[Mendele] Mendele 18.020

[Victor Bers]

Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
____________________________________________________

Contents of Vol. 18.020
March 5, 2009

1) pitseritse (Borukh Katz)
2) pitseritse (Doris Beth)
3) pitseritse (Hershl Hartman)
4) pitseritse (Jack Berger)
5) pitseritse (Meyer Wolf)
6) pitseritse (Noyekh Miller)
7) greenhorn (Borukh Katz)
8) greenhorn (Dina LΘvias)
9) geleymter terk? (Yankl Falk)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 27, 2009
Subject: pitseritse

It seems clear to me, though I've not heard of the expression before, that
the word derives from the Yiddish verb putsn - to clean or shine up - which
has a reflexive form: putsn zikh - to dress up. So a "pitseritse" could be
a woman (hence the ending) who indulges in such behavior to such an extent
that it attracts the descriptive noun. The verb likely comes from the
simpler noun, puts, meaning finery or (says Uriel Weinreich) splendor or
ostentation. Further back than that I cannot, alas, go.

Borukh Katz

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 20, 2009
Subject: pitseritse

When we sat outdoors in our immigrant neighborhood, many moons ago, Yiddish
was the language of conversation. A "farpitster, farshmirter yidl "
passing by was referred to as "pitseritsi" along with an adjective I choose
not to mention. My parents emigrated from a shtetl not very far from
Odessa.

Doris Beth

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 20, 2009
Subject: pitseritse

My mother, also an Odeser, pronounced it "pitsheritse" to denote a spoiled
young girl who was iberklayberish -- excessively restrictive in her tastes
-- perhaps an Odeser version of the Valley Girl?

Hershl Hartman

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 20, 2009
Subject: pitseritse

A guess: in Russian, to chirp is "pishcheh."

Possibly a scrawny little thing, only capable of chirping, is a
"pishtsheritse." Hence a possible association of something like "the mouse
that roared."

Regards,

Jack Berger

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 20, 2009
Subject: pitseritse

A petsheritse is a kind of mushroom, said to be succulent. I have a
citation from Sholem Aleykhem's "Ayznban Geshikhtes":

Zi iz geven a gerotn kind, a shtils, an erlekhs, a guts un a klugs, un
sheyn -- sheyn vi di gantse velt. Ikh hob zi beemes lib gehat, vi mayns an
eygn kind. Kinder veyst ir dokh, vaksn, vi petsheritses; eyder me kukt zikh
arum, aha -- me darf shoyn klern mikoyekh khasene makhn.

I do not have a copy of the volume at hand, so I cannot provide its
location right now.

Meyer Wolf

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 20, 2009
Subject: greenhorn

This word actually goes back in English usage to the mid-sixteenth century
(OED) and comes from the color found in immature and new plant growth, and
its derivatives. We speak of "green wood," for example, when referring to
lumber that has not been properly dried (matured) for use in building or
firewood not yet ready for use. So it's an imported word into Yiddish - or
if you like, a Yinglish word!

Borukh Katz

7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 20, 2009
Subject: pitseritse

Larry Friedman's query (Mendele 18.019) brought back agreeable memories of
my bobe's cooking. She grew up in a dorf and perhaps for that reason made
liberal use of those dried mushrooms, probably imported from Poland, that
she called pitseritses.

Its use to describe skinny people may derive from the desiccated look they
share with that flavorful fungus. The English "stringbean" conveys the
same idea.

Noyekh Miller

8)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 20, 2009
Subject: greenhorn

Open your Webster's Dictionary and you'll find the definition of greenhorn!
It has nothing to do with Yiddish, though the term came to be widely used
for newcomers to America, often Jewish refugees from Europe.

Dina LΘvias

9)----------------------------------------------------
Date: February 20, 2009
Subject: geleymter terk?

In response to Stephen Berr's posting in Mendele 18.019, I think the phrase
is "geleymter terk" (crippled Turk). That's how my grandfather and mother
used to refer to someone who was particularly clumsy -- usually, me.

The term "geleymter" commonly refers to someone who is particularly clumsy.
But why a Turk? My pure speculation is that this pejorative came out of
Romania or some nearby area under Ottoman rule, where uniformed Turks were
not unusual. (My family's Galitsyaner roots are very close to the old
Austrian-Ottoman border.)

Perhaps one of you can give more context to this?

Yankl Falk
_____________________________________
End of Mendele Vol. 18.020

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