Mamish, davka, and shtark all fall into both the first and last category above. They are unusual-to-me words for very "normal" concepts, and they move through the mouth in a fun, playful manner.
You should probably also know these words for practical reasons: they come up in conversation a lot. However, if you can't remember the meaning of these words, remember this: the sentence still makes sense without the word. You don't have to know these meanings.
Mamish: Yiddish derivative of a Hebrew word. Means really, very, exactly, "super," truly, "legit." Personally, I prefer mentally defining it as "super" or "legit."
Examples:
- Kochava is now mamish Jewish because the beit din got a favorable one year post-conversion review from the sponsoring rabbi. (I'm legit Jewish!)
- It's mamish hot out there! (It's super hot out there!)
- I'm mamish tired.
Some people pronounce it more Yiddish-like: mamishe ("mamish-sha"). For example, "Mamishe gevalt!" Personally, I would translate that as "For crying out loud!" or "Oh good grief!" but there are endless possibilities.
Dafka / Davka: Aramaic word, originally found in the Talmud. According to the succinct definition at UrbanDictionary, it means "Specifically and emphatically, usually with a contrarian connotation." (That's a fancy way of saying it's a sarcastic word.) Other definitions include precisely, exactly, surprisingly, ironically, "of course" (in the sarcastic sense), "just to annoy me," actually, "precisely this way and no other way."
Examples:
- "All the best Christmas songs were davka written by Jews." (From UrbanDictionary)
- She davka only dates men with green eyes.
- I dafka left my phone there, right on the table.
This article sums it up well: Translatable but Debatable, and includes some fun examples, including a new King James edition including the sentence, “Take now thy son, davka thine only son Isaac, whom thou davka lovest…”
Shtark: Yeshivish word (Yiddish?). Means machmir, strict, holy, exacting, very "frum."
Examples:
- You look so shtark when you wear a white shirt and black pants.
- You bought pas yisroel? Shtark.
- No shtark bochur eats dairy on Shabbos.
If you want to read some more fun examples of the word "shtark," check out this post at FrumSatire. Troublemaker Twitpacha friend @noahroth once created a great game of "#myrebbessoshtark." If you don't like cynical humor, you probably shouldn't read anything on FrumSatire. That's your warning. Here are some examples of what you will find in this blog post:
@MarkSoFla #myrebbessoshtark she doesn’t use the microphone on shabbos.
@bukin86: #myrebbessoshtark My rebbe is so shtark Hashem needs to work on his yiras my rebbe
@noahroth: #myrebbessoshtark ZZ Top comes to him for beard growing advice.
@bukin86: #myrebbessoshtark My rebbe is so shtark Hashem needs to work on his yiras my rebbe
@noahroth: #myrebbessoshtark ZZ Top comes to him for beard growing advice.
If you have other uses or "definitions" for these words, I'd love to hear them! What's your favorite "Jewish" word?