Today I came across three surprisingly prominent uses of Hebrew and Yiddish words on the web:

1. WordPress.org – the official WordPress site allows you to complain about their popular blogging platform on their “KVETCH!” page. Where you can enter your Kvetch, the word “kvetch” links to its definition on Answers.com. The fact that they felt the need to link to a definition means that the word is still not mainstream. But what I want to know is who the yid is on the WordPress team, and how did he/she manage to convince everyone to call a page a Kvetch?
2. Lorelle on WordPress – Lorelle quoted Tony Hung of Deep Jive Interests who talks about what he calls the blue collar bloggers. Now you might think that’s an interesting topic, but being a nationocentric (can I say that?) person, I loved Tony’s reference to these bloggers as people trying “to make a few sheckels for themselves and their families.” Shekels? I can’t believe that people even know what a shekel is! I figured that to the rest of the world, the shekel is as well-known as the Peseta (that’s the Andorran currency, for all you ignoramuses out there.) Anyways, I commented on Lorelle’s post, and she responded. Guess what – she just moved from Israel recently! One of the tribe?
3. Problogger – Darren Rowse refers to a post from Joshua Porter from Bokardo on “9 Lessons for Would-be Bloggers.” It’s actually a useful post for anyone considering becoming a blogger, but what caught my eye was tip number 6: “Have a schtick.” Apparently, schtick now refers to “the thing that defines what your blog is about.” Blogging=schtick, schtick=blogging – it’s a freilichen velt!

So there you have it. Our words and concepts are popping up everywhere. The obvious conclusion: if Hebrew and Yiddish terminology are being used by A-list bloggers, it is clear that if you want to become an A-list blogger yourself you should outdo them and use as much Yiddish as possible on your blog. Let me know how it goes. If you find your readership is dropping, it’s only because they don’t appreciate your cleverness – it’s them not you. Nisht kefairlach. Zei gezunt. Lehitraot.

Still there? Hello?
P.S. Click on the image at the top of this post to start appreciating the beauty of the Yiddish language!

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