Jewish Conference To Introduce New Yiddish Words, How Do u say Laptop?
Jerusalem – Reports of its death are greatly exaggerated. The European-Jewish language Yiddish, the demise of which has been forecast for years, will not become extinct for at least the next hundred years, according to a conference to be held next week in Jerusalem. There are at present around two to three million Yiddish speakers in the world, a number, say the experts, which ensures that the language can survive for the next century. Research to be presented at the “Century of Yiddish 1908 – 2008 ” conference at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem next week shows that only languages spoken by approximately 1000 people can become extinct in the next hundreds or so years. Not only is Yiddish not dead, but its vocabulary is growing as it attempts to keep pace with the 20th century. Among the new words to be introduced to the conference are “shleptop” for laptop, a highly- appropriate choice, as anyone who’s ever had to carry a laptop around can attest, “blitzmail” for e-mail, and “intern
