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A Jewishlanguage based on German once spoken throughout Central and Eastern Europeby AshkenazicJews. The name comes from a combination of the German words, "Jud" (Jew) and "Deutsch" (German). Sometimes referred to as a dialect of German, and sometimes denigrated as the "Ebonics of the Austro-Hungarian Empire", Yiddish does have its own unique qualities which differentiate it from standard German. Unfortunately, most Yiddish speakers were killed in the Holocaust, and emigration of the Jews of Central Europe and Eastern Europe resulted in the near-disappearance of the language. Today it can only be heard in isolated pockets in certain big cities worldwide. It is probably the most endangered European language right now. However, Yiddish words have heavily influenced American English,especially that of New York, and to a lesser extent have made it into Cockney. The use of Yiddish words like schmuck, putz, shyster, etc. by comedians, in particular, has spread Yiddishisms throughout the Anglosphere. Even though the Yiddish language is in a severe and probably irreversible state of decline, certain Yiddish words will always be with us, kein ahora.
by Rattus cattus October 26, 2006
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Very few of the kids who wear Che Guevara T-shirts have the slightest idea about Che's actual political beliefs.
by Rattus cattus October 26, 2006
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As George Galloway always tells the many Jews who call up his radio show, he is not an antisemite even though he is certainly anti-Israel.
by Rattus cattus October 26, 2006
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by Rattus cattus October 26, 2006
Get the Mao ZeDONG mug.Rich kids "slumming it" and thinking they're being cool by smoking pot and living out their "creative" fantasies that usually don't come to anything, in between travelling to exotic third world places like Bali, Morocco, or Thailand, more or less like a cross between a neohippie and a hipster (although there is considerable overlap between trustafarians and both of those other subcultures) commonly found in the Venice, Echo Park,Atwater Village, and Silver Lake neighborhoods in L.A. (although Silver Lake is getting a bit too expensive for all but the wealthiest trustafarians, so some are going to Hollywood and assuredly some will go to Koreatown soon if they haven't already). The term is derived from a combination of "trust fund" and "Rastafarian".
Abbott Kinney Blvd. in Venice is riddled with trustafarians who claim to be working on film scripts or doing art but nothing they're doing ever amounts to anything.,
by Rattus cattus November 15, 2006
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Get the gentile mug.An old fashioned style of country music dating from the late 1930s pioneered by Bill Monroe (who invented the name) and Roy Acuff. While some people believe it to be the traditional music of the Appalachian mountains, it's basically what country music was like before influences from jazz, blues, and pop came in. Most popular in Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee and Virginia. In bluegrass the guitar fiddle and banjo are the most important instruments and there is no drumming nor percussion. It has had a small but devoted following outside of the South for years, and despite being associated with toothless inbred hicks to some is a genre very highly respected by musicians - not just country musicians but rock and even jazz musicians. Often used in films and TV set in the South, in the last few years it has undergone a massive revival in popularity worldwide because of the film "O Brother Where Art Thou".
Bluegrass isn't just played by Southerners any more - although it's still rare to find an African-American bluegrass musician.
by Rattus cattus November 18, 2006
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