Oy, just try to put down the paperback ("Now with more kvetching!") New York Times bestseller Born to Kvetch - Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods, by Michael Wex. For your trouble - and $13.95 - you'll get "a delightful excursion through the Yiddish language, the culture it defines and serves, and the fine art of the complaint." This, and Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish, is all any Jew or goy needs to learn to curse without going anywhere near four letter words.
Today in the page-a-day section of the calendar portion (calendars are big business) of my favorite (though very goyishe) bookstore, Browseabout Books, in Rehoboth Beach, I saw Born to Kvetch 2008. Bought it, cracked it open, found it disappointing.
Context is everything in understanding Yiddish, and the limited format of a four inch square calender, with half the space wasted - the cheap paper is printed on one side only - doesn't allow for much. Don't trouble yourself or your wallet for the $11.99.
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