Jewish English or ‘Hebonics’

Author Unknown

The Encino School Board has declared Jewish English a second language. Backers of the move say the district is the first in the nation to recognize Hebonics as the language of many of America’s Jews. Here are some descriptions of the characteristics of the language, and samples of phrases in standard English and Jewish English.

Samples of Pronunciation Characteristics

Jewish English or "Hebonics" hardens consonants at the ends of words.
Thus, "hand" becomes "handt."

The letter "W" is always pronounced as if it were a "V".
Thus "walking" becomes "valking"

"R" sounds are transformed to a guttural utterance that is virtually impossible to spell in English. It’s "ghraining" "algheady"

Samples of Idiomatic Characteristics

Questions are always answered with questions.
Question: "How do you feel?" Hebonics response: "How should I feel?"

The subject is often placed at the end of a sentence after a pronoun has been used at the beginning: "She dances beautifully, that girl."

The sarcastic repetition of words by adding "sh" to the front is used for emphasis" mountains becomes "shmountains" turtle becomes "shmurtle".

Sample Usage Comparisons

Standard English Phrase

Hebonics Phrase

"He walks slow"

"Like a fly in the ointment he walks"

"You’re sexy"

(unknown concept)

"Sorry, I do not know the time"

"What do I look like, a clock?"

"I hope things turn out for the best"

"You should BE so lucky"

"Anything can happen"

"It is never so bad, it can’t get worse"

Continue ReadingJewish English or ‘Hebonics’

Computer Definitions

Author Unknown

404:
Someone who’s clueless. From the WWW message "404, URL not found." Meaning that the document you’ve tried to access can’t be located. "Don’t bother asking him; he’s 404."

486:
The average IQ needed to understand a PC.

Alpha Geek:
The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or workgroup. "Ask Mark, he’s the alpha geek."

Betamaxed:
when a technology is overtaken in the market by inferior but better marketed competition as in "Microsoft betamaxed Apple right out of the market"

Blowing Your Buffer:
Losing one’s train of thought. Occurs when the person you are speaking with won’t let you get a word in edgewise or has just said something so astonishing that your train gets derailed. "Damn, I just blew my buffer!"

Bookmark:
To take note of a person for future reference (a metaphor borrowed from web browsers). "I bookmarked him after seeing his cool demo at Siggraph."

CGI Joe:
A hard-core CGI script programmer with all the societal skills and charisma of a plastic action figure.

Chip Jewelry:
A euphemism for old computers destined to be scrapped or turned into decorative ornaments. "I paid three grand for that 6100/66, and now it’s nothing by chip jewelry."

Chips and Salsa:
Chips=3D hardware, salsa=3D software, i.e.: "Well, first we gotta figure out if the problem’s in your chips or your salsa."

Cobweb Site:
A Web site that hasn’t been updated for a long time. A dead web page.

Crapplet:
A badly written or profoundly useless Java applet. "I just wasted 30 minutes downloading this stinkin’ crapplet!"

Dead Tree Edition:
The paper version of a publication available in both paper and electronic forms, as in: "The dead tree edition of the San Francisco Chronicle…"

Disk Crash:
A typical computer response to any critical deadline.

Dropped carrier:
Losing contact/ignoring a person. Example: "I think you’re a doofus!" "That’s okay, I dropped your carrier hours ago!"

Dorito Syndrome:
Feelings of emptiness and dissatisfaction triggered by addictive substances that lack nutritional content. ("I spent six hours surfing the Web, and now I’ve got a bad case of Dorito Syndrome.")

Ego Surfing:
Scanning the Net, databases, print media, and so on, looking for references to one’s own name.

Floppy:
The state of your wallet after purchasing a computer.

G3:
Apple’s new Macs that make you say "Gee, three times faster than the computer I bought for the same price a Microsecond ago."

Graybar Land:
The place you go while you’re staring at a computer that’s processing something very slowly (while you watch the gray bar creep across the screen). "I was in graybar land for what seemed like hours, thanks to that CAD rendering."

GUI:
What your computer becomes after spilling your coffee on it. (pronounced "gooey")

Hard Drive:
The sales technique employed by computer salesmen, esp. after a Syntax Error.

I/O Error
Ignorant Operator. Used by tech support in attributing problems not necessarily caused by the computer. Takeoff on Input/Output error.

It’s a Feature:
From the adage "It’s not a bug, it’s a feature." Used sarcastically to describe an unpleasant experience that you wish to gloss over.

JIP (Jargon Interface Protocol): When someone knows the technical meaning of acronyms such as http, tcp/ip, csu/dsu, etc. Example: They’re plugged into the JIP.

Keyboard:
The standard way to generate computer errors.

Keyboard Plaque:
The disgusting buildup of dirt and crud found on computer keyboards. "Are there any other terminals I can use? This one has a bad case of keyboard plaque."

Legacy Media:
The traditional media, such as radio and television, but particularly newspapers. Term can describe Web sites that conform to traditional newspaper standards.

Link Rot:
The process by which links on a Web page become obsolete as they sites they’re connected to change location or die.

Meatspace:
The physical world (as opposed to the virtual) also "carbon community" "facetime" "F2F" "RL."

Microsecond:
The time it takes for your state-of-the-art computer to become obsolete.

Mouse:
An advanced input device to make computer errors easier to generate.

Mouse Potato:
The online generation’s answer to the couch potato.

Nyetscape:
Nickname for AOL’s less-than-full-featured Web browser.

Obsolete:
Any computer you own.

Percussive Maintenance:
The fine art of whacking a device to get it working.

Plug and Play:
A new hire who doesn’t need any training. "The new guy John is great. He’s totally plug-and-play."

Portable Computer:
A device invented to force businessmen to work at home, on vacation, and on business trips.

Power User:
Anyone who can format a disk from DOS.

Silliwood:
The coming convergence of movies, interactive TV, and computers, also "hollywired."

Square headed boy/girlfriend:
Your computer.

State-of-the-art:
Any computer you can’t afford.

Syntax Error:
Walking into a computer store and saying, "Hi, I want to buy a computer and money is no object."

System Update:
A quick method of trashing ALL of your software.

Treeware:
Manuals and documentation.

Under Mouse Arrest:
Getting busted for violating an online service’s rule of conduct. "Sorry I couldn’t get back to you. AOL put me under mouse arrest."

Uninstalled:
Euphemism for being fired.

Vulcan Nerve Pinch:
The taxing hand position required to reach all the appropriate keys for certain commands. For instance, the warm re- boot for a Mac II computer involves simultaneously pressing the Control key, the Command key, the Return key and the Power On key.

World-Wide Wait:
The real meaning of WWW.

Continue ReadingComputer Definitions

College Glossary

Author Unknown

ABSENT: (n)
The notation generally following your name in a class record.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE: (n)
Where they take you to get you to admit you’ve mooned the keynote speaker during "new student weekend."

ANATOMY: (n)
One of those classes that sounds vaguely risque until you find out what it REALLY involves.

BIOLOGY: (n)
A class located suspiciously near the cafeteria.

BOOK: (n)
A depository of knowledge which a student will try to stay awake long enough to read the night before finals.

BOOKBAG: (n)
A large container in which students store candy bars, gum, combs, little slips of paper with phone numbers on them, yo-yos, sunglasses, student I.D.s, loose change, magazines, & (occasionally)
books.

CAFETERIA: (n)
from Latin "cafe" ("place to eat")
and "teria" ("to wretch").

CAFFEINE: (n)
One of the four basic food groups.

CALL: (v)
What you can’t do because your stupid roommate has to go over every stupid detail of every stupid day with their stupid hometown sweetheart.

COACH: (n)
A teacher who rewards successful "students" with a new Corvette.

CUM LAUDE: (v)
How students in southern universities call dogs named "Laude."

D-MINUS: (n)
A pretty good grade.

DORM: (n)
Student residence located only a few convenient miles from 8 a.m. classes.

DORMROOM: (n)
A small closet-like area inhabited by a pair of incompatible people.

EDUCATION BUDGET: (n)
Money you allocate each month for movies and magazines.

EGGHEAD:
1) (n) A brainy student who studies all the time and gets straight A’s.
2) (n) That same student once you’ve dropped eggs on him from the roof of the science lab.

EXTRA CREDIT: (n)
What you wish you had on your credit card.
F: (n)
A grade that can usually be altered to look like a "B" on a test paper.

JUNIOR VARSITY: (n)
The team that everybody supports, but nobody goes to watch.

KAPPA: (n)BR>
What members of sororities or fraternities wear on their headas.

KITCHENETTE: (n)
A small, thin person working in the cafeteria kitchen.

KLUTZ: (n)
What you discover your lab partner is when you ask him to slowly pour the sulfuric acid into the beaker you’re holding.

LAB: (n)
A room full of icky, funny-looking creatures and the dead frogs they dissect.

LETTERMEN: (n)
Scholarship athletes who proudly wear letter sweaters proclaiming the vowel or consonant they have mastered.

LIBERAL ARTS: (n)
See: "Would you like fries with that?"

LOUNGE: (n)
Any area in a dorm, union or classroom building where the only furniture that isn’t soiled, ripped or scarred is immediately stolen.

MAJOR: (n)
Area of study that no longer interests you.

MIDNIGHT OIL: (n)
What you make popcorn in.

MISERY: (n)
The sinking feeling you get when introduced to the person your roomie fixed you up with because "the two of you are so much alike."

NICKNAME: (n)
Generally, your own name with the suffix "ster" attached in a forced awkward attempt at familiarity. E.g. "Bobster," "Hankster" or "Georgester."

NO: (n)
The response that guys who will spend most of their time in the gym lifting weights might put on a true/false test.

NUDE MODELS: (n)
The reason for your sudden interest in art.

OFF-CAMPUS PARKING: (n)
Ample extra parking usually found in an adjoining county.

OTHELLO: (n)
Unless you’re an English major, who really cares??

OUT: (n)
Where your roommate always is when one of the 35 clubs she belongs to calls with a very important message.

PAPER: (n)
Your version of Cliff Notes.

POSTER: (n)
An inexpensive way to decorate a dormroom while making people think you’ve been to foreign lands and done things you never have.

PRE-LAW: (n)
The major of a person who will end up in sales.

VICE SQUAD: (n)
A group of uniformed officers who seem to be under the impression that they were invited to your dorm party.

VENDING MACHINE : (n)
A coin operated device for dispensing breakfast, lunch and dinner.

VICTOR: (n)
Your football team’s weekly opponent.

VICTORY: (n)
A rarity; a three syllable word that cheerleaders CAN spell.

WEEKEND : (n)
Two day period during which your growling stomach makes you really wish you’d signed up for a seven day meal plan.

WHIZ KID: (n)
Your college nickname. But not for the reason people think.

WINDELLAS: (n)
Name of the circus family you can run away and join when your parents find out how much you put on their charge card.

WINTER: (n)
When the air conditioning in your dorm finally kicks in.

WORK-STUDY: (n)
Two things not done by a majority of students.

WRISTWATCH: (n)
That device on your arm that lets you know which class you’re currently late for.

X-RAY: (n)
A medical technique that will display cafeteria meatballs up to ten years after they’re eaten.

XYLEM: (n)
We’re not going to tell you this. You should know this. You took Biology, didn’t you? (Were you asleep that day or what?)

YALE:
1) (n) A well known ivy league university.
2) (v) What southern cheerleaders do.

YEARBOOK: (n)
A book containing student pictures that will keep getting nerdier as the years go by.

YESTERDAY: (n)
When the 12 page paper you started tonight was due.

YIELD SIGN: (n)
Dormitory wall decoration you "purchased" around 3 in the morning with the help of two buddies and a hammer.

ZEPPELIN:
1) (n) A large blimp.
2) (n) Still the best band for playing air guitar in one’s underwear.

ZERO: (n)
The number of times you’ve gotten to eat most of the pizza you ordered.

ZOO: (n)
What dorms would look like if they were a little neater.

ZOOLOGY: (n)
The study of animal life (See: "Frat boys at Homecoming").

Continue ReadingCollege Glossary

Cheddarhead Dictionary

Author Unknown

If you think you can deck yourself out in green and gold and walk around occasionally bellowing "Go-Pack-Go!" and qualify as a Wisconsin native… you’re dead wrong. Youse gotta know the lingo too, ya-know, hey. For your enjoyment, here’s an updated list of Wisconsinisms. This stuff drives a spell checker crazy.

Ain-a-hey:
placed at the end of a profound statement; as in "isn’t It?"

Bart:
a Green Bay institution who doesn’t need a last name; (see "Vince").

Believe-you-me:
attached to the beginning or end a statement make it more credible; as in, "really!"

Blaze orange:
what deer hunters and cold-weather Packers fans wear at Lambeau.

Born in a barn?:
a sarcastic question which usually means you left the door open.

Borrow:
used in place of "lend," as in, "could youse borrow me a couple two-tree bucks?"

Brat:
a sausage; a Wisconsin tailgate favorite; doesn’t have anything to do with a spoiled kid.

Bubbler:
to the rest of the world outside Wisconsin’s borders, it is known as a drinking fountain.

Budge:
to merge without permission; cut in; as in "Don’t you budge in line for a brat, I was here first!"

By:
to or near; as in "Let’s go by One Eyed Jack’s,"or "She’ll come by Froggers tonight." It has nothing to do with a purchase.

Cheddarhead:
someone from Wisconsin; see, "Cheesehead."

Cheesehead:
someone from Wisconsin; see, "Cheddarhead."

Cheese curd:
small pieces of fresh cheese that squeak when you bite into them; a parish picnic favorite when deep fried.

Come-here-once:
a beckoning call to another Cheddarhead.

Couple-two-tree:
more than one; as in "Delmer and I drank a couple-two-tree beers."

Cripes:
a Wisconsin expletive. Cripes-sake: a mild Wisconsin expletive.

Crymany-cripes-sake:
a wild Wisconsin expletive.

D:
a substitute for words beginning with "TH;" as in"Dat guy over dere in dah Bears shirt is a FIB."

Davenport:
what your mom called the sofa; a couch.

Fair-to-midlin:
not bad or great, just "O.K."

FIB:
an acronym; (F***in’ Illinois Bastard)

Fish fry:
a Friday night dining ritual in Wisconsin.

Fleet Farm:
a Cheddarhead’s answer to Bloomingdales.

Frozen tundra:
Lambeau Field.

Geeez!:
Another Wisconsin expletive.

Go ahead:
proceed; as in, "go ahead and back up your car."

Gots:
used in place of "have;" as in, "I gots my tickets to watch da Packers play on da Frozen Tundra."

Guldarn:
another Wisconsin expletive.

Hey:
placed at the beginning or end of phrases for emphasis, as in "Hey, how ’bout them Packers?" or "How ’bout them Packers, hey?"

Holy-cry-yiy!:
as in, "wow!"

How’s-by-you?:
a greeting; the same as, "How’s everything?"

Humdinger:
a beauty; as in "dat crappy youse caughtup-nort is a real humdinger."

John Deere:
a Cheddarhead’s other vehicle.

M’wakee:
Wisconsin’s largest city; located just down the lake from Trivers and Mantwoc.

N-so?:
a word inserted at the end of a statement; used as a substitute for "right?" or "correct?"

Oh, yah:
depending on emphasis, it’s either used as acknowledgment (as"That’s correct") or skepticism (That’s bull!).

Parish picnics:
social events of the summer up-nort.

Pert-neer:
near; in close proximity; just about.

Polka:
what you do at parish picnics.

Pop:
a non-alcoholic drink.

Rubbers:
protection for your shoes; also known as "galoshes."

Scansin:
the state where Cheeseheads are from.

Schmear:
a card game; also a term used when someone gets beat in a game of Sheepshead

Sheepshead:
another card game.

Side-by-each:
used instead of, "next to each other."

Skeeter:
Wisconsin state bird.

Start wit me last:
to forfeit your turn.

Stop-and-go lights:
what everyone else refers to as traffic signals.

Uff-dah:
affirmative; as in "that’s right!"

Un-thaw:
to defrost.

Where-abouts:
locality; proximity; as in, "where-abouts are youse guys from?"

Up nort:
where Wisconsinites go on vacation.

Up-side right:
right side up.

Vince:
the other Green Bay icon who doesn’t need a last name for recognition; (see "Bart").

Yah-hey:
affirmative; as in "uff-dah."

You-betcha:
affirmative; as in "Yah-hey."

Youse:
pronounced "YOOS;" it means "you" as in "are youse guys goin’ up nort?"

Youper:
someone from ever further up-nort than you.

Continue ReadingCheddarhead Dictionary