Usage of the Word 'Oy'

Usage of the word 'oy' from The Joys of Yiddish: "It is uttered in as many ways as the utterer's histrionic ability permits." pic.twitter.com/Jwz5YmK5oM

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) September 13, 2020

Social Seismology: The Chutzpah Scale

Personally, I think that we should measure chutzpah in a manner that is analogous to how we measure earthquakes.

Example usage: "Social seismologists are reporting that that incident registered as a 7.6 on the Chutzpah Scale, with an epicenter near Westwood." pic.twitter.com/EVQy8XUvC5

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 28, 2019

Really?

Every answer can result in a new question. — Yiddish proverb

— Yiddish Proverbs (@YiddishProverbs) December 22, 2019

A Yiddish Proverb with Mixed Feelings

Let's just say that I have mixed feelings about this proverb.

The heart of a man may be compared to a sausage; no one can tell exactly what's inside. — Jewish proverb

— Yiddish Proverbs (@YiddishProverbs) June 4, 2019

(Tip of the cap to Benjamin E. Hardisty.)

Schmutzphysik and Schmutzmathematik

I love the German version of the term!

As an applied mathematician who studies nonlinear and complex systems, I'll say it loudly and proudly: I study _both_ Schmutzphysik and Schmutzmathematik!

From "When condensed-matter physics became king": https://t.co/uttZ3BMoKB pic.twitter.com/LTgipBv2uc

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) May 17, 2019

(I'm also used to the 'schmutz' from Yiddish from the family.)

A Putz Hitting a Mench with a Pitch (and Another Baseball Naming Oddity)

One of my all-time favorite baseball box scores is for a game in which a Mench* was hit by a pitch thrown by a Putz. Naturally.

* It's too bad that Kevin Mench's last name isn't spelled "Mensch". (And here is a definition page for the Yiddish word putz.)

But my favorite baseball name-combination game is the following: In (at least) one game in 1998 (I think quite a few), the Cincinnati Reds had an outfield of Young, Frank, and Stynes.

(The players were Dimitri Young, Mike Frank, and Chris Stynes.)

There are other good ones as well (e.g., the Giant hardware, with a battery of pitcher (Bud) Black and catcher (Steve) Decker).

Nonprofit Foundation to Preserve the Word "Schmuck"

Well, not really. But it would be pretty cool, wouldn't it? And naturally, Mel Brooks would have to play a major role in it.

Which Yiddish Word Describes Me?

You can check your own personal Yiddish word for yourself. I got "meshugene". [[whistles]]

By the way, I phrased things the way I did in the paragraph above because today is the 25th anniversary of the release of the song Personal Jesus.