Friday, November 18, 2005

78. Trivia

Winston Churchill spelled in Hebrew is, at least according to Wikipedia,

וינסטון צ'רצ'יל

Comments:
And Colin Powell speaks fluent Yiddish. (But I guess you already knew that.)
 
Actually, I didn't. But yes, he learned Yiddish as a teenager while working in a baby equipment store.

(I'm not saying that Churchill spoke Hebrew. I'm just saying that is how his name is spelled.)
 
My understanding is that Powell learned Yiddish from his mother and/or grandmother, who had worked for Jewish women.
 
Apparently I was wrong,Amy, and you had better information.
 
About Churchill spelled in Hebrew. There was an Israeli band called הצ'רצ'לים. I came across them in an Israeli compilation that didn't have song titles or band names translated into English.

In enterring it into my database (knowing a good online Hebrew/English dictionary helps, as does having my computer set up for Hebrew) I was going nuts trying to figure out what the name translated to. Eventually, I figured out that it was "The Churchills."

I had a similar problem with a Hebrew version of "Roddy McCorley," which is an old Irish folk song. The title was "רודי מקורלי" but since I wasn't familiar with the song and didn't know it was a proper noun, I couldn't figure out what it was. Eventually we (the family) went on a camping trip with a couple we're friendly with. The guy played "Roddy McCorley" (in English) several times over the weekend. By coincidence, on Moday I was listening to the CD, and recognized the song.

Don't get me started on "Finnigans' Wake" or "Danny Boy"
 
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