Glossary
Unless otherwise noted, these terms come from Yiddish.
Aferist: Swindler, racketeer.
Afn pripetshik: In the hearth, the title of a popular Yiddish song by M. M. Warshawsky.
Akh du sheyne meydele: Oh, you pretty girl, the title of a popular Yiddish folk song.
A nekhtiker tog: Nonsense! (literally “[you should have] a day dark as night!”).
Backwards Hall: An ironic reference to the Forward Building at 175 East Broadway, the home of the Yiddish newspaper Forverts (a competitor of Di varhayt, the publisher of Karpilove’s Diary), where political lectures were often held.
Barukh shepatarni: The blessing a father traditionally recites when his son becomes a bar mitzvah, thanking God for allowing his son to reach the age of adulthood and releasing the father from responsibility for actions committed by his son, now an independent adult.
Basta: That’s enough, stop! Borrowed from Italian, it was used popularly as slang in Polish and in English.
Billiardnye: Billiard hall (Russian).
Bobe: Grandmother.
Buyan: Gangster, lout, loafer (Russian).
Desiat’ia liubila, deviat’ razliubila: Russian song lyric (“I loved ten men and fell out of love with nine of them”) from the Russian folk song Vse govoriat chto ia vetrena byvaiu (“Everyone Says I Can Be Flighty”).
Dieses: That (German).
Ehrlich: Honorable, genteel (German).
Es ist wahr: That’s true (German).
Frechheit: Effrontery, brashness (German).
Gan eydn: Garden of Eden, Heaven.
Gehenem: Hell.
Geld: Money (German).
Glücklich: Happy (German).
Golem: In Jewish folklore, an animated anthropomorphic being magically created from inanimate clay or mud.
Goles: Exile, a condition in Jewish history and theology of being uprooted from homeland and thrust into uncertain times.
Got fun Avrom: A prayer in Yiddish recited by women on Saturday night as the Sabbath ends, separating the Sabbath from the week.
Goyish: Non-Jewish, alien.
Gymnasium: Secular high school (German).
Hamavdil: (literally: He who makes a distinction) a passage sung as part of the havdole ceremony. The Got fun Avrom prayer, related to havdole, is an extended Yiddish reflection of the hamavdil. According to Jewish mystical traditions, during shabes, souls are elevated to experience a taste of gan eyden, and by heralding the end of shabes, the hamavdil also marks the return of souls to earthly matters.
Havdole: A Jewish ritual ceremony marking the end of the Sabbath.
Holodriges: Ragamuffins, paupers.
Ishkabibble: An American slang term meaning “Why should I worry?” popularized in the 1913 novelty song of the same name by George W. Meyer and Sam Lewis. In 1915 the phrase appeared in Harry Hershfield’s cartoon strip Abie the Agent and it was also circulated in popular postcards; the expression is said to have roots in the Yiddish phrase “nisht gefidlt.”
Karlik: Dwarf.
Kest: In a traditional East European Jewish marriage arrangement, the obligation of the bride or groom’s parents to support the new couple for a specified period.
Khazones: Liturgical, cantorial music.
Khniak: Clumsy, incompetent person.
Khupe: Wedding canopy.
King David: Significant Biblical figure. In the passage in which he appears in Karpilove’s narrative, C. references a moment in 1 Kings 1 in which, in his old age, King David is warmed in his bed by a young woman.
Kosher: Suitable according to Jewish ritual law (often but not exclusively applied to food).
Kruzhok: An often revolutionary-oriented reading circle common among the Russian intelligentsia (Russian).
Lapatsanes: Scoundrels, hooligans.
Liebes Fräulein: Dear lady (German).
Litvashke: A woman from the territory of historical (or “greater”) Lithuania, which includes large swaths of northeastern Poland, northern and western Belarus, Minsk, Slutsk, Pinks, Brisk, Shklov, Mogilev, Gomel, and Vitebsk, southern Latvia, and northeastern Prussia. In Yiddish culture certain distinctive characteristics tend to be attributed to Litvaks—they are portrayed as cold, rational, cerebral, and skeptical, the polar opposite of Galitsianers (Galician Jews). Litvaks also are identifiable through a distinctive dialect with divergent vowel pronunciations. Karpilove, born outside of Minsk, would have fallen into this category.
Lomir zikh iberbetn: Let’s make up, the title of a popular Yiddish folk song.
Lustreise: Honeymoon (German).
Mädchen: Girl or young woman (German).
Mishteyns gezogt: In a manner of speaking, so-called.
Mitzve: Religious obligation or meritorious deed.
Nicht wahr?: Isn’t that so? (German).
Nishkoshe: Never mind.
Nudnik: Pest, irritating person, bore.
Obrazovanie: Education (Russian).
Paklanitsa: Devotée (Russian).
Povedenie: Behavior, conduct (Russian).
Prost: Simple, crude.
Razocharovaniye: Disappointment (Russian).
Samovar: A heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water for tea (Russian).
Schlemiel: Stupid, awkward person.
Shabes night: Saturday night, the evening that the Sabbath ends.
Shadkhn: A marriage broker, matchmaker.
Shadkhones: The system or process of arranging marriages, matchmaking.
Sheva brokhes: The seven blessings traditionally recited for a bride and groom at a Jewish wedding.
Shidukh: A marriage match, most often referring to an arranged marriage (plural: shidukhim).
Shliumper: Unkempt person, slob, loser.
Sholem Aleichem’s “Advice”: Reference to the Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem’s monologue An eytse.
Sholem aleykhem: A traditional song sung by Jews on Friday night, on the Sabbath eve, upon returning home from synagogue prayer. It welcomes the angels who accompany a person home on the eve of the Sabbath.
Shul: Synagogue, house of prayer.
Shundroman: Serialized popular fiction, often melodramatic.
Simkhes toyre: A Jewish holiday that celebrates finishing the annual cycle of public Torah readings and inaugurating a new cycle.
Skatina: Literally a cow, used pejoratively to mean scoundrel, bastard (Russian).
Strastna: Passionate (Russian).
Takeh: Truly, really, indeed (Yiddish, of Slavic origin).
Tenement House Act: One of the reforms of the Progressive Era, the New York State Tenement House Act of 1901 banned the construction of dark, poorly ventilated tenement buildings in the State of New York. The legislation included penalties for prostitution in tenement houses (see introduction).
Teygekhts: Also known as kugel, potato casserole.
The Tombs: The colloquial name for City Prison, built in 1902. It had an eight-story façade with conical towers along Centre Street, bounded by Centre Street, White Street, Elm Street (today’s Lafayette), and Leonard Street. It was replaced in 1941 by the Manhattan House of Detention (also colloquially known as the Tombs).
Tot: Death (German).
Toyt: Death.
Toyre: A scroll containing the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Um Gottes willen!: For God’s sake! (German).
Vielleicht: Perhaps (German).
Vortrefliches: Sublime, superb (German).
Where Are My Children?: A 1916 silent film, directed by Philips Smalley and Lois Weber (see introduction).
White slave trader: The term “white slavery” was used in the beginning of the twentieth century to refer to forced prostitution and sexual slavery.
Wunderbar: Wonderful (German).
Yakhnes: Informally, female meddlers or busybodies.
Yener velt: The hereafter.
Yenta: Gossip, busybody.
Yidene: Older Jewish woman, often used pejoratively.
Yikhes: Pedigree, prestigious lineage, or marriage-based family connections based on scholarly merit, wealth, or political status.
Yold: Fool, sucker.
Zeyde: Grandfather.
Zhargon: Jargon; a derogatory term for Yiddish.