Dear Judith Rosenbaum
I was pleasantly surprised to come across your we’ll-written article when I was searching for information on Yiddish
names for female genitalia.
All eight of my mother’s siblings plus her mother, my grandma Minna Heilmann,
who was born and raised in the Shwabenland region of Germany, referred
to my my penis as “Putzy” and my sister’s
nether lips as “Snecky.” Nowhere was I able to find any such references in Yiddish. I looked for Yiddish references
because my side of the family always
thought the Heilmann side was Yiddish,
having stemmed from a region heavily
populated by that ethnic group. Plus, other words used by my my maternal aunts and uncles, like “Klutz” for a clumsy person, “Shmuck” for a silly person, “Tush” for buttocks, “meshugga” for
crazy, and “shleppen” for carry, as examples that supported that notion.
On-the-other-hand, a different spelling of “Snecky,” “Schnecke,” is German for
snail, which, besides a gastropod mollusk,
is a vernacular word for a snail-like pastry.
I suppose that could be a German slang for vulva or pudendum. And “Schmuck” is German for jewelry, which I suppose could
be slang for male genitalia. Also, “Putz” can be used for a male sexual
Dear Judith Rosenbaum
I was pleasantly surprised to come across your we’ll-written article when I was searching for information on Yiddish
names for female genitalia.
All eight of my mother’s siblings plus her mother, my grandma Minna Heilmann,
who was born and raised in the Shwabenland region of Germany, referred
to my my penis as “Putzy” and my sister’s
nether lips as “Snecky.” Nowhere was I able to find any such references in Yiddish. I looked for Yiddish references
because my side of the family always
thought the Heilmann side was Yiddish,
having stemmed from a region heavily
populated by that ethnic group. Plus, other words used by my my maternal aunts and uncles, like “Klutz” for a clumsy person, “Shmuck” for a silly person, “Tush” for buttocks, “meshugga” for
crazy, and “shleppen” for carry, as examples that supported that notion.
On-the-other-hand, a different spelling of “Snecky,” “Schnecke,” is German for
snail, which, besides a gastropod mollusk,
is a vernacular word for a snail-like pastry.
I suppose that could be a German slang for vulva or pudendum. And “Schmuck” is German for jewelry, which I suppose could
be slang for male genitalia. Also, “Putz” can be used for a male sexual
for