I’ve got a hoary tale to share with y’all.
I was living in Jerusalem, and not far from my apartment was a market area called “Shooq haBukharim” (The Bukharian Market). I wanted to buy oats that day, and I went from store to store asking for oats – whose Hebrew name is שׁבּולת שׁועל (shiboleth shu’al), which literally means “fox stalk.” Nobody seemed to have it, and I thought it odd. Eventually, I entered one shop whose owner heard my request, put his hand on his chin, thought deeply for a moment, and then exclaimed, “AH! Qvaker!!” He meant to say “Quaker.” I found this both funny and sad at the same time. This was probably 30 years ago. I’d imagine that today, only a professor of classical Hebrew studies, and yeshiva students, would know what שׁבּולת שׁועל means. They probably teach the kids at school that Qvaker is the correct Hebrew word for oats.
Similarly, I was strolling through Mahane Yehuda (a very popular market in Jerusalem) and a man was selling kiwis. He was hollering “Kivi! Kivi!!” I stopped and told him it’s actually “kiwi.” He laughed a jolly belly laugh, and then jokingly hollered “Kiwi! Kiwi!” If he’s still alive, he’s probably still wondering how I came up with that strange rendition of the popular fruit.
