The words are YOM TOV

Jewishmofm

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 12:59 am

that depends on your language of choice. and do you say GOOD yom tov? when tov is already a modifier?

busymom

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 1:17 am

I remember being surprised the first time I read "yontif" in a text, but I believe it has become an acceptable slang in some circles, like writing "cuz" for "because." You can choose never to write it that way yourself, but language is fluid and you can't really control how it evolves.

m in Israel

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 1:19 am

Actually, I'm pretty sure "yuntif" is the Yiddish word, which many people use. (I.e. "gut yontif").

heidi

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 3:26 am

rachel91 wrote:

I say ' yontif', but always write yom tov.

Me too! Or Chag Sameach.

mommy3b2c

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 7:13 am

m in Israel wrote:

Actually, I'm pretty sure "yuntif" is the Yiddish word, which many people use. (I.e. "gut yontif").

Yuntif is not yiddish. Its slang for yom tov. I say, yontif, but I would never write it.

Maya

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 7:59 am

Ruchel wrote:

It's not slang. It's Yiddish.

Is shaleshudes slang?

Yes, or course. It's not Yiddish.
Neither is yontif. It's slang.

mommy3b2c

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 8:06 am

Ruchel wrote:

It's not slang. It's Yiddish.

Is shaleshudes slang?

Of course. It's slang for shalosh seudos.

Ruchel

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 8:07 am

LOL absolutely not slang. Look up slang lol. Unless it's cultural to call it slang...

mummiedearest

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 8:15 am

it's actually a culturally yiddish word, not a proper yiddish word. I can't tell you which area it comes from, but it is definitely identified as yiddish. it would not be written as "yuntif" in hebrew letters, but it is written as "yuntif" in english.

check out this fun book from 1969 (and it is fun, I have it)

http://www.amazon.com/Gut-Yont.....WJC2Y

abaker

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 9:00 am

gut yomptif....anyone heard someone say this? I frequently hear it and was just curious if lots of people say it this way.

redroses

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 9:03 am

"Slang" is a funny word if you think about it. Slang...slang....slang...slang...

sweetpotato

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 9:25 am

Oy, how many times are we going to have this discussion?

According to YIVO, which is effectively the authority on Yiddish transliteration, יום טוב when pronounced the Yiddish way is transliterated as "yontev" in Roman letters.

Considering most people don't follow standardized orthography when writing Yiddish words (or Hebrew words, for that matter), writing "yontiff" on "yomtev" or whatever other permutation is certainly understandable.

Or are you saying that pronouncing "yom tov" as "yontev" is wrong in the first place?

granolamom

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 10:52 am

this thread reminds me of a friend back in high school who started greeting people on the street on shabbos with 'pajamas'. sounded like gut shabbos, no one caught on.

anyway, have a gut yontif (sorry, slang, real word or otherwise, I'm holding on to it)

morah

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 11:04 am

My husband gets SO ANNOYED with "gut yuntif" because he is sefardi, but what can I say, that's what I grew up saying (though I try to remember to say chag sameach when he's around). Anyway, it seems to me that in Yiddish, Yom Tov is pronounced "Yum Tiv", which then gets smushed together coming out as the familiar "yuntif". Anyway, yuntif is NOT wrong, you could call it nonstandard* usage, but it's not wrong.

*By nonstandard, I mean purely in terms of the language. It is obviously "standard" in that everyone ashkenazi says it that way, but still considered "nonstandard" in terms of the rules of the language.

Peanut2

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 1:15 pm

granolamom wrote:

I also know someone who did this! Past high school age, too.

No one noticed.

Peanut2

Wed, Oct 08 2014, 1:21 pm

It's Yiddish. I hate it, too, but there it is.

I wonder if the people calling it slang are Yiddish speakers. Are you?
Maybe it's Yiddish slang.

(Side note and I should start a new thread, but I have a few friends who are Yiddish scholars and none are native Yiddish speakers. One in particular wants to speak more Yiddish. If anyone here is and is willing to schmooze with her let me know. She reads and writes and teaches Yiddish, and researches and writes about Yiddish.)