Something triggered a childhood memory of the word pipik. I vaguely remember jokes about Moishe Pipik, as in 'who do you think you are, Moishe Pipik?'
I can't find the word in any Yiddish resource I have. Can anyone tell me what 'pipik' means? Or where it came from, or what the joke about it is?''
Dear Karen,
Pipik ( actually spelled Peh-vav-peh-ayin-qof and pronounced Pupik in some Yiddish dialects) means"belly button" (i.e., navel).
For me too it is a childhood memory. We didn't speak Yiddish in our Anglo-Jewish family, but my parents used quite a few vocabulary words -- mostly either amusing or just plain vulgar ones!
