Joshua Raclaw
@joshuaraclaw.com
sociocultural linguist working in trans and queer linguistics and conversation analysis. posts about yiddish, cooking, adhd, cats, professor stuff. (they/זײ) [ˈɹæ.klɔ] מיר װעלן זײ איבערלעבן
yiddish does not fuck around when it comes to this kind of thing
February 2, 2026 at 2:33 AM
yiddish does not fuck around when it comes to this kind of thing
What did you even do to this photograph
February 1, 2026 at 3:39 PM
What did you even do to this photograph
און דרױסן איז 5 גראַד, דאָס איז ניט גענוג גראַד 😭
דערצו נאָך, אײַז מוז חרובֿ געמאַכט װערן
דערצו נאָך, אײַז מוז חרובֿ געמאַכט װערן
January 30, 2026 at 12:48 PM
און דרױסן איז 5 גראַד, דאָס איז ניט גענוג גראַד 😭
דערצו נאָך, אײַז מוז חרובֿ געמאַכט װערן
דערצו נאָך, אײַז מוז חרובֿ געמאַכט װערן
DC sidewalks are still a fucking mess from all the snow and ice but they at least know how to host a little guy
January 29, 2026 at 7:43 PM
DC sidewalks are still a fucking mess from all the snow and ice but they at least know how to host a little guy
The campus really is beautiful this time of year
January 29, 2026 at 2:25 AM
The campus really is beautiful this time of year
i don’t know why yiddish needs a word just to describe people who are tall yet stupid but you’re not gonna hear me complaining about it
January 15, 2026 at 4:20 PM
i don’t know why yiddish needs a word just to describe people who are tall yet stupid but you’re not gonna hear me complaining about it
i like how the english version of fiddler on the roof's opening song has the daughters talking about mending and tending and fixing things, and the yiddish version is just "we've got the meats"
January 13, 2026 at 6:30 PM
i like how the english version of fiddler on the roof's opening song has the daughters talking about mending and tending and fixing things, and the yiddish version is just "we've got the meats"
honestly embarrassing to put these words down on paper and then have them published in an academic journal.
January 12, 2026 at 9:28 PM
honestly embarrassing to put these words down on paper and then have them published in an academic journal.
in saltier news i now get ai overviews when searching yiddish words and they’re just confident sounding bullshit from start to finish
January 12, 2026 at 4:53 PM
in saltier news i now get ai overviews when searching yiddish words and they’re just confident sounding bullshit from start to finish
"last night i dreamt about your beloved full beard—may she rest in peace" is such a banger of a line
January 4, 2026 at 7:06 PM
"last night i dreamt about your beloved full beard—may she rest in peace" is such a banger of a line
learned an incredible yiddish song from the 1800s called THE BEARD (די באָרד) about a woman absolutely losing her shit over how her religious husband just up and shaved his beard one day
"Did the beard somehow hurt you? Did it cost you any great expense? Did it demand your food?? OY GEVALD"
"Did the beard somehow hurt you? Did it cost you any great expense? Did it demand your food?? OY GEVALD"
January 4, 2026 at 6:55 PM
learned an incredible yiddish song from the 1800s called THE BEARD (די באָרד) about a woman absolutely losing her shit over how her religious husband just up and shaved his beard one day
"Did the beard somehow hurt you? Did it cost you any great expense? Did it demand your food?? OY GEVALD"
"Did the beard somehow hurt you? Did it cost you any great expense? Did it demand your food?? OY GEVALD"
just a real visceral dislike of how they're using the phrase "natural language" here, particularly the rhetorical work they're trying to do by describing a prompt as ✨natural✨
January 2, 2026 at 9:59 PM
just a real visceral dislike of how they're using the phrase "natural language" here, particularly the rhetorical work they're trying to do by describing a prompt as ✨natural✨
i understand why yiddish might have a word for "sheepskin" or "bearskin" but why is there a specific word for mouseskin, what were the jews of europe doing with these tiny little mouse pelts
January 1, 2026 at 10:43 PM
i understand why yiddish might have a word for "sheepskin" or "bearskin" but why is there a specific word for mouseskin, what were the jews of europe doing with these tiny little mouse pelts
Editor: You finish those carvings of the sweet baby cherubim?
Woodcarver: Sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked.
Editor: what
Woodcarver: Sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked.
Editor: what
January 1, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Editor: You finish those carvings of the sweet baby cherubim?
Woodcarver: Sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked.
Editor: what
Woodcarver: Sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked.
Editor: what
throwback to when someone threw a yiddish new year’s card into the OCR machine and it immediately spit out “children’s hole!!” greetings
December 31, 2025 at 7:30 PM
throwback to when someone threw a yiddish new year’s card into the OCR machine and it immediately spit out “children’s hole!!” greetings
Wild opinion here but I think non-Jews need to stop throwing around the word "shanda" when it's clearly being used in the sense of the longer Yiddish phrase "shanda for di goyim" ("a Jew acting shamefully in front of non-Jews")
December 29, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Wild opinion here but I think non-Jews need to stop throwing around the word "shanda" when it's clearly being used in the sense of the longer Yiddish phrase "shanda for di goyim" ("a Jew acting shamefully in front of non-Jews")
here is the recipe i used! it was a first go and i want to play around with it a bit but i liked it, not the exact same as Just Egg but not super far off (CC @erikas.online)
December 29, 2025 at 8:14 PM
here is the recipe i used! it was a first go and i want to play around with it a bit but i liked it, not the exact same as Just Egg but not super far off (CC @erikas.online)
throwback to when someone had the language prediction machine try to autotranslate this sweet yiddish new year's card and it immediately spit out "CHILDREN'S HOLE!"
December 31, 2025 at 5:37 PM
throwback to when someone had the language prediction machine try to autotranslate this sweet yiddish new year's card and it immediately spit out "CHILDREN'S HOLE!"
she has gone fully aerodynamic
December 29, 2025 at 5:17 PM
she has gone fully aerodynamic