Henry Roth - Mercy of a Rude Stream - The Complete Novels

SHEHTLwig

SHEINEHbeautiful

SHEKHEYOONIblessing said at beginning of holiday or other happy occasions, lit. “that He let us live”

SHEMEVDIKbashful, timid, shy, shamefaced

SHENKgive, donate

SHEYTLwig

SHIKKERdrunkard

SHIKKER AUF TOIThe’s dead drunk

SHIKSAgentile girl

SHIMa Hebrew letter

SHIVAthe seven-day period of mourning the dead

SHIXALfate

SHLAKHT HAUSslaughter-house

SHLEMIELbungler, fool, an ill-fated person

SHLEP, SHLEPPENcarry, pull

SHLEPPERsomeone who fetches and carries at work; someone who drag’s one’s feet; someone untidy; laborer

SHLIMAZLunlucky person

SHLOIMEH, HA MAILACKHSolomon the king

SHMAI YISROEL, ADONOI ELOHENU ADONOI EKHUDHear, O Israel: Adonai is our God, Adonai is One (Deuteronomy 6:4), the Jewish creed

SHMATTASrags that old women buy and wear; clothes

SHMERTZpain

SHMOOLYAREH, SHMOOLYARISdollar, dollars

SHMOOZEconverse in friendly fashion, chat

SHMOTTconvert

SHMUCKjerk; (lit) penis

SHNORRER, SHNORRERKEH, SHNORRINGbeggar, moocher, begging

SHOTKHINmatchmaker

SHOYNalready; SHOYN FARFALLENalready lost; SHOYN GENUGalready enough

SHOYN MILLT ALLE FONalready will all go

SHOYN TSAT TSE ZAHN A MENSHalready that is a man

SHROTCHKEEdiarrhea

SHTARwritten agreement

SHTARKEHstrong

SHTETLtraditional Eastern European Jewish community

SHTICKELa bit

SHTRAMLwide-brimmed black hat worn by orthodox Jewish men, especially in Galitzia and Poland

SHTUDIERstudy; SHTUDIERSTare you studying

SHULsynagogue

SHVAKHill

SHVARTZEblack; African-American

SIDDURprayer book

SIE HUT NISHT GEVISSENshe didn’t know

SIS MIR GITit’s okay with me

SIT A SAKH HELFINthat will help a lot

SIT BALT SEIN DU A MALKHUMAHthere’ll be a war here soon

SIZ A MANSEH MIT A BEARit’s a story with a bear (fairy tale)

S’IZ AZOY SHVERit is very heavy or hard

S’IZ GIT KALTit’s quite cold

S’IZ TAKEH GOLD?it’s really gold?

S’KIMTEH DIR TOCKIN A SHEKHEYOONI, TATEHindeed, may a blessing be given to you, father

SOLLST KHOPPEN A KRENCKcatch the plague

S’PAHST NISHTit doesn’t fit

S’TOIGT SHOYN UF A KAPURAit is worth a sacrifice; not worth much

TAKEHindeed; TAKEH EMESindeed true

TALMUDrabbinical commentaries on the Torah

TANTAaunt

TATEHfather

THALLISprayer shawl

TOCKINindeed

TOKHTERELdaughter

TOVgood

TREIFEnonkosher

TROMBENYIKne’er-do-well

TSEEGEKHAPPENfornication

TSEVORFEN, TSEVORFENEHscattered

TSIMMESsweet dish of stewed fruit or side dish of vegetables and fruit; dessert

TSITSEShabitually goes “Tsk-tsk”

TSURIStroubles, worries

TSU VELKHE KLYASSESto which classes

TSVEI’N DREIZIGthirty-two

TUKHIS AFIN TISHass on the table

TUMMELcommotion

TVILLIMphylacteries

TZADDIKIMrighteous men, holy men

UHMEIN SELUHAmen, so be it

UNDand

VEHR VEISTwho knows

VEITIGsorrow

VERBRENTburned out

VERENEKEHSfried pastry made of rounds of dough filled with jelly, fruit or meat

VERFALLENlost

VERFLUKHTEHdamned

VERFOLLEN ZOLL ER VIE E LIKTmay he rot where he lies

VERSHTINKENEHfoul

VEYsorrow; VEY IZ MIRwoe is me

VIDDERagain

VIE A TOITEN BANKEHScupping a cadaver

VIE ZOYhow come?

VI M’GEYT UN VEN M’GEYT TSU HERN DI PROFESSORShow and when you go to listen to the professors

V’IM LO AKHSAV, MATAI?if not now, when?

VIR HUTZIKH TSEGEKHAPTwe grappled

VONNEHbath

VUS HEISTwhat does it mean

VUS I’DISwhat’s that

VUS MACHT IHR?how are you?

VUS MACHT SIKHwhat’s up?

VUS YUKSTEHwhy are you rushing

WUNDERBARwonderful (German)

YAPONCHIKISJapanese

YEETJew

YELEDboy

YENEMSbelonging to that other person; bummed cigarettes

YENTAshrewish or gossipy woman

YESHIVArabbinical college; also an Orthodox Jewish high school for both secular and religious study

YIDDISHER KUPFJewish head; intelligent or wily person

YIDDISHKEITJewishness, Yiddish life or culture

YIDLEKHlittle Jew

YINGLElittle youth

YINGOTCHovergrown youth

YISGADAL, V’YISKADASH, SH’MEY RABOfirst lines of the Kaddish: “Magnified and sanctified be the name of the Lord”

YOLDfool

YOM KIPPURDay of Atonement, most solemn Jewish fast day

YUKSTEHto rush

YUNTIFFholiday

ZAFTIGfull-figured

ZE VUN SIKCH BALT GESHLUGEN TSIM TOITthey almost killed each other

ZEY HOBN GEMAKHT A GITTEN SHIDDEKHthey’ve made a good match

ZINDLEchild

Z’MISHTconfused

ZOLL DIR GOTT HELFENmay God help you

ZOL ER GEHARGERT VERNmay he be murdered

ZOL GEHEN MIT MAZELmay you go with luck

ZOLST GEBENTSHT VERNmay you be blessed

ZOLST GEHEN GESINTmay you go in health

ZOLST SHOYN ELTER VERNmay you not grow any older

ZUGspeak

ZUS VERFOLLT VERENyou should rot

ZUZIMcoins (archaic; occurs in song KHAD GADYO)

ZVICKERpince-nez glasses

MARTIN LEWIS, born in Australia in 1881, was considered one of the greatest chroniclers of American urban life. His ability to capture adverse weather conditions and obscure light sources, coupled with a keen sense of composition and technical skill, made him one of America’s greatest printmakers of the twentieth century. Arriving in the United States in 1900, he was by 1909 living and working in New York City, and his earliest etchings date from 1915. He produced more than 147 drypoints, etchings, mezzotints, aquatints, and lithographs between 1915 and 1953. His first success was as a watercolorist, but he also worked in oil. He died in 1962.