להבֿדיל
Yiddish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Hebrew לְהַבְדִּיל (l'havdíl), infinitive of הִבְדִּיל (hivdíl, “to separate, to distinguish”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]להבֿדיל • (lehavdl)
- lehavdil; excuse the comparison
- 1894, שלום־עליכם (sholem-aleykhem, “Sholem Aleichem”), “קטנתּי (kotonti)”, in טבֿיה דער מילכיקער (tevye der milkhiker, “Tevye the Dairyman”):
- קָטֹנְתִּי! – באַדאַרף איך אײַך זאָגן מיטן לשון, וואָס יעקבֿ אָבֿינו האָט געזאָגט, בשעת ער האָט זיך געלאָזט גיין קעגן עשׂון, להבֿדיל...
- kotoynti! – badarf ikh aykh zogn mitn loshn, vos yankev ovinu hot gezogt, bshas er hot zikh gelozt geyn kegn eysevn, lehavdl...
- “I am unworthy!” I allow myself to say to you with the words our Father Jacob said [to God] while he was on his way to meet Esau, lehavdil...
Usage notes
[edit]- Used to separate two items that would otherwise be mentioned sequentially, one of which is sacred and the other of which is profane.
Descendants
[edit]- → English: lehavdil