מכּה
־ות

ETYMOLOGY

Vowel 11, Proto-Yiddish ✱a
Tiberian Hebrew makkɔ̄́

WESTERN

Wer e מכה hot, soll sie frei tragen.
{Maißim un Schnokes vun e Handelewos, LEIPZIG 1845: 43}
- Wenn af כל ישראל e מכה kummt, kummt af an e Blätrl. {43}

mákə {NORTHWESTERN, Katz 1982: 223}

Holland (Netherlands)

makke; 'makkes (pl.) [HOLLAND, Beem, Jerosche]
- Whole Hebrew: mak'kous
- Kol kaal e makke, hot jederman e blôter. Var. Kol jisroel e makke, is fier jederman e blotersche (bleitersche). 'If the whole community (is) an abscess, everyone has a blister.' {Jerosche №414}
- Er is makke bedoufie un touwel bemakkes. 'He strikes doufie and plunges into makkes. He mixes everything up. Someone who makes ridiculous mistakes out of ignorance with regard to Jewish customs. It is customary in the confession of sins, including the Day of Atonement, to strike one's chest for every sin that is confessed. Diebarnu doufie = we have spoken slanderous language. That is one sin expressed in two words. This person strikes himself twice, once for each word, rather than for the single sin. He makes the same mistake at the seder table during Passover. One spits a drop of wine from the cup when reciting each of the ten plagues. Makkous bechourous (death of the firstborn) is a plague. The person concerned spits twice, again once for each word, rather than for the single plague. Word play between makke and makkes. Touwelen = to submerge.' {Jerosche №584}
- Das is kaan makke touwe. 'That's not an easy woman, that's a Xantippe. Good plague. So a contradiction in terms.' {Jerosche №585}
- Makkes un foule fisch. Var. Foule fisch un schleeg zu. 'Beating and rotten fish. Var. Spoiled fish and a beating (in the bargain). Originally a choice between different penalties and in the end they get both, suffer double damages. Now used in the sense of: experiencing disappointment or suffering and also being blamed by the person who is the cause. Background is story in Ts. Ur. dept. Bo. Ex. XII. 33. Ein moschel; do is ein melech, der sogt zu seinem knecht u.s.w. Da geht der Knecht un kaaft ein touten fisch, der do schtinkt u.s.w. The king condemns him to eat the spoiled fish himself, or to suffer a hundred strokes or pay a hundred guilders. He starts with the spoiled fish, prefers the hundred strokes in the middle, but in the end prefers to pay the fine and thus gets all three penalties.' {Jerosche №586}
Tendlau 627 (with the source of the story).
Zunz, Gesammelte Schriften III, pag. 263, no. 34.
- Die beste von die 'eesser makkes. 'The best of the ten plagues. The least evil. The least serious of a series of unpleasantnesses.' {Jerosche №587}
V.P. 119.
M.J.V. 1899, bl. 143 - Ale magd sind schlecht, is eine gut, is si die beste fun die eser makouth.
Bernst. 195 - dus beste fün di esser-makojss senen knejdlech mit jauch.

מכּה תּובֿה
makə tauvə {HOLLAND, Harderwijk 52055, Beem}

CENTRAL

mákə {Katz 1982: 223}

Unterland (East Transcarpathian)

makъ {ETCP, Sîg Felső Szek, 47223}

makʲə {POLAND, Wolbrom, 50196}

HASIDIC

AMERICA

di ˈmakə bəˈpatɩš די מכּה בפּטיש 'the hit with a hammer, final blow, straw that broke the camel's back'

NORTHEASTERN

mákə {NORTHWESTERN, Katz 1982: 223}

SOUTHEASTERN

a vurclʲ af a makʲə אַ וואָרצל אויף אַ מכּה {ROMANIA, Brăila, 45273}