| Title: | BAGELS and other things of Jewish interest |
| Notice: | 1.0 policy, 280.0 directory, 32.0 registration |
| Moderator: | SMURF::FENSTER |
| Created: | Mon Feb 03 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1524 |
| Total number of notes: | 18709 |
I have a problem - small, but a problem - I need to know how to spell
"oi-vay" correctly for a paper I'm writing about when I was a little
Catholic boy living in a Jewish neighborhood in Cincinatti, Ohio. I
want the correct spelling vs. phonetic, for accuracy. (I never needed
to spell it before!)
Please send me mail at KAHALA::PRESTON (not later than tomorrow 4/19)
rather than reply to this note, since the response time is agonizingly
slow for me (the conference node must be FAR away!)
I suppose that for the general interest of others who will read this, a
reply in here would be in order as well...
Thanks very much,
Ed Preston
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1060.1 | All set - Thanks | KAHALA::PRESTON | Does your dog bite? | Fri Apr 19 1991 18:39 | 16 |
I have already received responses to my query - thanks!
I've learned that since Yiddish employs the Hebrew alphabet, I
need to spell "oy vay" phonetically.
I also found out that Yiddish is based upon German, and since I
have a rudimentary understanding of German, I just might be able
to follow Yiddish a bit!
Ed
P.S. I just remembered... there is a German word "weh" which is
pronounced "vay" and can mean "pain," "hurt," or "woe," depending
upon the context. My little German dictionary gives "o weh!" as
analogous to "oh dear!"
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| 1060.2 | oy vay thru the ages | SUBWAY::RAYMAN | BIG Louuuuuuuu - PW Comm Meister | Mon Apr 29 1991 18:08 | 16 |
There are very old (i.e. pre-yiddish I believe) citaions of words very similar to "oy" and "vey" (although not together): - there is a saying in the gemara (I dont remember exactly where) I think its in tractate Megilla discussing how the Rabbis would react when a celebration (usually a wedding) would get out of hand. One of the Rabbis would exclaim "VAI LON D'MISLAN" woe onto us - for we are mortal. (i.e. be careful with your actions, for when you die you will have to explain yourself) - one of the kinot (lamentaions recited on Tisha B'Av) has the refrain "OY" From these it seems that both words are used as an expression of pain or sorrow (oy oy oy) and might not even have translations. Louuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu (oy oy oy I'm getting married 8 weeks from today oy oy oy) | |||||