Image Up Advertising & Design

34 | OHCC LIVING | DECEMBER 2024 | Yiddish Club The abandoned old bathtub in my Aunt Chanah's ("Anna") backyard in Brooklyn was the "swimming pool" my cousin Florence ("Faigy") and I used to relieve ourselves of the oppressive heat during the summer. We were three years old, and totally unaware of our nudity while we frolicked in the tub, until one afternoon, I noticed that Cousin Faigy was different from me. "Aunt Chanah, Faigy doesn't have a schmekel like me! What's wrong with her?" Aunt Chanah hesitated, and then responded, "She doesn't have what you have because she's a girl. She has something we call a "Mynsah." As a three-year-old I accepted this explanation. I referred to the female genitalia as "Mynsah" for many years, until I learned that the word translated from Yiddish means "A story." Actually, there is no Yiddish word for female genitalia other than "A story." However, there are a few Yiddish words for the male genitalia which eventually entered the English lexicon: "Shmuck" and "Putz" are the most common ones which just 40 years ago would not be acceptable in mixed company. However, today, these words are used in everyday conversation, and are frequently heard on the stage, movies and television. The uneasiness about "Shmuck" led to the truncated euphemism "Schmo." This word was a thinly veiled phallic symbol from the Yiddish "Shmuck." In common language the word is now used to describe a fool, a contemptuous person or a "Putz." A variation of the word "Schmo" became internationally acceptable when Al Capp introduced a "Shmoo" in his "Li'l Abner" cartoon. It was the name he gave to an egg-shaped creature which resembled a bowling pin with stubby legs. It had smooth skin and whiskers, but no arms, nose or ears. (Refer to picture) The "Shmoo" dominated Al Capp's "Li'l Abner" series for years. Seventy-five manufacturers produced and sold merchandise related to the "Shmoo." "Shmoo" products such as dolls, clocks, earmuffs, toys, games and even fountain pens generated more than $25 million in sales in 1948, which would be equal to $325 million in 2024! "Shmoos" were also featured in national magazines including Time, Newsweek, and Life. It's amazing that this all originated from a Yiddish word for a phallus which was introduced to the world by Alfred George Caplin (Al Capp) whose parents were Jewish immigrants. "Shmoo" was just one of the many Yiddish slang variations that would work their way into the Li'l Abner cartoon, but "Shmoo" was the most enduring. AS A REMINDER: Be sure to mark your calendars for Sun., Dec. 15 at 12 noon for our fabulous deli luncheon in AB Hall! Written by Don Kent, past Vice President

• Cover