The New Joys of Yiddish: Completely Updated by Leo Rosten

by Leo Rosten

Enjoy the most comprehensive and hilariously entertaining lexicon of the colorful and deeply expressive language of Yiddish. With the recent renaissance of interest in Yiddish, and in keeping with a language that embodies the variety and vibrancy of life itself, The New Joys of Yiddish brings Leo Rosten’s masterful work up to date. Revised for the first time by Lawrence Bush, in close consultation with Rosten’s daughters, it retains the spirit of the original—with its wonderful jokes, tidbits of cultural history, Talmudic and biblical references—and is enhanced by hundreds of new entries and thoughtful commentary on how Yiddish has evolved over the years, as well as clever illustrations by R. O. Blechman.

Did you know that cockamamy, bluffer, maven, and aha! are all Yiddish words? If you did, you’re a gaon, possessing a lot of seykhl.

Genres: Nonfiction, Judaism, Humor, Language, Jewish, Religion, Linguistics

Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

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

[Maggie Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read the original cover to cover, just looked up words I was interested in. I'm glad I took the time to read all of this version. I both enjoyed and learned from this book. While I am familiar with most of the words here, many I needed reminding of their meaning again. I definitely like this new version better than the 1968 original. I hadn't realized how sexist [perhaps even misogynist] the old one was, but thankfully the editor calls out Rosten on this, as well as Rosten's tendency to criticize Reform Judaism. Things have certainly changed in 50 years.

[Simcha York · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leo Rosten’s The Joys of Yiddish is a brilliant blend of lexicography, history, humor, and cultural observation. This is not a book intended for the language scholar (though even those with a professional or academic interest in language should find a veritable feast here) but for anyone with an interest in the richness and variety of human expression.

Despite it’s title, this is a book that in many ways is more about Yinglish than Yiddish, being a celebration of the happy marriage between English and Yiddish. It explores both the debt that American English owes to Yiddish as well as the cultural impact of America, the goldene medine, on its Yiddish-speaking immigrants.

Mr. Rosten has a generous and broad sense of humor which can be racy without descending into the vulgar, irreverant without becoming disrespectful, and which shifts seamlessly between light-heartedness and profundity.

My only gripe is with the footnotes added to the revised edition. Written by Lawrence Bush, these are sometimes informative, providing welcome updates to a book that is now over 40 years old. But these notes are just as often smug, pedantic, preachy, or judgmental, and not at all in keeping with the overall tone of the book as a whole. Fortunately, these notes are easily skipped over.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you know a lot of Yiddish you can still learn quite a bit from this interesting and informative book. It's format is like a dictionary with the history of the word and examples of of its use in context. Of course, since Leo Rosten was the original author a lot of examples are in the forms of jokes. Here's a good example:

A Jewish mother sent her son off to his first day in school with the customary pride and precautionary advice: “So, bubeleh, you’ll be a good boy and obey the teacher? And you won’t make noise, bubeleh, and you’ll be very polite and play nice with the other children. And when it’s time to come home, you’ll button up warm, so you won’t catch cold, bubeleh. And you’ll be careful crossing the street and come right home …” etc. etc.

Off went the little boy.

When he returned that afternoon, his mother hugged him and kissed him and exclaimed, “So did you like school, bubeleh? You made new friends? You learned something?”

“Yeah,” said the boy. “I learned that my name is Irving.”

Of course, when you tell it you it's funnier in Brooklynese: "I loined that my name is Oiving."

[Debbie S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, I would absolutely recommend it to anyone! I only took off one star because the addition of the written Yiddish for words/phrases would make this book, in my opinion, perfect.

I also recommend the audiobook on Audible! All the parables and jokes are delivered with a charm suitable to the material.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this one just after last HHD season, and wanted to finish it before a year had lapsed. This book is both dated and updated (thanks to Leo Rosten for the original and Lawrence Bush for the updates, mostly in the version of extensive footnotes), and is a linguistic encyclopedia, in spite of its pop title. Want to know the history-culture-common useage-stories behind common and not-so-common Yiddish words and phrases? This is the place to start. So many footnotes and references to other relevant works of importance, to actually get through this book with a semblance of understanding and retention will take you some time. Enjoyable and informative.

[tiffany]

this is a reference/dictionary of yiddish sayings, etc. and is a fun factual book for looking up things that you hear and may or may not have know the root of. i would say fun for both jewish and non jewish alike.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, I twice read the earlier, unrevised version, but Goodreads' searcher didn't find that one. Anyway, it's a fun read and I learned a bunch of words I will probably never have occasion to use.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a superb compilation of the Yiddish words you want to know, illustrated with a great deal of Yiddish humor.

[a dog who learned to read · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is v. fun and has cute little stories and jokes (and some illustrations) alongside each word. It had a whole bunch of interesting info about Jewish history and Judaism to give more grounding in some words and their concepts, much more info than I expected on that front, so that was pretty cool. I also really liked that this revised edition added so many footnotes to add to and correct/update some of Rosten's info (although since this version was published in 2001 it's still a bit outdated in some parts at this point).

With almost every single word Rosten is like, "say KKKHHHH like you're trying to bring your lungs up through your throat, please I'm begging you to go KKKKHHHHHH really hard, like the SCOTTISH" and after 5 times I was like okay I get it, I get it Mr Rosten... please.... I GET IT" but he just keeps going for it throughout the whole book. He's committed. The "rhymes with [nonsense word]" thing he does with each word is the most pointless thing in the book though. The worst. What is he talking about?

Anyway, it was pretty great tbh. Here was one of my favourite little jokes (this was for the word "khokhem"):

"A young khokhem told his grandmother that he was going to become a doctor of philosophy. The bubbe smiled proudly: "Wonderful. But what kind of didease is 'philosophy'?"

heh

p.s. this book needs a BIBLIOGRAPHY!! It's constantly mentioning other books but doesn't have a bibliography.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a copy of this book years ago in a small mass-market paperback size. The new edition is revised and updated and comes in a nice large trade paper edition. Although I don't buy as many reference books as I used to, given the speed of looking things up on the Internet, this is a book that's just plain fun to read as well as educational. Highly recommended.

[Faina · Rating 3 out of 5]

My parents spoke Yiddish to each other. I belong to the generation that understood, but replied in Russian. My children probably know some catchy words. 

The book is like a dictionary of the dying language, but with Talmudic text which I did not read. I've noticed some misspellings in Russian references. 

There are a few jokes I liked, but overall did not enjoy the book.

[Rebel Ruthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I added this book because I have my mothers original book written by Leo Rosten. Yiddish was our 2nd language growing up. Until my parents died we spoke Yiddish mixed with English. I speak it often as if my parents are speaking through me or to me.

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

For every Jewish word, you get a definition and often a story to go along with illustrating the point and definition.

[Julian Lasius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Multiple anecdotes and a fun intro to yiddish expressions

[Bob Mendelsohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The updated version fills in some gaps and the stories abound. Anyone who wants to understand Jewish culture needs this as a reference book, if nothing else.

[Arlene S]

Dictionary format, with good rhyming pronunciation tips. The humorous examples of usage liven it up. This one published 2003; is it the same info. as Hooray for Yiddish, perhaps? Or updated?( 1998)

[Evanston Public Library]

This year's winning word at the Scripps National Spelling Bee was "knaidel" (a delicious creation, also known as a matzo ball or dumpling, usually served in an equally delicious bowl of chicken soup). This spelling was disputed by a few Yiddish language authorities, and given Rosten's listing of two variant spellings--"knaydl" or "kneydl,"--you can see how tricky it is to spell a word in a language that does not use the same alphabet as English. As many a Yiddish speaker might exclaim, "Oy, [or, oi] what tsuris!" (Oh, what trouble!)

No matter--Rosten's guide to this colorful, expressive language is peppered with wit, jokes, cultural history, and some insights into the Jewish philosophy of life. A delightful and enlightening book...try it, you'll like it.

(Barbara L., Reader's Services)

[Koen Crolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rosten is, at this point, an uncomfortable anachronism both religiously (e.g. in his hostility to Reform Judaism) and politically (casual misogyny being his most obvious and frequently indulged vice, though belligerent parochiality is another), but Bush corrects most of his flaws in notes if not in the actual text—including, usually, Rosten's sometimes truly bizarre choices in orthography.
I don't speak a lot of Yiddish myself—I know one song, and that's about it (my German is passable, though)—and though most people I know are Jewish, they're also all atheists, so my exposure to Judaism as a religion is surprisingly lacking; as such, I can't actually vouch for the factual accuracy of a lot of the book. As an insight into the life of, at the very least, one poylisher Yid, though, it's entertaining enough.

[Jay Ginsburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a book you 'finish.' When a question comes up, you pull out the book, try to find the word you heard, and then you keep on in Rosten's world of insight, stories, etc. I probably prefer his original, but I look at all 3 of the books we have.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever wondered about the meaning of words like mensch, oy, bagel, and farklempt? Here's a hilarious dictionary of Yiddish, with definitions, humor, stories, and cultural commentary.

[Taldragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

part dictionary, part anecdotes, this book reads like a leisurely after-dinner conversation :)

[Meltha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the one I own, although I actually prefer the un-updated version as this one is rather less funny and more serious than the original.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for increasing your knowledge of Yiddishkeit.

[Jessy Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been very edifying for me!

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only does this book teach you a ton of Yiddish, but the history of Jewish humor and the integration of Yiddish into English (Yinglish). Recommend the audio book!

[Bardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah..if only more dictionaries were like this perhaps people would be more interested in language.