Chutzpah is a Yiddish word meaning gall, brazen nerve, effrontery, sheer
guts plus arrogance; it's Yiddish and, as Leo Rosten writes, no other
word, and no other language, can do it justice. This example is better
than a thousand words...
A little old lady sold pretzels on a street corner for 25 cents each.
Every day a young man would leave his office building at lunch time and
as he passed the pretzel stand he would leave her a quarter, but never
take a pretzel.
And this went on for more then 3 years. The two of them never spoke.
One day as the young man passed the old lady's stand and left his
quarter as usual, the pretzel lady spoke to him.
Without blinking an eye she said:
"They're 35 cents"
Thump
Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:22 pm
