When listening carefully you might find an ancient language in Israel: Jiddish. The cuteness of this language might only be obvious to German speaking persons, because it is a very old derivate of our language. But nowadays some Jiddish words have already found their way into everyday English, especially in New York.
Isn’t your backpack feeling much more lightweight, if you call it a schlepp? If something is falling down, you can speak of a broch (crack). Even biß (bite) and schluk (gulp) are understood here. You can call your sweetheart mami (which doesn’t mean mother, as in German) or siße. And if you need to swear: schmok and schwanz are ungentlemanly enough for that.
Recently Jiddish gained attention by the work of the filmmakers Ethan and Joel Coen who made some characters of “A serious man” – a story within a Jewish community at the Midwestern United States – speak Jiddish. Here some sayings to be used more often:
- “Di tsayt iz der bester dokter.” (Time heals all wounds.)
- “Shtil vaser grobt tif.” (Still waters run deep.)
- “Bay nakht zenen ale ki shvarts.” (At night all cows are black.)