attention. A couple of acquaintances of
> mine swear to the following. One of them knew a urologist named Dr.
> Cockburn; another knew an obstetrician/gynecologist named Dr. La Femina; I
> personally knew an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hand surgery named
> Dr. Nalebuff. And of course all of us of sufficient age recall the old
> Smith and Dale comedy team and the famous Dr. Krankheit.
>
> --
> Joe Levy.....
>
> If I am not for me, then who will be for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And, if not now when?
--
Joe Marber
David A. Marks
Phillip Sego
Rabbi Furguson was asked how a Jew could possibly have his last name.
"When my father, whose last name was Lipshitz, was in the queue at Ellis
Island, my mother implored him "now that we're in America, we should take
an American name.
"But vot name" he asked? "Vot's an American name?"
"Vashington!" she replied. How much more American could a name be?
As he approaches the front of the queue, being terrible at remembering
names, he keeps repeating the name 'Vashington... Vashington..
Vashington..."
Finally, the customs officer starts asking him where's he from -- questions
about his family -- if he's had a long list of diseases. Finally, the
customs officer asks his name.
Looking the officer right in the eye, he says "Ich Fargessen!"*
*(I forget)
Mordechai Housman
DianeE wrote:
>
> Mordechai Housman wrote in message <36A4EB...@erols.com>...
> >Yeah, but what about the other way around? There is (or was) a
> >restaurant in New York City called "Shimmel's Restaurant."
> >
> > Shimmel in Yiddish means mold.
> >
> > I have never eaten there.
> >
> > Mordechai
> -------------------------
> It's actually Yonah Schimmel's Knishes, and if you haven't eaten there
> you've missed something good.
>
> Oy, maybe I shouldn't post this or we'll get into another food thread.....
>
> All follow-ups to alt.test!!!!!!
>
> DianeE
John L. Pearlman
: Shanda (Yiddish) = shame, as in "that's a shame"
:
:
: Barry Kaplan wrote in message <783j1f$j...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
: >
: >Nettie wrote in message <780v6b$a3j$1...@server2.wans.net>...
: >>My father worked for Lear Jet years ago, I remember him telling me that
: Mr.
: >>Lear had named his daughter Chanda!
: >>
: >> - Nettie
: >>
: >
: >
: >Now, THATS a real shame!
: >
:
:
And that's a (possibly inadvertant) multi-lingual double pun because
the Hebrew word for name (shin mem) is pronounced "shame"
--
John L. Pearlman -- <jl...@tiac.net> or <j.pea...@ieee.org>
If one man calls you a donkey, pay him no heed. If two men call you
a donkey, get yourself a saddle. (ancient Rabbinic saying)
Reinhard Schoen
ajb...@user.ecore.net (Andrew J. Brehm) writes:
|> I don't know many funny names. Let me think...
|>
|> Seinfeld: sein=be, feld=acre
I'd rather translate it as "his field"
Howard.Belasco...@worldnet.att.net
> Joseph E. Levy (ruj...@tiac.net) wrote:
> : In article <36a22714...@news.datacomm.ch>, hsl...@datacomm.ch
> : (Heribert Slama) wrote:
> : [snip]
>
>
> Steele.
My son had a doctor who was very small (4'11") very blonde and very
female. Her name? Dr. Tsatski. You just KNOW she had a good time in med
school!<smile>
Harry Weiss
: There was a famous Eurpoean Rabbi named Katzenelenbogen.
: Which means "cats' elbows."
:
: I kid you not.
When we lived in Pensacola, we had friends who had grandparents with
that name.
:
: Mordechai
: Phillip Sego wrote:
: >
: > In my Hebrew school, there was an Ira Bigelizen (iron, not the metal). So,
: > what posessed his great-great-great whatever to choose this.
: >
: > "Hmmm.. rusty bucket, nah... worn out shoes, nah... fork and knife? Nah..."
: >
: > Or another one was "Golem". Really. And this family all could have gone to
: > Prague have passed.
: --
: Visit the Being Jewish web site
: http://www.freeyellow.com/members2/beingjewish
: and the Being Jewish Bulletin Board, at:
: http://www.delphi.com/BeingJewish
--
Harry J. Weiss
hjw...@netcom.com
Cameron Kaiser
>So the story is that a guy named Katz moves to Israel and decides he's going
>to do this as well, so he'll fit in better. So what does he do? He changes
>his name to "Chatul."
:
>2) "Katz" is the German word for cat.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeell, not really. "die Katze" is "the cat" auf Deutsch. But it
does help make a good interlinguistic pun. :-)
--
Cameron Kaiser * cdkaiser.cris@com * powered by eight bits * operating on faith
-- supporting the Commodore 64/128: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/cwi/ --
head moderator comp.binaries.cbm * cbm special forces unit $ea31 (tincsf)
personal page http://calvin.ptloma.edu/~spectre/ * "when in doubt, take a pawn"
Heribert Slama
<fka...@enteract.com> wrote:
>Schweissfuss? Swiss foot? Even weirder than the avoided name.
Excuse me, I'm a bit confused about that remark - is this a correction
to the translation I gave - "[sweaty foot]" - or is it an extra pun?
'Schweissfuss' = "sweaty foot"; _definitely_, common word in modern
German; even my socks know that :-) Oh, BTW, my socks are Swiss! :-)
(I live there.)
Inserting a 'W' into 'Scheissfuss' [literally "shit foot", meaning
"fucking foot"] is a (slight?) improvement.
"Swiss foot" = 'Schweizfuss' (with a "zed"; grammatically better would
be 'Schweizer Fuss'). Rather difficult to make a meaningful sentence
with this word <g>.
I read this joke in an anthology of Jewish jokes written in German:
"Der juedische Witz", by Salcia Landmann. Naturally, this book
contains several jokes about German Jewish names. I just have the
problem, that they are difficult to locate on 650 pages :-(
Regards,
-Heribert Slama
>//***** Fred Kasner ******\\
>
>Heribert Slama wrote in message <36a22714...@news.datacomm.ch>...
>>On Sat, 16 Jan 1999 20:01:10 EST, in rec.humor.jewish,
>>hip...@delosnet.com wrote:
>> [......]
>>During the 18th century all Jews in the Austrian monarchy were forced
>>to take on German sounding names. The civil servants often abused
>>their power by assigning ludicrous or offensive names. Bribes
>>sometimes helped (a bit)...
>>
>>Isaac went to town to get a new name. When he returned, his wife
>>eagerly asked:
>>"What's our new name?"
>>"Umhh... Schweissfuss" [sweaty foot]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mordechai Housman
A shonda on a honda
Phillip Sego wrote:
>
> Shanda (Yiddish) = shame, as in "that's a shame"
>
> Barry Kaplan wrote in message <783j1f$j...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
> >
> >Nettie wrote in message <780v6b$a3j$1...@server2.wans.net>...
> >>My father worked for Lear Jet years ago, I remember him telling me that
> Mr.
> >>Lear had named his daughter Chanda!
> >>
> >> - Nettie
> >>
> >
> >
> >Now, THATS a real shame!
> >
> >
--
pml
who was always acting snooty and giving himself airs. Finally an old guy
told him, "Listen, La Fontaine. I knew your father, who was named
Spritzwasser. And HIS father was named Moishe Pisher! So don't go giving
yourself airs, 'La Fontaine'!"
Heribert Slama <hsl...@datacomm.ch> wrote in article
<36a22714...@news.datacomm.ch>...
> To reduce the strain, here is a joke on the subject (which is a bit
> rude):
>
> ***
> During the 18th century all Jews in the Austrian monarchy were forced
> to take on German sounding names. The civil servants often abused
> their power by assigning ludicrous or offensive names. Bribes
> sometimes helped (a bit)...
>
> Isaac went to town to get a new name. When he returned, his wife
> eagerly asked:
> "What's our new name?"
> "Umhh... Schweissfuss" [sweaty foot]
Paul Burstein
Phillip Sego wrote in message ...
>
Shane Ferguson was asked how a Jew could possibly have his
clearly very Irish name.
>
>"When my father, whose last name was Lipshitz, was in the
queue at Ellis
>Island, my mother implored him "now that we're in America,
we should take
>an American name.
>
>"But vot name" he asked? "Vot's an American name?"
>
>"Vashington!" she replied. How much more American could a
name be?
>
>As he approaches the front of the queue, being terrible at
remembering
>names, he keeps repeating the name 'Vashington...
Vashington..
>Vashington..."
>
>Finally, the customs officer starts asking him where's he
from -- questions
>about his family -- if he's had a long list of diseases.
Finally, the
>customs officer asks his name.
>
Looking the officer right in the eye, he says "Schane
Fergessen!"*
>
*(I've) already forgotten
>
>
>
>
>
>
Mordechai Housman
pressing clothing.
Phillip Sego wrote:
>
> In my Hebrew school, there was an Ira Bigelizen (iron, not the metal). So,
> what posessed his great-great-great whatever to choose this.
>
> "Hmmm.. rusty bucket, nah... worn out shoes, nah... fork and knife? Nah..."
>
> Or another one was "Golem". Really. And this family all could have gone to
> Prague have passed.
--
Joseph E. Levy
ruj...@tiac.net (Joseph E. Levy) wrote:
> I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
> late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
> to my uncle that the original family name was Sexfinger, which means "six
> fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
> the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
> Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
> a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
> quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
> run across many people with the family name Schmuckler, which means
> "jeweler" in German.
>
> --
> Joe Levy.....
>
Let me add another one, which I had forgotten. When I was in college,
I received a small cash grant scholarship, which was named after the
benefactor: Emil Schweinberg. Schwein = pig, and berg = hill or
mountain. This must have been a typically German name assigned to some
poor Jew, with the clear object of humiliation. Anway, I have no
intention of making fun of Emil Schweinberg, given the generosity he
bestowed upon me. P.S. my paternal grandmother's maiden name was
Hochberg, which translates as "high hill."
Andrew J. Brehm
Hm... I agree. Could be. I didn't think about pronomina when I wrote
this.
Kempenich
pml <lavi...@dhc.net> wrote in message
news:01be43b2$f7b92be0$37a737cf@phyllis...
>This reminds me of Leo Rosten's joke about a young man named La Fontaine
>who was always acting snooty and giving himself airs. Finally an old guy
>told him, "Listen, La Fontaine. I knew your father, who was named
>Spritzwasser. And HIS father was named Moishe Pisher! So don't go giving
>yourself airs, 'La Fontaine'!"
I knew this one as a Jew who would change his name according to where he
was:
He went to Germany and decided to be called Moritz Wasserman,
in France he was Maurice de la Fontaine,
in the United States, it was Morris Waterman
Originally, in the shtetl, everybody called him Moishele Pish.
Jerry Levine
officials, he replied "Shoyn Fargessen".
Phillip Sego wrote:
> Rabbi Furguson was asked how a Jew could possibly have his last name.
>
> "When my father, whose last name was Lipshitz, was in the queue at Ellis
> Island, my mother implored him "now that we're in America, we should take
> an American name.
>
> "But vot name" he asked? "Vot's an American name?"
>
> "Vashington!" she replied. How much more American could a name be?
>
> As he approaches the front of the queue, being terrible at remembering
> names, he keeps repeating the name 'Vashington... Vashington..
> Vashington..."
>
> Finally, the customs officer starts asking him where's he from -- questions
> about his family -- if he's had a long list of diseases. Finally, the
> customs officer asks his name.
>
pml
That's like the Chinese guy who had a big sign on his storefront:
"Yankel Goldberg's Chinese Laundry." So a customer came in and asked
for Yankel Goldberg. The Chinese guy said, "I'm Yankel Goldberg." The
customer said, "How did you ever get that name?!" The Chinese guy said,
"Was in immigration line behind guy named Yankel Goldberg. They asked
him his name and he told them. Then when they asked me my name, I said,
'Sam Ting'."
Mark Langer
A Mr. Stern has endowed an academic chair to further the study of humour at
Brooklyn College in New York. So now, an old friend of mine is the "Stern
Professor in Humour Studies."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Langer
Email address: mla...@ccs.carleton.ca
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Burstein
pml wrote in message <36A87D...@dhc.net>...
>That's like the Chinese guy who had a big sign on his
storefront:
>"Yankel Goldberg's Chinese Laundry." So a customer came in
and asked
>for Yankel Goldberg. The Chinese guy said, "I'm Yankel
Goldberg." The
>customer said, "How did you ever get that name?!" The
Chinese guy said,
>"Was in immigration line behind guy named Yankel Goldberg.
They asked
>him his name and he told them. Then when they asked me my
name, I said,
>'Sam Ting'."
>
there is a nobel prize winner at mit, whose name is.....sam
ting
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> <hip...@delosnet.com> wrote:
[snips]
> > And Dreyfuss is misspelled in German as well.
> > Pronounced Drayfuss here it means turning foot.
This German-Jewish name is spelled several ways: Dreifuß (=standard
German), Dreifuss, Draifuss, Drayfus, Dreyfus, etc. It does not mean
"turning foot" (see below).
> Dreyfuss does mean three feet and stands for someone who can't walk very
> well, I believe.
"Dreifuß" means "tripod" (literally, "three feet"). It is a cobbler's
cast-iron contraption consisting of three legs with metal "feet" of
different sizes, so that shoes of different sizes can be slipped on them
to be resoled or reheeled. This name is also a nickname for a cobbler.
Germans, Swiss, Austrians, and German/Austrian Jews have the same
surnames "Dreifuß" (tripod; cobbler), "Schuster" and "Schuhmacher"
(shoemaker). Russian Jews are named "Saposhnik" (shoemaker). The
surnames of many Jews reflect the professions of their ancestors.
Examples are German-Jewish "Schneider," Russian-Jewish "Portnoy" and
Hungarian-Jewish "Szabó," all of which mean "tailor."
Other German-Jewish names of this kind are "Schreiber" (writer),
Zimmerman(n) (carpenter), "Handler" or "Hendler" (dealer), "Metzger"
(butcher), "Schenker" [Americanized to "Shanker"] (innkeeper; one who
pours beer and wine), "Lehrer" (teacher), "Kaufman(n)" (merchant),
"Wechsler" or "Wexler" (money changer), "Beck" or "Becker" (baker) and
many more.
--
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
Santa Rosa, CA 95402, USA
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> There was a famous Eurpoean Rabbi named Katzenelenbogen.
>
> Which means "cats' elbows."
>
> I kid you not.
"Katzenelenbogen" (also spelled "Katzenellenbogen" and "Katzenelnbogen")
literally means "cat's elbow" -- but it's just a place name. This
German-Jewish name was given to that Jewish family long ago because they
came from a German village near Frankfurt in Hesse called
"Katzenelnbogen."
Many Ashkenazic Jewish surnames are derived from the European towns,
cities, regions or countries where these families lived long ago. Such
names often end in "-er" (meaning "someone from...") or are the plain
place names, usually in their German spelling.
Examples of towns and cities: Wiener, Weiner, Viner = Viennese,
Frankfurter, Hamburg(er), Landau, Straubinger, Berlin, Breslauer = from
Wroclaw, Prager, Pressburger = from Bratislava, Pilsner, Mainzer, Bonn,
Amsterdam, Krakauer, Cracower, Moskauer = from Moscow, Chelmer, Helmer,
Belgrader, Warschauer = from Warsaw.
Family names from regions and countries: Bayer = Bavarian; Schwab, Shvob
= Swabian; Frank = Franconian; Deutscher, Doytsh = German; Russ =
Russian; Letvin, Litvak = Latvian; Pollack = Pole; Österreicher, Estrich
= Austrian; Schweizer, Shvaytzer = Swiss; Unger = Hungarian; Galizianer
= Galician; Tschech = Czech.
Natalya Zilberman
I have been enjoying this discussion about Jewish German names.
Well, mine is Zilberman, and we all know what it means: Silverman.
I thought it had something to do with my ancestors' profession:
silvermaking, for instance. However, my father insists that "Zilberman"
comes from the fact that members of our family had gray hair early in
life. Any Zilbermans out there? I'd like to hear your ideas!
However, I do not know the translation of my mother's maiden name:
Kraytman (or Kraitman) and my cousins' last name: Shleyfman (or
Schleyfman or Schleifman). Any ideas?
Well, while we are on the subject, I wanted to share a funny story with
you all. My stepfather's last name is Oysgelt, which in Yiddish (and in
German I think) means "no money". The late father of my stepdad told me
a story of how his family got this name.
Okay, it all happened a little over a hundred years ago in one of the
Ukraine Shtetls. A deaf elderly man was at home alone. His family (which
was very poor and had a lot of debt) was elsewhere at the time. Someone
knocked, but the man could not hear. Finally, the person knocking
entered the room (which was unlocked) and asked the man something.
Thinking that the one who entered the room was a debt collector, the old
man exclaimed "Oysgelt!". The stranger wrote something down and left.
Turned out, this stranger was a representative of the Census Bureau...
>From that time on, the family name is Oysgelt.
Have a good day!
Joseph E. Levy wrote:
>
> I wanted to relate a true story regarding a German Jewish name. My
> late uncle knew a man whose family name was Seffinger. The man explained
> to my uncle that the original family name was Sexfinger, which means "six
> fingers" in German. Obviously, migration to America required a change of
> the spelling to make it more socially acceptable.
> Wonder if any others in this group have similar tales to relate. Even
> a fairly common German Jewish name like Dreyfus has a somewhat comical
> quality in German, as it means "three feet." As an old New Yorker, I have
> run across many people with the family name Schmuckler, which means
> "jeweler" in German.
>
> --
> Joe Levy.....
>
B.E. Simons
"tz" (no vowel) is the designation for the High Priestly caste and anyone so
named is a descendant....Rabbi Ellenbogen, the famous rabbi (read the Golden
Chain, written by a descendant who
traced all the genealogy) by putting "KTZ" in front is really only using his
title so to speak. Although, through the ages the title was used as the name
Katz....but to Jews who know either their religion or their history...it doesn't
mean Cat, it means High Priest. I am surprised that anyone with a shem,
"Mordechai" translates from the German and mistranslates the Hebrew.
Mordechai Housman wrote:
> There was a famous Eurpoean Rabbi named Katzenelenbogen.
>
> Which means "cats' elbows."
>
> I kid you not.
>
> Mordechai
Mordechai Housman
It brings to mind the phrase' mad as a hatter," I suppose, but it's
no laughing matter.
Mordechai
hip...@delosnet.com wrote:
>
> When I was growing up on the east coast I lived in a Yiddish speaking
> environment. We learned a number of songs for the holidays and one that
> was sung at Purim was called Hitler Hommentashn. NO JOKE! Hitler is
> Yiddish for little hats which is the shape of the triangular pastry. The
> song pre-dates the 30s.
>
> To find "funny" names, one need only crack open the phone book. Here are
> some I found in the LA white pages:
>
> Altschule = Old School
> Asche = Ashes
> Bachrach = Brook Revenge
> Baum = Tree
> Belcher = you figure that one out!
> Berg = Mountain
> Blei = Lead
> Dorf = Village
> Eisenberg = Mountain of Iron
> Fichner = again, you figure that on out!
> Fuchs = not what you think!
> Fogel/Vogel = Bird
> Gelb = Yellow
> Gottlieb = "Amadeus"
>
> this list goes on and on... There was a time when Jews didn't have last
> names. They were known by their patronimics (the son of...). The last
> name is an interesting concept for creating geneology, but I believe each
> country that the Jews settled in offered them something different in terms
> of the names that they could have.
>
> : I know one joke about Hitler and a funny Jewish name, but I guess it is
> : too offensive to be told here, even tho it is against Nazis, but it
> : might be misunderstood.
Joel B Levin
Jerry Levine <jle...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
:I heard his name was Sean Furguson. When he was asked for his name by the
:officials, he replied "Shoyn Fargessen".
That's the version I heard -- on a Herschel Bernardi comedy record from the
fifties or early sixties ...
/JBL
Mordechai Housman
>
> Shanda (Yiddish) = shame, as in "that's a shame"
>
> Barry Kaplan wrote in message <783j1f$j...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
> >
> >Nettie wrote in message <780v6b$a3j$1...@server2.wans.net>...
> >>My father worked for Lear Jet years ago, I remember him telling me that
> Mr.
> >>Lear had named his daughter Chanda!
> >>
> >> - Nettie
> >>
> >
> >
> >Now, THATS a real shame!
> >
> >
--
Fred Kasner
surgery on my and he was Dr. Bone. Really, not made up!
Fred Kasner
Joseph E. Levy wrote:
... snip ...
> P.S., as long as I have your attention. A couple of acquaintances of
> mine swear to the following. One of them knew a urologist named Dr.
> Cockburn; another knew an obstetrician/gynecologist named Dr. La Femina; I
> personally knew an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hand surgery named
> Dr. Nalebuff. And of course all of us of sufficient age recall the old
> Smith and Dale comedy team and the famous Dr. Krankheit.
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Hello everyone!
>
> I have been enjoying this discussion about Jewish German names.
> Well, mine is Zilberman, and we all know what it means: Silverman.
> I thought it had something to do with my ancestors' profession:
> silvermaking, for instance. However, my father insists that "Zilberman"
> comes from the fact that members of our family had gray hair early in
> life. Any Zilbermans out there? I'd like to hear your ideas!
Hi, Natalya,
German-Jewish family names are one of my interests, and I can help you
with most of the names you've wondered about in your posting.
"Zilberman" named after the hair color of your ancestors would be
extremely unusual. "Gray" in Yiddish is "gro" or "groy," and someone
with (hereditary early) gray hair would be named "Grohar" or "Groyhar"
(=Grayhair) or "Grokop" or "Groykup" (=Grayhead). One with "silver" hair
would be called "Zilberhar" or "Zilberkup," but that's unlikely too.
"Zilberman" is one of the many Ashkenazic Jewish names associated with
precious metals and stones: Goldman(n), Goldzieher, Goldfein, Goldfine,
Feingold, Finegold; Silberman, Zilbergelt, Feinsilber, Finesilver;
Edelstein, -stine, Edlshtayn, Rubin, Finkelstein, - steen, -stien,
-stine, Diamant, Dimant, etc. Your father's ancestors were in some way
associated with silver or silver coins: money-lenders, money-changers,
or artisans crafting silverware or jewelry.
> However, I do not know the translation of my mother's maiden name:
> Kraytman (or Kraitman)
"Kraytman" comes from German "Gereut" meaning "clearing" (in a forest).
In the Middle Ages, there were more forests than cleared areas (=fields,
meadows), and the farmers cut down many trees (=cleared the land) to
have fields where they could grow wheat, corn, beets, etc. Such a
clearing in a forest is called "Gereut," which in southern German and
Austrian dialects is pronounced "Grait" and "Krait" [sounds like English
"grite"] and in Yiddish is spelled "Grayt" and "Krayt." A "Kraytman" or
"Graitman" or "Kreutmann" is someone who lived in such a clearing near a
forest; literally, "clearing-man."
> and my cousins' last name: Shleyfman (or
> Schleyfman or Schleifman). Any ideas?
One of the common sources of income for poor Jews in Europe was to
travel from village to village and town to town, offering their services
to sharpen the tools, knives, scissors, sickles, and scythes of
villagers and farmers. "To sharpen, grind, whet" is in German
"schleifen" and in Yiddish "shlayf(n)." A "Schleifmann" or "Schlayfman"
or "Schleyfman" is a "sharpener" or "grinder" of tools.
> Well, while we are on the subject, I wanted to share a funny story with
> you all. My stepfather's last name is Oysgelt, which in Yiddish (and in
> German I think) means "no money". The late father of my stepdad told me
> a story of how his family got this name.
>
> Okay, it all happened a little over a hundred years ago in one of the
> Ukraine Shtetls. A deaf elderly man was at home alone. His family (which
> was very poor and had a lot of debt) was elsewhere at the time. Someone
> knocked, but the man could not hear. Finally, the person knocking
> entered the room (which was unlocked) and asked the man something.
> Thinking that the one who entered the room was a debt collector, the old
> man exclaimed "Oysgelt!". The stranger wrote something down and left.
> Turned out, this stranger was a representative of the Census Bureau...
> >From that time on, the family name is Oysgelt.
Nice story, but no cigar, Monica ... uh, I mean Natalya. "No money" is
in German "kein Geld" and in Yiddish "keyn gelt." "Without money" is in
German "ohne Geld" and in Yiddish "on gelt." So, the story does not pan
out. Yiddish "Oysgelt" is the same as German "Ausgeld," both meaning
literally "out-money," but I have not been able to find these words in
any of my dictionaries. "Oysgelt" may be some archaic or obsolete kind
of payment used hundreds of years ago.
Fred Kasner
until after the very early 17th century.
Fred Kasner
Reinhold (Rey) Aman wrote:
>
... snip ...
> meadows), and the farmers cut down many trees (=cleared the land) to
> have fields where they could grow wheat, corn, beets, etc. Such a
> clearing in a forest is called "Gereut," which in southern German and
> Austrian dialects is pronounced "Grait" and "Krait" [sounds like English
... snip ...
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Corn (maize) was New World vegetable. It was not known to the Old World
> until after the very early 17th century.
> Reinhold (Rey) Aman wrote:
> ... snip ...
>
> > meadows), and the farmers cut down many trees (=cleared the land) to
> > have fields where they could grow wheat, corn, beets, etc. Such a
> > clearing in a forest is called "Gereut," which in southern German and
> > Austrian dialects is pronounced "Grait" and "Krait" [sounds like English
Dear Mr. Kasner,
you're right and I'm right. I meant "corn" in the European sense of
"wheat, rye, oats, or barley," which you'll find listed in any good
dictionary, usually labeled "chiefly British."
"Corn" in the sense of "maize" is in German "Mais" and in Yiddish "mays"
and "kukuruts." Maize is grown only as animal food in Europe, not for
humans.
Finally, by the time Jewish families were forced to assume first names
and last names in the 18th and 19th centuries, corn (=maize) was a
well-established crop in Europe.
Next time I'll be more specific to avoid misunderstandings.
[posted and e-mailed]
Fred Kasner
FK
Dr.Matt
sufficiently funny!</British Bobby>
Did you know that some parts of Euel Gibbons may be edible? Kosher, no.
Palatable, no. Tastes like? Blech. But...
--
Matt Fields, DMA http://listen.to/mattaj TwelveToneToyBox http://start.at/tttb
"If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread,
they can sure make something out of you."
-- Muhammad Ali | http://e-scrub.com/cgi-bin/wpoison/wpoison.cgi
Juergen Nickelsen
> As an old New Yorker, I have run across many people with the family name
> Schmuckler, which means "jeweler" in German.
While "Schmuck" indeed means "ornament, decoration, jewelery" in German,
the jeweler is usually called "Juwelier" or "Goldschmied" (goldsmith). I
haven't heard "Schuckler" for jeweler, which on the other hand sounds
exactly like "Schmuggler" (smuggler).
--
Juergen Nickelsen
Juergen Nickelsen
> "Corn" in the sense of "maize" is in German "Mais" and in Yiddish "mays"
> and "kukuruts." Maize is grown only as animal food in Europe, not for
> humans.
``"Corn" in the sense of "maize"'' has become a not-too-unusual for
humans in Germany (and perhaps other parts of Europe), but that may be a
recent development -- after you left Europe, that is. :-)
--
Juergen Nickelsen
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Hitler, as far as I am aware, means "Hatter," not "hat."
The name "Hitler" has no connection with "hat" or "hatter." It is not
related to Yiddish "hitl" (small hat). Its origin is disputed but
definitely from one of these two sources:
(1) from German "hüten" = to guard, to watch over (animals or places).
Such a guard was earlier called "(Wald-) Hiedler" and later changed to
"Hitler," meaning "forest-keeper, ranger, one who protects the forest."
(2) or from German "Hütte" = a hut, shack, cabin, shanty. A "Hüttler,"
or in southern dialects "Hittler, Hitler," is a man who lives in a hut,
shack, or small, simple house, such as a poor tradesman or a farmhand.
> hip...@delosnet.com wrote:
> >
> > When I was growing up on the east coast I lived in a Yiddish speaking
> > environment. We learned a number of songs for the holidays and one that
> > was sung at Purim was called Hitler Hommentashn. NO JOKE! Hitler is
> > Yiddish for little hats which is the shape of the triangular pastry. The
> > song pre-dates the 30s.
Well, actually ... the Yiddish word for "hat" is "hut" or "hit," and a
"small hat" is a "hitl," not a "hitler."
--
Juergen Nickelsen
> Yeah, but what about the other way around? There is (or was) a
> restaurant in New York City called "Shimmel's Restaurant."
>
> Shimmel in Yiddish means mold.
In German, "Schimmel" is not only mold, but also a white or grey horse.
--
Juergen Nickelsen
Juergen Nickelsen
> Other German-Jewish names of this kind are "Schreiber" (writer),
> Zimmerman(n) (carpenter), "Handler" or "Hendler" (dealer), "Metzger"
> (butcher), "Schenker" [Americanized to "Shanker"] (innkeeper; one who
> pours beer and wine), "Lehrer" (teacher), "Kaufman(n)" (merchant),
> "Wechsler" or "Wexler" (money changer), "Beck" or "Becker" (baker) and
> many more.
I'd like to add that these names are not necessarily jewish, but german
mainstream, as well as the common jewish surname "Meyer" (also Meier,
Maier, Mayer, Mair), derived from "majordomo", the (employed) person
responsible for the housekeeping on large farms, including the "Meierei"
(dairy).
"Meyer" belongs, with its variants, to the few most common surnames in
Germany, along with "Müller" (miller), "Schmidt/Schmid/Schmitt" (ancient
word for "Schmied" = smith), and "Schulz/Schultz/Schulze/Schultze
(ancient word for "Bürgermeister" = mayor).
In a village near Flensburg (at the northern end of Germany), where I
lived for several years of my childhood, the mechanism of building names
from the profession was still intact. For instance, the man who repaired
cars and farming equipment (and who had earlier also shoed the horses)
was called "Schmidt", despite his actual name.
--
Juergen Nickelsen
Juergen Nickelsen
> >2) "Katz" is the German word for cat.
>
> Weeeeeeeeeeeeell, not really. "die Katze" is "the cat" auf Deutsch.
Yes, but "Katz" is quite common in poetic or dialectal german for
"Katze" (cat).
--
Juergen Nickelsen
Natalya Zilberman
> have fields where they could grow wheat, corn, beets, etc. Such a
> clearing in a forest is called "Gereut," which in southern German and
> Austrian dialects is pronounced "Grait" and "Krait" [sounds like English
> Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Santa Rosa, CA 95402, USA
Hello Rey and others,
Thanks for providing this very helpful and interesting information!
Actually, I was only expecting speculations on the questions that I
asked, and was very surprised to get such a precise answer so quickly.
I suppose the only other question I have is when approximately was there
a mass migration of German Jews to Russia (that's where I and my family
are from)? If it was reasonably long ago, then why didn't they change
their last names (still according to their professions, but more Russian
sounding)? In other words, why wouldn't a Taylor (or whatever it is in
German) become a "Sapozhnik"? Why didn't my Zilberman ancestor become
the same thing in Russian?
Any clues?
Thanks,
Natalya
irene stern friedman
My Mother's maiden name was Weiser and there are two family traditions--
One that it is because many of the family were very fair-skinned and light
haired.
The other is that it is because many of the family were very intelligent
and wise.
Since I have brown hair and medium skin, you can guess which version I prefer.
Irene
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5013
David de Graaf
> Reinhold (Rey) Aman wrote:
> >
> > Natalya Zilberman wrote:
<snip>
> Hello Rey and others,
>
> Thanks for providing this very helpful and interesting information!
> Actually, I was only expecting speculations on the questions that I
> asked, and was very surprised to get such a precise answer so quickly.
>
> I suppose the only other question I have is when approximately was there
> a mass migration of German Jews to Russia (that's where I and my family
> are from)? If it was reasonably long ago, then why didn't they change
> their last names (still according to their professions, but more Russian
> sounding)? In other words, why wouldn't a Taylor (or whatever it is in
> German) become a "Sapozhnik"? Why didn't my Zilberman ancestor become
> the same thing in Russian?
>
> Any clues?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Natalya
Hi Natalya,
I presume that names stayed German because the primary language remained
Yiddish, which has a big German influence. As long as Jews weren't
considered citizens and they spoke their own language, there was no use in
using Russian last names.
On a related note, most Jews in the Netherlands ended up with Dutch last
names, mainly because Yiddish as a separate langugage disappeared in the
1800s. This was also the time that patronyms were replaced by last names.
Jews ended up with their share of terrible last names. Depending on who
tells the story this was because of the antisemitism of the people that
assigned the names or because people did not take the whole affair
seriously when they requested a last name.
Some great ones:
Naaktgeboren (born naked, both Jewish and non-Jewish)
Poepjes (little sh*ts, exclusively Jewish)
As with the eastern Yiddish last names, many of the last names were
related to professions. I have an 'Augurkjesman', (gurkin (pickle) man)
'Fruitman' and I believe 'Voddeman' (rag man) in the family.
Which leads me to the obligatory joke.
A petition for a name change was submitted to a lower court in Deventer,
the Netherlands in 1938. The judge asks sternly what the applicant's name
is.
"Adolf Poepjes, your honor."
"Well," the judge responds, "I can certainly see why you would want to
change your name. What would you like it to be?"
"Pieter Poepjes, your honor."
(Replace 'poepjes' with Lipshitz and mae it a Brooklyn lower court for
local usage.)
David
Liana Olear
: I suppose the only other question I have is when approximately was there
: a mass migration of German Jews to Russia (that's where I and my family
: are from)? If it was reasonably long ago, then why didn't they change
: their last names (still according to their professions, but more Russian
: sounding)? In other words, why wouldn't a Taylor (or whatever it is in
: German) become a "Sapozhnik"? Why didn't my Zilberman ancestor become
: the same thing in Russian?
Quite possibly because "Sapozhnik" makes shoes as opposed to clothes.. But
somehow I think that's not what you are asking. I am no specialist, but
my guess would be because their primary language was not Russian but
Yiddish.
Liana
Dr.Matt
In many of those countries Jews were required to take funny
German names to highlight the fact that they were still considered
foreigners.
--
Matt Fields, DMA http://listen.to/mattaj TwelveToneToyBox http://start.at/tttb
"If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread,
they can sure make something out of you."
- Muhammad Ali | Spammers go to: http://e-scrub.com/cgi-bin/wpoison/wpoison.cgi
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Are Weisers white or wise?
>
> My Mother's maiden name was Weiser and there are two family traditions--
> One that it is because many of the family were very fair-skinned and light
> haired.
> The other is that it is because many of the family were very intelligent
> and wise.
>
> Since I have brown hair and medium skin, you can guess which version I prefer.
I'd go for the latter. Jews and Gentiles with white, silvery or very
blond hair were usually nicknamed Weiss, Weiß, Weisskopf, Weisshäuptel,
Weisshaar, Weisslocke (white head, hair, locks).
People who were unusually fair-skinned or pale were nicknamed "Blass" or
"Blasser" and "Bleich(er)," all meaning 'pale one.'
People who were considered wise, highly educated, or learnèd were
nicknamed "Weiser" and "Gelernter."
Note that many of these nicknames, "nice," "nasty" or "funny" ones, were
given to their Jewish *and* Gentile bearers hundreds of years before the
bureaucrats forced European Jews to take surnames in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
Sabine Kielhorn
> Reinhold (Rey) Aman <am...@sonic.net> wrote:
>
> > "Corn" in the sense of "maize" is in German "Mais" and in Yiddish "mays"
> > and "kukuruts." Maize is grown only as animal food in Europe, not for
> > humans.
>
> ``"Corn" in the sense of "maize"'' has become a not-too-unusual for
> humans in Germany (and perhaps other parts of Europe), but that may be a
> recent development -- after you left Europe, that is. :-)
But only in the term ,,corn flakes''.
German corn (Korn) is still something to drink.
Sabine
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Hello Rey and others,
>
> Thanks for providing this very helpful and interesting information!
> Actually, I was only expecting speculations on the questions that I
> asked, and was very surprised to get such a precise answer so quickly.
>
> a mass migration of German Jews to Russia (that's where I and my family
> are from)? If it was reasonably long ago, then why didn't they change
> their last names (still according to their professions, but more Russian
> sounding)? In other words, why wouldn't a Taylor (or whatever it is in
> German) become a "Sapozhnik"? Why didn't my Zilberman ancestor become
> the same thing in Russian?
>
There was no mass migration per se. Jewish families who used to live in
German lands (Germany did not exist as a unified country until the
second half of the 19th century) moved over the centuries little by
little eastward, as did German farmers and artisans. It started around
the year 1200 and continued through about 1850 -- about 600 years of
slowly moving east to new lands and new opportunities.
> If it was reasonably long ago, then why didn't they change
> their last names (still according to their professions, but more Russian
> sounding)? In other words, why wouldn't a Taylor (or whatever it is in
> German) become a "Sapozhnik"? Why didn't my Zilberman ancestor become
> the same thing in Russian?
The Zilbermans were "Silbermann" while living in German-speaking lands,
and when they got to Russia, they kept their name. Russian is written
in Cyrillic letters, as you know, and the Russian way of spelling the
German-Jewish name is "Zilberman" in Cyrillic letters. Some people
translated their names into the language of the countries they moved to,
others kept their names. Just be glad your
grand-grand-grand-grand-grandfather didn't translate his last name into
Russian! :-)) It would be something like "Serebrónik" or
"Serebromushtshina."
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
>
> > Reinhold (Rey) Aman <am...@sonic.net> wrote:
> >
> > > "Corn" in the sense of "maize" is in German "Mais" and in Yiddish "mays"
> > > and "kukuruts." Maize is grown only as animal food in Europe, not for
> > > humans.
> > ``"Corn" in the sense of "maize"'' has become a not-too-unusual for
> > humans in Germany (and perhaps other parts of Europe), but that may be a
> > recent development -- after you left Europe, that is. :-)
True. When my parents visited me in the States, my Merkin wife
served corn on the cob. They (Bavarians) couldn't believe that
Americans ate corn (Mais), because back home it was considered
"Saufutter" (feed for pigs). But when they tried it (it's a different
type of corn), they liked it and later tried to get it in the Old
Country. No luck. That was in the '60s. Later, corn for human
consumption was imported from the USA (and probably is now grown in
Europe). Corn on the cob is still rare in Germany and basically
nonexistent in the South. Popcorn (another American import) is more
common.
Mordechai Housman
"hittler" is a hatter.
Mordechai
> --
> Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Santa Rosa, CA 95402, USA
--
Juergen Nickelsen
> > ``"Corn" in the sense of "maize"'' has become a not-too-unusual for
> > humans in Germany (and perhaps other parts of Europe), but that may be a
> > recent development -- after you left Europe, that is. :-)
>
> But only in the term ,,corn flakes''.
Sorry for being misleading, but I meant the food, and not the word for
it. Corn has become mainstream food in the last few decades and is
mostly sold in cans. There are, of course, also corn flakes and pop
corn, for which these english terms are used in German.
--
Juergen Nickelsen
Sabine Kielhorn
> Sorry for being misleading, but I meant the food, and not the word for
> it. Corn has become mainstream food in the last few decades and is
> mostly sold in cans. There are, of course, also corn flakes and pop
> corn, for which these english terms are used in German.
Yup, forgot about the pop-corn because I can't stand it.
(They serve it sweet over here.)
Sabine,
who has several cans of Mais in her kitchen.
PSmith9626
" fishbein"
that's fishlegs.
penny
PSmith9626
i actually know a jewish ferguson.
He says when his grandad was at ellis island he was so flustered that he gave
his name as ich vergession ( sp, I forgot).
I heard this story first from sam levinson but there is at least
one such person.
penny
Mordechai Housman
Fishbein means "fishbone."
Mordechai
YHZitter
slightly anglicized name that he intended to use. And it was Ich schoen
fergessen which yeilded Sean Fergusson. And I too have met the friend of the
son of such a person, in a Jewish book store in Silver Spring.
can't get this ng on my reader, replies if any to mei...@erols.com
meir
Stephen Lazer
>
> dear natalya,
> i actually know a jewish ferguson.
> He says when his grandad was at ellis island he was so flustered that he gave
> his name as ich vergession ( sp, I forgot).
> I heard this story first from sam levinson but there is at least
> one such person.
>
> penny
My mother's maiden name is Blecher, probably from (gutteral ch) Blecher,
meaning tinsmith, or something like that. Knowing what very, very
Yiddish people can be like, I imagine that came from:
"Yes, I'm a tinsmith."
"A tinsmith? Blech!"