Happy Blasphemy Day

Blasphemy Day prompted me to do a little etymological  (big word) research.  Thanks to the wonderful  Google Translate, it's fun working these things out..

Blasphemy  -   Blas   and phemy -   Greek I am sure.  (spread - rumors )

The blas part -  βλαστάνω   -   sprout, vegetate, germinate, bud, burgeon

The phemi part:  φημες   -  rumors 

reputation	φήμη, υπόληψη
fame	φήμη, κλέος
rumor	φήμη, θρύλος, διάδοση
renown	φήμη, δόξα
name	όνομα, φήμη, προσωνυμία, υπόληψη
celebrity	διασημότητα, προσωπικότητα, φήμη, εξοχότης
kudos	δόξα, φήμη
hearsay	φήμη, διάδοση
character	χαρακτήρας, προσωπικότητα, γράμμα, είδος, φήμη, ήρωας μυθιστορήματος
report	έκθεση, αναφορά, απολογισμός, φήμη, κρότος
bruit	φήμη

Fun Fun nice

A Google+ Post - Reprinted Here.

Let's see what happens.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/109521381111941891125/posts/4FWuoYTKpsa

Yiddish Word of the Day: Paskudnyak

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
source wikipedia

The etymology of the Yiddish term paskudnyak  is fairly clear.  In Russian the word паскуд (paskud) means bastard.   In Polish the word paskudzić  means "to bungle", mess up or botch.  The Polish noun for an abomination is paskudztwo.     A related word in Russian is  позорный (pozornyĭ) meaning dishonorable.   The Yiddish word means a really nasty villain,   - "bad to the bone".  

Some Pesach Yiddish

Yiddish is a wonderfully expressive language.   Knowing even a few words brings a feeling of self naches.  The feeling arises from a deep connection to history, culture and humanity.  It is second only to English in expressiveness (Russians may disagree).  Like English,  it draws liberally on multiple languages, with both simple (usually single syllable) and erudite words and forms.  English has it's origins old north German, Celtic,  and Viking (old Norse). The Roman, and later Norman conquests, brought Latin, Greek and Norman (Old Northern French).

Home Made Matzo - Click to Enlarge

Yiddish was not spoken by the Sephardic Jews . They spoke Judeo-Spanish dialects like Ladino, and came to Europe via North Africa.  Ashkenazim came to Europe through the Byzantine Empire, from the area called Anatolia (Asia Minor),  which is now Turkey.  The Ashkenazi migrated into Germanic-speaking Central Europe (~900 CE) and likely spoke Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Middle East,  and Hebrew.  Middle High German became the base for Yiddish.  Spoken Aramaic became less useful and Hebrew was used for religious purposes.   In 1290, the Jews were expelled from England,  auguring the later xenophobia, antagonism, repression and duress in Germany, France and Spain (~1492 CE).  Jews migrated east to Poland, Russia and the Baltic region.  Eastern Yiddish, absorbing  many Slavic words,  became the main dialect in the Yiddish continuum.  In Western Europe,  Yiddish declined as German Jews preferred German to Western Yiddish. However, in the east, Yiddish thrived until the Holocaust. The Golden Age of secular Yiddish culture, and it's language,  lasted about a century (mid 1800s to ~1945) expanding with the laissez-faire  ethos associated with the Industrial Revolutions.

"Hold on", you say.  What's with the megillah you are dishing out here?   Where is the Pesach Yiddish?
OK,  here's your payoff:  What's the origin of the saying   "Have a zissen Pesach"  ?  "Zissen" is Yiddish for sweet.  It comes from the German "süß" (note:  the beta looking character is a "ligature",  a new character formed from two other ones,  in this case an "S" and a "Z")

Eye of Horus (Egyptian)
 MFA Boston (click image to enlarge)

As a bonus bit of Yiddish,  (and still Pesach related) -  What does  "kein ein hora" mean?   This is a nice melange of Hebrew and German.  The first word "kein" is German in origin,  meaning no or not.  The last word is definitely not German.  The last word "hora" ( הרע )  means "evil" in Hebrew.   The "ein" is a little tricky,  ein means "a" "one" or "any",  so literally "not any evil"  would result.  But it's not quite right,   the ein is likely not German. The word eye in Hebrew is  "ayin" ( עין ) , so kein ayin hora.  A slim possibility is the Germanic version of "eyes" -  augen in German an oygn in Yiddish - so kein oygn hora. (a bit doubtful considering that the saying generally uses the singular form of  eye).   Avoid the evil eye!

Finally,  Yiddish is written with Hebrew characters.  It may look like Hebrew but it ain't.  Well I hope you like my little tsholent  (stew - one of those russian words in Yiddish) and another Yiddish word tsimmes צימעס which is similar but also means "big deal". 

"Have a zissen Pesach"

Bulvan - Word of The Day

English has a huge lexicon - a nice word in itself. The word lexicon definition   lexi·con (lek′si kän′)
Etymology: Gr lexikon, neut. of lexikos, of words < lexis, a saying, phrase, word < legein: see logic   noun

1. a dictionary, esp. of an ancient language
2. the special vocabulary of a particular author, field of study, etc.
3. a record or inventory a notable case in the lexicon of subversion
4. Linguis. the total stock of morphemes in a language

But actually,  today's word is  bulvan or bolvan , a Yiddish word meaning dummy. Yiddish is a very colorful language using words from German, Hebrew, Russian and several others.

It means all of these words in English, more or less at the same time:

blockhead,  bonehead, booby, bubblehead, bullhead , cabbagehead, clod [colloq.], dimwit , dolt, dope [colloq.], dummy, dunce, dunderhead [colloq.], fool, , goof [colloq.], loggerhead [colloq.], moron, nerd [sl.], nincompoop [colloq.], stupid

It's quite insulting.  Etymology: From the  Russian болван -  blockhead, booby, chump, dolt, doodle, goon, mutt  and also -  blockhead (noun), dunce, oaf, dolt, numskull, numbskull, booby, imbecile, clodpate, lubber-head , loggerhead , jolterhead , block , blockhead , berk , lunkhead , beetle-head , blunderhead , chuckle-head , chump , pudding-head , mutton-head , doodle , dope , clot , dumbbell , goof , lump , dumbhead , loghead , nerd , lardhead , prat , peahead , numbhead , jackass, cretin, pumpkin, goon , bullhead , chowderhead , woodenhead , leather-head , flat , chunk , beefhead , boob , fathead , airhead , dunderhead , pumpkin-head , blunt , pea-brain , loogan , hardhead , mutt , cheese

As you see there are many words for stupid - not as many for smart.  :)