If You Can't Say Anything Nice

You don't have to be Jewish to get back at the shmendriks of the world

Yiddish. It's the most colorful language in the history of mankind. What other language gives you a whole dictionary of ways to tell someone to drop dead? That shmuck who got promoted over you? Meigulgl zol er vern in a henglaykhter, by tog zol er hengen, un by nakht zol er brenen. (He should be transformed into a chandelier, to hang by day and to burn by night.) That soccer mom kibitzing on her cell phone and tying up traffic? Shteyner zol zi hobn, nit keyn kinder. (She should have stones and not children.)

If You Can't Say Anything Nice, Say It in Yiddish * is the perfect glossary of Yiddish insults and curses, from the short and sweet( (Tu mir nit keyn toives :Don't do me any favors) to the whole megillah (Khasene hobn zol er mit di malekh hamoves tokhter: He should marry the daughter of the Angel of Death.) Complete with hundreds of the most creative insults for the putzes and kvetchers* of the world, this is an indispensable guide for Jews and Gentiles alike. When it comes to cursing someone who sorely needs it, may you never be at a loss for words again.

Lita Epstein grew up around Yiddish. While her mother and aunts usually used Yiddish to discuss something they didn't want the kids to know, its meaning gradually seeped through. This is her thirteenth book. She cannot promise it will be her last.