Cheesecake-Lexicography II סערניק־לעקסיקאָגראפֿיע

Yesterday I asked the budding neologists among my readers for for names for a cheesecake-like dessert made with nuts or seeds. Hippogirl very aptly pointed out that the word "cheesecake" has been used for centuries to describe such cheese-free confections as Mrs. Beeton's Almond Cheesecake and Lemon Cheesecake, recipes number 1219 and1292 in Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861). The cakes in Mrs. Beeton's recipes resemble a a sort of shoo-fly pie made with lots of eggs and sugar. I think they are both worth trying, and I agree that for the time being the best word in English for cheesecake is "cheesecake."

The perfect Yiddish word for nut and seed cheesecakes is obvious. It has to be קערניק (kernik). You see, one of the Yiddish words for cheesecake is סערניק (sernik), from the word "ser" which means cheese in Polish and some other Slavic languages. The word "kern" means seeds or kernels.

This is the second most useful word I ever made up. The most useful word is געװעזנתּניתטע (geveznteyniste) which means the former wife of one's current husband. The former husband of one's current wife is one's געװעזנתּן (geveznutn).