photo by Shulamit Seidler-Feller

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Vint - ווינט \VINT\ Noun \ Masculine \ Pl. Vintn:

1. kemfn kegn vintmiln (קעמפן קעגן ווינטמילן) or khapn mit di hent dem vint (כאפן מיט די הענט דעם ווינט) - to attempt the impossible (lit., to fight against windmills or to grab the wind with one's hands)
2. khapn a vintl (כאפן א ווינטל) - to catch a cold (lit., to catch a breeze)
3. krign vint (קריגן ווינט) - to get wind of (i.e. to hear about)
4. lebn fun vint (לעבן פון ווינט) - to live without visible means of support (lit., to live on wind)
5. visn vuhin der vint blozt (וויסן וווהין דער ווינט בלאזט) - to be capable/qualified (lit., to know which way the wind blows)

1. Yidish ashires kumt mitn vint un geyt avek mitn roykh (יידיש עשירות קומט מיטן ווינט און גייט אוועק מיטן רויך) - Jewish wealth comes with the wind and departs with the smoke (especially in pre-modern Europe, where Jews had few means of protecting their property).
2. Ver es yogt zikh nokh vint khapt a ruekh (ווער עס יאגט זיך נאך ווינט כאפט א רוח) - He who chases illusions reaps evil spirits. This expression plays on the fact that Yiddish vint and Hebrew ruah (רוח) are synonyms, except that in Yiddish, ruekh has taken on the meaning of "evil spirit, ghost, devil." (It also means “spirit” or soul in Hebrew) As such, the expression means that if you chase after wind, that's exactly what you'll get - or worse.

Sentence:

Vint in a sentence: Bay mir in der heym iz kalt, vayl a sharfer un shtarker vint blozt in droysn (ביי מיר אין דער היים איז קאלט, ווייל א שארפער און שטארקער ווינט בלאזט אין דרויסן) - It's cold in my house because a sharp and strong wind is blowing outside.

Have a gute vakh!

Review (khazore) of the previous three Yiddish Words-of-the-Week:

1. Post (פאסט) - mail, a post office
2. Pasn (פאסן) - to fit, suit, match
3. Drukn (דרוקן) - to print

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