A guide to some of the non-standard words I might use. Some of them are entirely invented, some of them are Yiddish or Hebrew. I try to avoid the latter except when there is no good English equivalent, or when I'm using them in a technical ritual sense where precision of meaning matters.

Words

B
1. badger: (n) Term of endearment. Coined by JT. Also badger-fish.
2. becolden: (adj) Suffering from a cold. Coined by A, calqued on beholden. See also besnotted.
3. besnotted: (adj) Snotty and miserable, as with a cold. Coined by A, calqued on besotted. See also becolden.
4. booky, bookies: (n) Affectionate diminutive for book, books (as opposed to gambling shops).
5. bouncehug: (n) A very enthusiastic hug to indicate both affection and excitement. Portmanteau of bounce and hug.
6. bunny: (adj) Of new couples, spending unreasonable amounts of time in bed together to the extent that sex interferes with normal life. Qv at it like rabbits. Also the bunny stage of the relationship. Coined by AN.
   C
7. chas vechalilah: (interj) A less blasphemous way of saying 'God forbid!'. From Hebrew, kindness and mercy.
8. chevruta: (n) Traditional method of studying Jewish texts with a partner, involving intense debate. Intellectual sex is about the best metaphor for it. From Aramaic friendship.
   D
9. dafka: (adv) Just for the sake of being awkward, annoying or to confound expectations. Hebrew (well, it's a word you really need in Israel!).
10. daven: (v) To recite prescribed prayers in a Jewish context and fashion. Yiddish.
11. dishwashers: (n) Statistics being mis-represented in order to mislead. From a braino by one of the sibs' teachers where he misquoted Disraeli as talking about lies, damned lies and dishwashers.
    F
12. frum: (adj) Seriously committed to keeping the halacha; meaning overlaps somewhat with observant and somewhat with orthoprax, but not perfectly synonymous with either. Sometimes applied by extension to non-Jews who are the equivalent of frum for their religious tradition. From Yiddish pious.
    H
13. halacha: (n) The formal body of Jewish law. From Hebrew way.
14. halachic: (adj) According to the formal, traditional definition of Jewish law. Not generally the way I do things.
    K
15. kiddush: (n) The ceremony preceding a shabbat meal, involving wine and bread and certain prayers. Also, the food provided after a synagogue service as a symbolic communal meal. From Hebrew holy. Make kiddush, to perform this ceremony.
    L
16. lashon (hara): (n) Speaking badly about someone behind their back. This is something I try to avoid as much as possible, so you shouldn't find a lot of bitching about people in my journal. From Hebrew (evil) speech. Sometimes also Yiddish loshn hora.
    M
17. midrash: (n) A piece based on the Biblical text, interpreted according to certain principles. Usually short, sometimes explaining a legal principle, sometimes telling a story using Biblical characters and settings. Also, the body of such literature, mostly from the first to 5th centuries CE. Essentially, Biblical fanfic. From Hebrew seek, expound.
    N
18. nimshal: (n) What a metaphor, analogy or part of an analogy is actually standing for. From Hebrew parable.
    P
19. parshe (parshat hashavua): (n) Section of Torah fixed for reading each week, usually equivalent to three or four chapters. From Hebrew portion (of the week).
20. pshat: (n) What the (Torah) text actually says without drawing any inferences. Hebrew.
21. pumpkin: (adj) Transformed to an alternative state after midnight. Generally unable to function due to the lateness of the hour. From the Cinderella story.
    S
22. scorf: (n) Any small round orange citrus fruit, a satsuma, clementine, or related fruit. From the acronyms.
23. shabbat: (n) The Sabbath, Saturday, a day when Jews are not supposed to work. Definitions of work vary greatly; mine is more intuitive than halachic. Hebrew.
24. shul: (n) Synagogue. Yiddish, cognate to German school, as a synagogue is a place of study as well as a place of prayer.
25. the sibs: My three siblings who may or may not deserve the affectionate suffix -ling.
26. sleeeeeep: (n) Sleep, with the vowel elongated to indicate a desirable state.
27. stam: 1. (adv) Simply what is being described, without any embellishments or hidden meanings. Hebrew. 2. (n) The Hebrew script used to write sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls), tefillin (phylacteries) and mezuzot (the text affixed to doorposts). Hebrew, from the acronym.
    T
28. tolerance: (n) The principle by which I try to live my life. Listening with the utmost respect to conflicting views, without compromising my own.
29. treif: (adj) Not kosher. Yiddish, from Hebrew torn (a category of forbidden meat is that which is torn by beasts).

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