Yiddish Rock Stars: GEDDY LEE

GeddyLee-KevinWinter_4-20-13, a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

Mazel Tov, Boychik!

Rush, Heart, Public Enemy and Randy Newman were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night.

Geddy Lee is really Gary, but his immigrant grandmother (of yiddishkeit persuasion) could only pronounce as Geddy. A tip of the Noe Yarmulkeh to Deborah Frost for that tidbit.

This kinda takes me back to sometime in the late eighties, when I was travelling on a mission from God (or Guitar World anyway). John Swenson was on board to do the interview and I was kibbitzing as the editor.

Geddy and I compared notes on being sons of Holocaust survivors backstage as we waited for the photographer to set up. He in Toronto and me in little old New Yawk shared the same deep roots known as Child of Holocaust Survivors syndrome. Many Yiddishisms were pronounced on that day. And so I say unto you, Geddaleh, Mazel Tov, boychik!


You can see it all in my Yiddish Glossary for Goyim:

boychik (boy-chick) fella [literally, "little boy," but in essence more endearing than derogatory]
"Hey, boychik, meet me at the Grill in Beverly Hills. We'll hoist a few and have some laughs. No agenda, just face time."

baitsim (bayt-tzim) testicles; literally, eggs
"Keep your baitsim in your pants. Last I heard you were a married man."


www.facebook.com/YiddishGlossaryForGoyim
Noë Gold's "Yiddish Glossary for Goyim" is now published as an ebook and a hard copy. The ebook is available from amazon.com, described here:

t.co/q7VAeEhF.

Hard copy: $12 per directly from the author: noemedia@me.com.