Thomas Ungar: Stop complaining about cultural appropriation, and start laughing about it

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Ever schlep a hockey bag to the arena? Hearing a non-Jew say that warms my heart. It gets me right in the kishkes. I’m flattered that the language of my eastern European Ashkenazi background and culture is so linguistically attractive.

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I love it when Yiddish words are appreciated in this way. But sadly, I know many who would not use this language due to fears over cultural appropriation — a term that I believe is overused, and only serves to further mistrust between people.

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Actual cultural appropriation is offensive. But what’s the line between true appropriation, which by most definitions requires financial exploitation or other harms that further marginalize a group, and cultural appreciation? There’s far too little guidance or discussion on this matter. And when reasonable people are afraid to speak, the more authoritarian voices tend to dominate the conversation.

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In my Toronto psychiatry practice, I’ve seen a real uptick in anxiety about what’s OK to say in the workplace and social situations, leading to self-censorship, a silencing of discussion and a tragic fear of engaging with people of different backgrounds.

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So I’m helping to break the silence with the following ode to the joys of Yiddish language and humour, one of the healthiest coping mechanisms. For your mental health, I encourage everyone to use a Yiddish word today.

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Recently, I’ve noticed Canadians using the term “ish,” as in: “Are you hungry?” “Ish”; or “Did you have a good weekend?” “Ish.” SH words are just so much fun to say. Like schlep, or schmatta, or shamma-lamma-ding-dong.

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Comedy could have been referred to as stick, but that’s no fun. A stick is hard, rigid and used to beat people. I’d be scared if someone wanted to beat me with a stick. Beating me with a shtick sounds much better. If a news report announced, “Police rolled into the protest and started beating everyone with their shtick,” then that’s a protest I’d show up to.

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Shagging is better than sagging. Maritimers know that shucking an oyster is better than sucking an oyster. No one wants to eat a snitzel — that sounds like snot — but I bet you’d love a good shmear right now. Likewise, some cities are lucky with names like Shawinigan, Chicoutimi and Chibougamau. They’re not all SH words but they sound great.

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Sometimes the English language is wise to do without the extra consonants: Who wants jam from Shmucker’s? Or shpoonable fruit shpreads? And then sometimes we can have it both ways. My parents came from a small eastern European village, called a shtetl, a bit like the kind depicted in the film “Fiddler on the Roof.” Technically speaking, I’m a shtetler and a settler.