Word Prompt – SHVIGGER – Eli Lebowicz

I almost turned down writing this prompt because I figured it would get me into trouble. Not just because it’s #1 on the list of Yiddish words that in 2024 sounds most offensive. But because I don’t know how I’d show my face on the next Friday morning FaceTime call with my mother-in-law after making jokes about her more than I already do in my act.

We actually had a baby earlier this year and my in-laws lived with us for a month afterwards, because I needed more comedy material. And boy did that work.

I realized that my mother-in-law communicates with my father-in-law in a way that can best be described as…the way you talk to a Shabbos goy. She can’t tell him to do anything directly. Instead, she has to hint to him in roundabout ways to see if he figures out what she’s getting at. The sentence “doesn’t it feel cold in here” should be studied in every marriage class as well as some hilchos Shabbos classes.

One time when holding the baby she said, “Her diaper feels full,” and I asked if she wanted me to change her. She said, “No, I’m just telling you.”