This is not your bubbe's—or Leo Rosten's—Yiddish. Translator, novelist and performer Wex follows his witty and erudite Born to Kvetch with a colorful, uncensored guide to the idiomatic, use of Yiddish in such areas as madness, fury, and driving, mob Yiddish, insults and thirteen designations for the human rear (in declining order of politeness). Wex is knowledgeable about the biblical and Talmudic roots of some colloquial phrases; for example, he points out that tukhes (ass as he translates it) may be derived from Tuhkhes, one of the places where the Israelites sojourned on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. While most of Wex's discussions of words and phrases are brief, he provides lengthier sections on five key, highly nuanced Yiddish words: nu (Well?), shoyn (already, right away), epes (something, somewhat), takeh (precisely) and nebakh (alas). Wex's advice on the complex usage of these words can help even the greenest Yiddish speaker. The book could have given more attention to regional dialects and there are a few organizational quirks. Still, Wex offers both fun and instruction for the non-maven.

Yiddish: A Nation of Word

Miriam Weinstein

PB £12.95

"How did a language that cursed and crooned for a thousand years fade in the course of one little lifetime?" asks freelance journalist Weinstein. Her engaging, elegiac popular history fills a gap between more academic tomes and lexicography. She traces the language's roots in German lands and in Poland, then sketches Yiddish-drenched shtetl life, drawing on the writing of Israel Joshua Singer and Isaac Bashevis Singer, before describing how Yiddish both influenced and was shaped by two late-19th-century movements, Bundism and Zionism. In the Soviet Union, Yiddish garnered its first recognition as an official language only to be constrained to Communist expression. Pre-Soviet Yiddish literature, therefore, was not to be found in schools. In Israel, Weinstein reflects sadly, the fervor for Hebrew led pioneers to reject Yiddish with contempt. Early 20th-century New York boasted a wide variety of Yiddish schools and radio stations, yet the urge to assimilate led Jews to "squander" their national treasure. After half the world's Yiddish speakers died in the Holocaust, Yiddish has survived mostly thanks to the Hasidim who emigrated to America and elsewhere and built large families. The language has made some recent gains in America thanks to the 1980s klezmer revival and the upstart National Yiddish Book Center but serves more as linguistic influence than common tongue, the author concludes. While not comprehensive, this evocative, informative and accessible book should perform solidly on the Jewish book circuit.

Let's Schmooze

Julian Sinclair

HB £12.99

Can you tell Kol Nidre from kneidlach? Gushpankas from Gematrias? Naches from nachos? At last here is the book for you. With the belated entry of schlepp, shalom, spiel and scores of other Hebrew and Yiddish words into the melting pot of mainstream usage, English speakers today need to know what these words mean, where they come from and how they are used. Julian Sinclair's book fills this need and much more. As entertaining as it is erudite, "Let's Schmooze," traces the trajectory of 150 Jewish words from the Bible and Talmud to Yiddish slang, yeshivish creole and youth movement patois. Spanning a plethora of Jewish situations and subcultures, including food, magic, lifecycle events, the Joys of Yinglish, surviving synagogue and the Kabbalah craze, Let's Schmooze uses the lens of language to provide a snapshot of Jewish society and spirituality today. With a light touch it also raises critical questions about the acculturation of minorities in a post-multicultural world.

Words on Fire

Dovid Katz

PB £11.99

This title presents a major new history of the Yiddish language, its culture and its literature - with a provocative argument about its future as a living language. From its ancient roots in Hebrew and Aramaic, through its rise as the common language of Jews in medieval Europe to its blossoming as sophisticated modern literature, the story of Yiddish mirrors the history, tenacity and humour of the Jewish People. In "Words on Fire", leading Yiddish scholar Dovid Katz recounts the sweeping history of this evocative and multifaceted language. Although a secular Yiddish culture no longer exists, Katz argues that its resurgence among religious Jewish communities ensures that Yiddish will still be a thriving language in the twenty-first century. Gracefully narrated and generously illustrated, "Words on Fire" is a definitive account of this remarkable language and the culture that created and sustained it .

Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

PB £12.99

You're not idiot, of course. You can serve up a mean s'il vous plait in a French bistro, live la vida loca for a night of margaritas, and manage a sayonara! after sushi, sake, and karaoke. But when it comes to throwing around a little Yiddish, you feel like a total nebbish! Don't throw your hands in a helpless "Oy, vey" just yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish is your guide to this unique tongue, whether you're tackling rules of grammar or just throwing around some key phrases so you sound a little less goyish. In this Complete Idiot's Guide you get a fascinating explanation of how and why Yiddish developed, an easy introduction to the Yiddish alphabet, as well as the distinctive sound of Yiddish, and all the Yiddish you'll need for communicating with family and friends or for bargain-hunting on New York's Lower East Side. This book contains a treasury of Yiddish words and phrases for every occasion.