How Do You Say ‘Uppercut’ in Yiddish?
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish .
According to the usual stereotype, Jews don’t know how to fight. In fact, Jews have been quite adept at defending themselves, and there is even a rich Yiddish vocabulary to describe how it’s done. A new exhibit, “Yiddish Fight Club,” opening April 30 at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, provides a history of this colorful lexicon.
The words and expressions found in the exhibit were taken from a linguistic study of fighting, published by YIVO in 1926, with entries ranging from, “knak,” (blow or hit), to “shteysl” (uppercut). The exhibit also provides the little-known history of Jewish criminals, boxers and professional wrestlers, many of whom are shown in historical photos.
“Even thought the stereotype of Jews is that they were intellectuals and yeshiva students, there were also more than enough street youths who didn’t hesitate to fight when they felt threatened, using an original Yiddish lexicon to express themselves,” said Eddy Portnoy, academic advisor of YIVO’s Max Weinreich Center for Advanced Jewish Studies and the curator of the exhibit.
At the April 30 opening Portnoy will give a talk describing the world of Jewish factory workers, pimps, prostitutes, thieves, gangsters, professional boxers and street fighters of the first half of the 20th century, as well as the earthy language that they used.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30