Zaftig
The word means fleshy in a sensual, feminine way
though sometimes it just means extra-large.
It’s a word you may not know if you’re
not from New York but from the heartland,
the prairie, the plains. Let me illustrate.
Michael, the Yankees’ play-by-play man,
announcing a pitching change,
says the reliever has “a zaftig ERA,”
and the former player in the booth,
a goyische guy with a yiddishe name (Cone)
has a puzzled look on his Kansas-in-August
punim. “What,” Michael says,
“you never heard of zaftig?” And Cone,
humbled, mumbles, “Maybe in English class.”
-- David Lehman
photo from Mad Men: Christine Hendricks and Elizabeth Moss.
Gut gemacht!
Posted by: Terence Winch | November 09, 2024 at 09:25 AM
Love this poem.
Posted by: Stephanie Brown | November 09, 2024 at 07:43 PM
Very clever!
Posted by: Amy Donow | November 10, 2024 at 07:52 AM
David,
I love this! The ending is amazing!
-Angela
Posted by: Angela Ball | November 16, 2024 at 01:49 PM
I remember an actress named June Wilkinson who was nicknamed "The Bosom." She most certainly was "zaftig." I think at one point she may have worn a T-shirt emblazoned with an arrow pointing to her head and these words underneath: "I'm up here." It caught on. Such was the time.
Posted by: Dr. Earle Hitchner | November 23, 2024 at 08:11 AM