The `other' JEWISH LANGUAGE; It was a life-saver for one generation, an embarrassment for another and a treasure for yet another.(SOURCE)

Byline: KRISTIN TILLOTSON; STAFF WRITER

My heritage is Scandinavian Lutheran, but ever since I heard the expression "oy vey," I've found it so much more satisfying to say than "oofda." Who wouldn't rather be verklempt than merely upset, or have chutzpah rather than boring old nerve? And why complain or be overjoyed when kvetching and kvelling are so much closer to expressing the feeling?

Neal Karlen's "The Story of Yiddish: How a Mish-Mosh of Languages Saved the Jews" (William Morrow, $25.95) is as lively, colorful and multifaceted as the language itself. In…