SV: [Fwd: Re: thanks.....]

[Helena Hansson <helena...>]

Without knowing anything about Yiddish (but quite a lot about general
linguistics) I just wonder if this couldn't just be different dialects,
sociolects, or idiolects of Yiddish?
/Helena
------------
Wolf wrote:

>With all due respect, Michael, "they" (if you mean native speakers) do
>not say "mit gut mazl".
>
>In Yiddish, you either have "mazl" or you do not.
>If someone is unlucky, it is not said of him that he has "shlakht mazl"
>(sic/lit: bad luck).  It is said that "er hot nit keyn mazl" (he has no
>luck).
> Someone could be said to have a "shvartzn mazl", that is, to be  so
>freakin' lucky, he must have a pact with the devil"-- lit: "black luck).
>
>"Mazl", while meaning "luck" is a secondary meaning.
>It's primary  meaning is "stars" or "constellation",  in the
>astrological sense.
>
>What you want to say, Michael, is:
>"zol zayn mit mazl" (Lit: "Let it be with luck" or "good luck"!)
>or:
>"zol zayn in a mazldikn sho"  (May it come to pass at a favorable/lucky
>hour).
>
>Wolf Krakowski
>
>