The Joys of Yinglish

by Leo Rosten

Through stories, jokes, and witty quotations, the author surveys the effects of Yiddish--its mockery, sarcasm, and irony--on American and English humor

Genres: Language, Nonfiction, Religion, Linguistics, Judaism

584 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1989

About the author

Leo Calvin Rosten was born in Lodz, Russian Empire (now Poland) and died in New York City. He was a teacher and academic, but is best known as a humorist in the fields of scriptwriting, storywriting, journalism and Yiddish lexicography.

Reviews

[Tim Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jews (Ashkenazi) are not squeamish about sex... but they are squeamish about words for sexual organs.

Adultery is rare among Jews, but ubiquitous in their jokes.

The book explains many Yiddish concepts, but does not discuss the meaning and significance of "the old country". This, to me, is a curious omission. It's obviously an important idea, but is it even a real place? And why are Jews so attached to the Shtetl when it was such a miserable life?

The countless ways that Jews express scorn through biting sarcasm are well documented but not this: why are they so scornful, and are they serious?

[Tania Rambaldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

hilarious. that’s like putting ham on a BAGEL

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book, filled with jokes and anecdotes that had me laughing out loud. Having studied some German, I thoroughly enjoyed all the linguistic trivia, as well as Rosten's decided opinions of which words should (or shouldn't) be used. The book took me much longer to read than anticipated since it reads a bit like a dictionary, but it was well worth it in the end.

[Jennie]

Boring it is not.