Re: curmudgeonhood

[Leopold N Friedman <apikoyros...>]

"curmudgeonlikhkeit"? I'm curious, In what contexts was or would 
such a word be used? It probably has too many syllables, even for 
a  humorous song.  Depending on the intent to use it as an adjective
or as a noun, I'd remove either the "keit" or the "likh," respectively.
"Curmudgeonkeit" has better consonance, anyway.

I admit that a single Yiddish synonym for such a quintessentially 
English word as "curmudgeon" isn't part of my active vocabulary.
Working with the noun,  as in "curmudgeonhood,"  one might try 
"kamtsones" if one is emphasizing the miserliness aspect or, if one 
intends the ragefulness aspect,"rigzones" (as in b'roygez, known to 
many as the the title of what is the mothers-in-law reconciliation 
[or not] dance in traditional Ashkenazi Jewish weddings, [that's the 
on-topic connection]). Or one might use the construct "farbisnkayt" 
for dogged truculence. 
yours in 'yekke'ness (I almost said yekkekayt!),
Lee 

On Sat, 9 Jun 2001 12:45:56 -0500 "Alex J. Lubet"
<lubet001 (at) maroon(dot)tc(dot)umn(dot)edu> writes:
> Responding to the message of <3B225F63(dot)9264A7DF (at) yorku(dot)ca>
> from jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org:
> > 
> > Hi, just thought I'd share an appealing new multi-syllabic word 
> with
> > you, coined only yesterday by a colleague (that's the music 
> connection).
> > I'd told her I was beginning to suspect myself of being a 
> curmudgeon,
> > and she responded by defending, for certain occasions (also the 
> music
> > connection):
> > 
> > curmudgeonlikhkeit.
> > 
> > Enjoy!  Judith
> > 
> I suspect there's at least one Yiddish synonym out there already.  
> However, in 
> keeping with recent threads, the fact that the etymology of this new 
> word 
> indicates foreign influence doesn't make it any less Jewish.  Mit a 
> bisl mazl 
> we'll never hear it in the lyrics of one of those 'Jewish' dance 
> numbers that 
> evangelicals use to proselytize.
> 
> It really rolls off the tongue easily!
> 
> 
> 
> Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
> Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
> Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
> University of Minnesota
> 2106 4th St. S
> Minneapolis, MN 55455
> 612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)
> 
> ---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org 
> ---------------------+
>