Jewish as a Second Language

By Molly Katz

Book Overview

Now bigger, better, and with more guilt: a completely revised, updated, and expanded second edition ( would it hurt to have a little more? ) of Jewish as a Second Language , the hilarious field guide to Jewish language and culture. Written to help her Gentile husband and others like him who fall for believing a Jewish mother-in-law when she says, "Don't bother driving me, I'll take a cab," Jewish as a Second Language shows how to be one of the family--how to worry, how to interrupt, how to change your hotel room. It's not Yiddish. Though non-Jews can endear themselves by learning how to mis-use words like schmendrick and schmatta --providing both laughs and confirmation of Jewish superiority--this Jewish language is about the complex twists and somersaults of everyday speech, of unexpected nuances, hidden meanings, and swampy thickets of behavior, of wins, losses, and draws in competitions you never knew you entered. It's about the most common OAQs (obsessive anal questions): "This mole looks okay, doesn't it?" "Can Saltines go bad?" "They'll de-ice the wings before takeoff, right?" The Four Basic Shrugs. Acronyms never to use again: NASCAR, STD, and MRSA ( Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus , the potentially deadly skin virus that's spread by contact, and also by talking about it casually). The things non-Jews do for fun and what Jews do: Contra dance/Contradict, Read the comics/Read the obituaries, Get your boobs done/Get your taxes done. Stuff never found in a Jewish home (trout flies, a lineoleum knife, a Lay-Z-Boy, a rottweiler) or mouth (Miracle Whip, marshmallow fluff, Bud). So you'll sit, you'll read, you'll laugh until you're nauseous. It's a nice book.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0894808850
• ISBN13: 9780894808852
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Workman Publishing
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Molly's great

This is a very enjoyable book that is re-read so many times & shown to friends for discussions. I think this is a 'must' for your library. The long, sour review is a sign of PC running amok - get over it!

Illuminating

As a jew, this book showed me how my "abnormal" behaviour is very very normal!!!

But, some of my best friends are Jewish

I'm not Jewish, though after reading Katz's book, I'm thinking about converting. This is one funny book. Lot of laugh out louds. A side benefit is the non-Jewish reader will develop much more of an appreciation of ( or toleration of ) his/her Jewish friends. So, what's not to like about this book ? Get you some lox and bagels and hunker down for a really fun read.

Enjoy!

I see myself -- and half my relatives in this upclose and personal look at ourselves. If you liked this, you also love a great little package I found called, "A LITTLE JOY, A LITTLE OY" The book and the calendars are not only funny and filled with Yinglishisms, manner-Yidims, but also serious and poignant moments. Randy from Brooklyn

Hilarious book on Jewish life is one vitz after another

Former stand-up comic Molly Katz, inspired by her marriage to a goy, has written a book for Gentiles who marry Jews. Katz expects - even demands - that you will yiddify your worldview, body language, eating habits, gastro-intestinal issues, child-rearing ideas, etc. when you join a Jewish family. Tidbits like "all Jews worry about everything all the time" and "you can have a Jewish wedding without a chuppa but not without a Viennese Table," while slight exaggerations, ring true. Having myself grown up Jewish I recall countless hours spent obsessing over medical problems, Chinese food, money, curtains, schools, etc. A bit more emphasis on Yiddish would have been a plus but the tips Katz gives on word usage and phraseology alone are worth the price of the book (eg, "How long are you married" for "how long have you been married"). Molly Katz is a letz (wit) who gently and affectionately pokes fun at our sometimes overwhelming, always delicious culture, mind-body axis, and worldview.