Wednesday, November 17, 2010

What's in a Name: Boychick Balabusta.

A good friend of mine politely "tapped" me via email with the following:

"B - I think your project sounds pretty cool, and I'm looking forward to reading it. What the H*ll is a Boychick Balabusta? Is this from a movie or play I should recognize? Puh-splain, please."

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls of All Ages. . . It's time to play "What's in a Name!"

First of all, NO. The name isn't derived from a character, line, or direct quote from a book, play, or movie. In fact, it's a combination of two seperate Yiddish words that discribe this author.

Stay with me here. This is where it gets interesting.

To understand this moniker better, let's go to the root of the name: YIDDISH!

Yiddish, courtesy of Miriam Webster, is discribed as:

"a High German language written in Hebrew characters that is spoken by Jews and descendants of Jews of central and eastern European origin. Short for yidish daytsh, (literally, Jewish German), from Middle High German jüdisch diutsch, from jüdisch Jewish (from Jude Jew) + diutsch German. First Known Use: 1875."

. . .From our friends at Wikipedia (I condensed):

"Yiddish (ייִדיש yidish or אידיש idish, literally "Jewish") is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages. It is written in the Hebrew alphabet.

The language originated in the Ashkenazi culture that developed from about the 10th century in the Rhineland and then spread to Central and Eastern Europe and eventually to other continents. In common usage, the language is called מאַמע־לשון (mame-loshn, literally "mother tongue"), distinguishing it from Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, which are collectively termed לשון־קודש (loshn-koydesh, "holy tongue"). The term "Yiddish" did not become the most frequently used designation in the literature of the language until the 18th century.

For a significant portion of its history, Yiddish was the primary spoken language of the Ashkenazi Jews and once spanned a broad dialect continuum from Western Yiddish to three major groups within Eastern Yiddish, namely Litvish, Poylish and Ukrainish. Yiddish is written and spoken in Orthodox Jewish communities around the world. It is a home language in most Hasidic communities, where it is the first language learned in childhood, used in schools and in many social settings.

Yiddish is also used in the adjectival sense to designate attributes of Ashkenazic culture (for example, Yiddish cooking, Yiddish theatre, and Yiddish music)."

So. . .basically, it's a language that Jews made up for their immediate personal usage to keep non-Jewish people (in Yiddish - the Goyeshe), from understanding. Interesting!

Well, I'm STILL going to tell you.

TRANSLATION:

Boychick: (Noun) - A boy, young man, honoured son. Derivation from Slovic Origin.

Balabusta: (Noun) - a Yiddish expression describing the good homemaker among Ashkenazi Jews. The word derives from the Hebrew word ba'alat-habayit.

In contradistinction to the English terms "housewife" or "homemaker", it usually has purely positive connotations. The traditional role of the balabusta also includes, besides fulfilling the household duties for the family, its spiritual bonding and helping its members hold together.

Variations on this word include the Yiddish: "Balabuste" or "Balabusteh"; and the Ladino: "Balabusha" among Sephardi Jews. The word balabusta comes from the Hebrew ba'al habayit, meaning master of the house."

So, "what's in a name?"

Definition: Boychick Balabusta: (noun) - A beloved and honored younger son who is an excellent homemaker, generous host, and lover of his people, heritage, and culture.


1 comment:

Ginger said...

I like it;)

Though, saying it always makes me think of Ricky Ricardo singing "Babaloo";P