Thanks, Volker -- I'm sure that's close to it. I recall seeing
an explanation of several MAD expressions, most of which had
come from New York Yiddish. They said Furshluginner meant "beat
up" or (more colloquially) "damned." I've certainly used it in
the "damned" sense most of my life (thanks to MAD).
Even "What, me worry?" was a distortion of a common local
expression, "What gives?"
Another pair of popular MAD words was "potrezebie veeblefetzer."
Nobody seems to have been able to explain Veeblefetzer, though
it's Yiddish tone is pretty obvious (and it could be a kind of
wine, although it usually referred to a "thing"). Potrezebie was
from Polish for "necessary," according to the publisher, so I
guess it could be translated as "important." (I actually have a
book on the history of MAD, along with hardcover color reprints
of all the comicbook issues, before they turned into a
"magazine.")
Another popular phrase was, "How's your mom, Ed?"
And any veeblefetzer worth its salt was left-handed and had "a
belt in the back."
Ah, those were the good old days. I was 7 years old, and MAD
bent my brain quite permanently.
ac
Allen Cobb
http://acobb.com
http://shakespeare.acobb.com
http://timbreproductions.com
-----Original Message-----
From:
Behalf Of Volker
Widmann
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 1:36 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Need help with Sound Devices
722!
slightly off-topicish
Hi Allen,
I can maybe contribute from my native German that is somehow
related to
Yiddish. "Furshluginner" sounds a bit like verschlagener (same
pronouciation), which means artful, mean or sly in a deprecating
way. It
sure fits!
Volker
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