Primrose Road

Interesting study, open to everyone:

You are invited to participate in an interesting and entertaining survey about language. Essentially, we're asking about the spread of Yiddish (and some Hebrew) among English speakers in North America. We're turning to both Jews and non-Jews to answer questions like these: Who uses Yiddish words like "shmooze" and "daven" and phrases like "Money, shmoney"? Why do some people say "temple" while others say "shul"? Who prefers biblical names for their babies? Your responses will help us answer these and other questions, and you might learn something about yourself in the process. Please set aside 15-20 minutes, and click on this link to participate:

Survey of American Jewish Language

Please forward this request to your friends and family. We are hoping to get thousands of responses from people of all religions, ages, and regions of the United States and Canada. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Prof. Sarah Bunin Benor (sbenor-at-huc-dot-edu) or Prof. Steven M. Cohen (steve34nyc-at-aol-dot-com).

There is a Yiddish theater or two in Tel Aviv and Hamlet was translated into Yiddish several times in the early 20th century.

But there is, I believe, a very important reason why a Yiddish Hamlet has never been staged in Israel.

The Yiddish word for "to be," it so happens, is (coincidentally) a Hebrew slang word for the central male anatomical feature. The Hebrew is "zayin," the Yiddish "zayn," but they're pronounced the same way in most dialects.

"Zayn oder nisht zayn; dos iz di frage."

I cannot possibly be the first person to have thought of this ...