Thursday, July 17, 2008

Better Translation (and Spelling)

Joanna’s Mom: A long time ago, she knew she was doing something not nice. And she did whatever she could to not embarrass me, like change her name. I was proud of her that she was so worried about me. But do you know the Hebrew word arzut metzach?




It means you steal but you’re proud of it. It’s something you do without being embarrassed and you’re proud of it. This is not nice. I believe that my dear Joanna is crawling with the sheretzim—the animals that live in the dirt and sewers. They don’t know they’re dirty and living in the sewers but you get used to the smell. You forget.


Actually, it's azut metzach = עזות מצח and translates as 'impertinence' or, actually, chutzpah. Literally, it means 'intense forehead'.

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