Lili Krakowski on sun 28 nov 04
Do I read correctly that a teacher wants to get a mailed or similar =
superprotective glove for a small boy who wants to carve? And that =
carving involves a very sharp little knife, and that this will all =
happen in a classroom full of rambunctious, malodourous, little boys =
and girls? =20
And what exactly happens when Little Carver looses his cool with another =
kid who is pinching him or calling him names, or otherwise dissing him? =
Or Little Carver forgets how sharp the knife is and stabs himself in the =
leg? Or Little Carver looses his knife (those knives are very small) in =
the waste paper basket and another kid grabs it by mistake? One of my =
best scars is from an X-acto knife someone dropped into the =
slip-reclaiming barrel. =20
In my thankfully limited experience with children, keep them away from =
anything with which they can injure someone. If you need protective =
clothing, then you don't need this. My one "suggestion" is that you =
insist one of his parents attend the class with him and keeps and eye on =
him at all times.
Louis: I do not have a Yiddish dictionary. Am in fact looking for a =
transliterated one for a gentile friend who is reading Potok!
However. The OED thinks the word blunger (1830) is a blend of blending =
and plunging. The German dictionary says zip. We will have to hope =
that Janet will guide us. (Remember her dissertation on Schmaltz? The =
German Meatcutters Institute gave her a doctorate and medal for that.) =
What is of constant interest to me is the number of words that went from =
Yiddish to English and back and forth and like that, indicating that =
Jews worked at trades alongside Gentiles. I have been told that =
Australian is full of Yiddish/Hebrew words that were integrated into =
their language.=20
Lili Krakowski
Be of good cour
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