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Help[Facts] The Krepkin-Kreplach Connection
in reply to a message by Phyllis
This morning I turned to my favorite source for surname meanings (*A Dictionary of Surnames* by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges), and I believe I made have found the connection between your "Krepkin" and our "kreplach". :)
The entry under the surname "Krapf" explains that the similar-sounding Jewish surname of "Krep(p)el" is a diminutive of Krapf. Meanings given are: "nickname for someone with a hooked nose or a hunched back, from the Middle High German "krap(f)e" hook... The word was also applied to a type of crescent-shaped pastry, and the surname may thus also have been a metonymic occupation name for a baker."
Furthermore, the article mentions that the Yiddish word "krepl" is the source of the Jewish surname "Krep(p)el, and explains that "krepl" means merely "a kind of boiled dumpling."
So, "kreplach" literally means just what they are -- dumplings -- despite all the bubbe meisehs the old folks used to tell us kids for their amusement. :)
-- Nanaea
The entry under the surname "Krapf" explains that the similar-sounding Jewish surname of "Krep(p)el" is a diminutive of Krapf. Meanings given are: "nickname for someone with a hooked nose or a hunched back, from the Middle High German "krap(f)e" hook... The word was also applied to a type of crescent-shaped pastry, and the surname may thus also have been a metonymic occupation name for a baker."
Furthermore, the article mentions that the Yiddish word "krepl" is the source of the Jewish surname "Krep(p)el, and explains that "krepl" means merely "a kind of boiled dumpling."
So, "kreplach" literally means just what they are -- dumplings -- despite all the bubbe meisehs the old folks used to tell us kids for their amusement. :)
-- Nanaea
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Replies
As we say here in the South, "Leben ahf dein kop!"
Incidentally, the most comprehensive listing I've found of Yiddish words and expressions on the Web is Michael Fein's at www.pass.to/glossary/gloz2.htm It's many pages long, but sheds no further light on the "krep-" question. What you've done here is probably as good as it gets.
And judging by the tone of Fein's list, these were not an "up", bubbly group of people, were they? Guess life in the shtetl does that. (Reminds me of my Scottish, blue-collar grandfather, whose favorite expression was "what they don't give ye, ye don't have ta thank 'em for".)
Incidentally, the most comprehensive listing I've found of Yiddish words and expressions on the Web is Michael Fein's at www.pass.to/glossary/gloz2.htm It's many pages long, but sheds no further light on the "krep-" question. What you've done here is probably as good as it gets.
And judging by the tone of Fein's list, these were not an "up", bubbly group of people, were they? Guess life in the shtetl does that. (Reminds me of my Scottish, blue-collar grandfather, whose favorite expression was "what they don't give ye, ye don't have ta thank 'em for".)
1
As we say here in the South, "Leben ahf dein kop!"
@@@@ As we say here in the North, "Aw, shucks! T'weren't nuthin'!"
And judging by the tone of Fein's list, these were not an "up", bubbly group of people, were they? Guess life in the shtetl does that.
@@@@ You need to try Leo Rosten's book, *The Joys of Yiddish*. Sadly, Leo Rosten is no longer with us, having passed away a few years ago. But his wonderful wit and sense of humor live on in his writing. His lexicon of Yiddish words not only provides English definitions, but also includes humorous little anecdotes associated with each word. For example, here's the entry from *The Joys of Yiddish* for the expression, "shlock-house":
Shlock-house: A store that sells cheap, distressed, defective, "fire sale" articles. A gyp joint.
The customer asked the tobacconist to recommend a good cigar.
"Here's the best cigar in the place. Fifty cents."
The customer paid, lighted up and began to cough and choke. "I asked for a good cigar and you give me *this*?" he cried.
The owner sighed, "What a lucky man you are."
"*Lucky*?" cried the customer. "Are you mad?"
"You own only one of those shlock-house cigars; I must have twenty dozen!"
-- Nanaea
Thought you'd especially like that one, Che. ;)
@@@@ As we say here in the North, "Aw, shucks! T'weren't nuthin'!"
And judging by the tone of Fein's list, these were not an "up", bubbly group of people, were they? Guess life in the shtetl does that.
@@@@ You need to try Leo Rosten's book, *The Joys of Yiddish*. Sadly, Leo Rosten is no longer with us, having passed away a few years ago. But his wonderful wit and sense of humor live on in his writing. His lexicon of Yiddish words not only provides English definitions, but also includes humorous little anecdotes associated with each word. For example, here's the entry from *The Joys of Yiddish* for the expression, "shlock-house":
Shlock-house: A store that sells cheap, distressed, defective, "fire sale" articles. A gyp joint.
The customer asked the tobacconist to recommend a good cigar.
"Here's the best cigar in the place. Fifty cents."
The customer paid, lighted up and began to cough and choke. "I asked for a good cigar and you give me *this*?" he cried.
The owner sighed, "What a lucky man you are."
"*Lucky*?" cried the customer. "Are you mad?"
"You own only one of those shlock-house cigars; I must have twenty dozen!"
-- Nanaea
Thought you'd especially like that one, Che. ;)
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The Presidential Cigar
Oy, I hope your trans-iberian curse worked :)
And now for more cigar fun: anagram's of "The Presidential Cigar":
* A cheap girl inserted it
* Airhead lips get cretin.
* Her special: eating dirt.
* Sad erect liar in the pig.
* Eager trained lips itch.
* Cheater raids in piglet.
* Dire cheating pest liar.
Oy, I hope your trans-iberian curse worked :)
And now for more cigar fun: anagram's of "The Presidential Cigar":
* A cheap girl inserted it
* Airhead lips get cretin.
* Her special: eating dirt.
* Sad erect liar in the pig.
* Eager trained lips itch.
* Cheater raids in piglet.
* Dire cheating pest liar.
1