[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Customs and Traditions of Volhynians

[Karl Krueger]

Thank you Guenther for giving us such detail about this Yiddish word. Now I know the roots from which this great word is derived. My mother used what was apparently their local dialect of Yiddish calling us boys (me and my brothers) a bunch of Schlamasas when she got frustrated with us. She would even be more explicit at times and say in English, "You are a Schlamasa as big as you are." We always took this meaning to be like a stooge, which in fact we often were. Actually, I often pride myself in being a Schlamasa. I now see this distinct trait being passed on to my sons.

G|nther_Bvhm <GHBoehm at ish.de> wrote:GVLESS at aol.com schrieb:

>The words were: (and perhaps not spelled correctly)
>schlamassel
>
Virginia,
this one is correctly spelled and indeed of Yiddish origin but it was 
used for misfortune or mishap. Its source is a connection of the German 
word "schlimm" = grave, serious, bad, and the Hebrew word "mazel" = 
luck, fortune.



		
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