Leo Frank’s ghost still haunts us
The word is "shushky."
It means to shush something -- to not speak about something, to silence a conversation. It is a uniquely Southern Jewish Yiddishism.
Let me tell you about the first time that I heard that word.
I was with a group of Jews in Atlanta, Georgia. The conversation turned to the topic of Leo Frank. I suggested that it might be a “nice idea” to have a monument for him, somewhere in Atlanta.
As they say -- awkward.
"Under no circumstances," someone said.
"It’s too raw. It’s too fresh,” another person said.
"Let's just shushky the whole thing, shall we?" yet another person said…
The skinny
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