Zorbits on Your Skin

Hi there, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Allison. I’m calling in from Redwood City, California.

I am calling because I’m actually originally from New York City. My family is Jewish and way back all Yiddish speaking.

And there’s a word that I’ve heard around my family, which is zorbit. And it’s a word that is used like if you press your mouth against, usually like somebody’s stomach or neck and you blow and it makes a funny sound. And so it was always like something we did in our family. And I didn’t realize that other people didn’t know what that was. And I was calling to see if you guys could help me figure it out.

How would you spell zorbit?

I would spell it Z-O-R-B-I-T.

Nice.

Okay. We can definitely help you. So just to be clear here, this is the kind of thing that when you see one of those perfect little round baby bellies, you have to blow a raspberry on it.

Yeah, yeah.

And make them giggle, right? Just try to get that laughing baby thing going.

Definitely. And it was also used like as like a, oh, I’m going to get you like when you were kids, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

Favorite game. That kind of thing, too.

Yeah. You know, it’s not Yiddish as far as I know. And we actually know something about the date in which it was popularized, although it may be a little bit earlier than that. And that date is December 5th, 1985, when it appeared on an episode of The Cosby Show called Claire’s Toe.

And at the time, The Cosby Show was this big cultural force, despite whatever has happened since with Bill Cosby. At the time, it was a really big deal for something to enter the mainstream through TV. And there’s this scene where Cliff Huxtable, played by Bill Cosby, is talking with Rudy, one of the young kids. And they’re preparing for a spelling bee.

And Rudy says, what does Z-R-B-T-T spell? And Cliff Huxtable says, Zerbit spell? And he says, you know what I think a Zerbit is? I just remembered. A Zerbit is this. And then he blows a raspberry on Rudy. He does a Zerbit.

And so the way they spell it on the show is Z-R-B-T-T with no E. But after that, most people started spelling it as Zerbert, Z-R-B-E-R-T, which actually turns out to be an ancient spelling of the word sherbert, you know, the icy treat. But unrelated. And so it’s, you know, it’s a form of blowing a raspberry or the Bronx cheer on a belly or on bare skin. Lots of different names for it.

Yeah. So I believe as a long time until things went awry, I was used to be a longtime fan of Bill Cosby. And I believe I have heard it in some of his standup routines before the Cosby show, because a lot of the material from his standup routines was recycled into the show, you know, and developed for a sitcom.

Right. Wow. I would not have expected that.

Well, thank you guys so much.

Yeah, our pleasure. Give us another call sometime, Allison.

Sounds good. I appreciate you guys.

Yeah, we appreciate you.

Thanks, Allison.

All right. Have a good one.

Such a great word. Because it sounds like the thing that it is. It’s very monopoeic.

Exactly. Call us with your language question, 877-929-9673.