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kvell: msg#00023

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: kvell

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The Word of the Day for June 24 is:

kvell \KVELL\ verb
: to be extraordinarily proud : rejoice

Example sentence:
"[Critics] will kvell over El Greco's uncanny anticipation
of latter-day artistic trends, his proto-cubism, his precocious
expressionism...." (Ariella Budick, _Newsday_, October 2003)

Did you know?
The history of "kvell" is far from a megillah, so don't
kvetch. Etymology-meisters have determined that the word is
derived from Yiddish "kveln," meaning "to be delighted," which,
in turn, comes from the Middle High German word "quellen,"
meaning "to well, gush, or swell." The Merriam-Webster mavens
whose shtick is dating words have not pinpointed an exact date
for the appearance of "kvell" in the English language. They have
found an entry for the word in a 1952 handbook of Jewish words
and expressions, but actual usage evidence before that date
remains unseen. (The words "megillah," "kvetch," "meister,"
"maven," and "shtick" are also of Yiddish origin.)





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