Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0002533, Sun, 2 Nov 1997 09:29:05 -0800

Subject
Re: Botkin/Kinbote (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Mimi Ezust <mezust@tiac.net>

BADCHAN, is a jokester, or M.C. who used to
be engaged to make merry at Jewish weddings. Plural: badchanim. Hebrew
origon. A merrymaker. Often composed his own verses and music.

TUMMLER: one who makes a lot of noise (tummel) but accomplishes little. A
funmaker, a "live wire" or clown. A paid social director in a Catskill
resort.

This information all comes from <The Joy of Yiddish> by Leo Rosten,
McGraw-Hill, 1968.

Mimi Ezust

On Sun, 2 Nov 1997,

> Sam Shuman wrote:
> >Does everyone know that, in Yiddish, a "botkin" is a sort of "funmaker" who
> >travelled with a Klezmer band; a sort of yiddish version of the Joel Grey
> part
> >in "Cabaret?"
>
> I should know that, but I didn't. How does a "botkin" differ from a
> "tummler"? What is the origin of the Yiddish "botkin" -- i.e., Russian,
> German, Hebrew, or -- ?
>
> Thanks for the info.
>
> Sylvia
>
> Sylvia Weiser Wendel
>