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The New York City School Board has officially declared Jewish English a second language. Backers of the move say the district is the first in the nation to recognize Hebonics as the language of many American Jews. Look for other cities to follow suit, notably Miami Beach, Los Angeles, Scarsdale, and Skokie.
In Hebonics, questions are always answered with
questions.
Question: "How do you feel?"
Hebonics response: "How should I feel?"
The subject is often placed at the end of a sentence after a pronoun has been used at the beginning: "She dances beautifully, that girl."
The sarcastic repetition of words by adding "sh" to the front is used for emphasis: Mountains become "shmountains"; turtle becomes "shmurtle." (mountains-shmountains / turtle-shmurtle)
These common phrases were translated from "Standard English" to Hebonics:
English: "He walks slowly."
Hebonics: "Like a fly in the Vaseline, he walks."
English: "Sorry, I don't know the time."
Hebonics: "What do I look like, a clock?"
English: "I hope things turn out okay."
Hebonics: "You should BE so lucky!"
English: "I see you're wearing one of the ties I gave
you."
Hebonics: "What's the matter, the other tie you didn't like?
English: "Anything can happen."
Hebonics: "Things are never so bad that they can't get
worse."
English: "May I take your plate, sir?"
Hebonics: "You've hardly touched your food. What's the matter,
something's wrong with it?"
English: "It's been so long since you've called."
Hebonics: "You didn't wonder if I'm dead yet?"
English: "Let's not go skiing."
Hebonics: "Mountains, shmountains! Do I look like a sled to
you?