Languages have rhythms of their own. Not only as far as cadence when speaking, but with regard to prefixes, suffixes and word endings. For example, “re” is an English prefix, used when an act is performed again, such as “reinstate,” “retell” and “reincarnate.” In the Yiddish language, “far” is among the more common prefixes. Thanks to the long-running “Saturday Night Live,” a good many viewers are familiar with the word “farklempt” (depressed or down in the mouth). Precious few, however, are aware that “klem” means a predicament or plight. “Far” is prefix indicating total or complete. As one who attended a Yiddish day school, my kindergarten diploma, of which I am most proud, attests to the fact that I have “farendikkt” (completed) kindergarten and am entitled to enter first grade. “Farendikkt,” the Yiddish term for “completed,” differs from “Ge’endikkt,” the “Yiddish term for “ended.” “Farendikkt” means concluded, once and for all; “Ge’endikt” means concluded—possibly for the time being.
What happens, however, when there is a word in a different language that could be mistaken, because it appears to have a Yiddish prefix? Such is the case with “far-fetched.” That expression is an amalgam of “far” and “fetch” and dates back to the days when Britain was consumed with exploration. More than a few sailors were given to spinning a yarn (also a term that originated with British sailors) and recounted amazing tales that they “fetched from afar.” The word “far-fetched” came into being as an antonym for implausible.
To the Yiddish ear however, “far-fetched” sounds authentically Yiddish, especially since “fetch” could also pass for a word that passed through many a lip in Lizhensk (modern-day Leżajsk). To the Yiddish ear, “fetch” is little more than a rhyme word for “petch” (plural of “pahtch”), which means a clap, smack, or slap. Even more likely, “fetch” rhymes with “kvetch,” which means press, squeeze, or strain. In Jewish America, aerobics has been referred to as “bend and kvetch.” A “kvetch” is one who is to be avoided at all costs, in that a kvetch is always complaining or griping.
As for the meaning of the nonexisting Yiddish word “far-fetched”? Consider the following examples: “I wish someone would tell her that she’s not doing herself any favor by walking around with such a ‘far-fetched’ face.” “All I said is that I have seen you do far better work. You don’t have to be so ‘far-fetched’ about it.” “He always seems so far-fetched. But who can blame him? Look how they treated him, growing up.”
Many an American Jewish family, made it to the Goldeneh Medinah (the Golden land, a euphemism for the United States) because of ancestors who had the temerity to “ganveh the grenetz” or steal across the border from, say, Belarus to Poland, en route to Danzig, where they proceeded to board ships that would take them across the Atlantic. The ability to “ganveh the grenetz” was in no way limited to humans. Once firmly ensconced in the new world, a number of English words stole across the border of the Yiddish language … or at least sound like they could have. “Far-fetched” is one of them.
Rabbi Shawn Zell has recently returned to New Jersey, after serving at a pulpit in Dallas. He possesses certification in teaching Yiddish. Rabbi Zell is the author of three books.
