Uncle_DaveO -

You are correct. Lady Jean's post didn't distinquish between which population of Pittsburghers she was referring to..

In my post I added additional information that makes that distinction. I did so because I believe that in a multi-racial/multi-ethnic society is not only valid but it is important and interesting to document differences in word usages & word meanings among peoples of different races & ethnicities.

You may be correct that the Yiddish set of terms, "nebish, nebesh" and so on, for "loser" has nothing to do with the Pittsburgh region's use of "neb" and "nebby."

I love etymology, but I'm barely in the first grade vis a vis the study of the origins & meanings of words and phrases. However, one of the first lessons that one learns in that field is that words don't have to be related just because they look very much alike and are pronounced the same or similarly.

So let me amend my post to say that it may be possible that the use of "neb" and "nebby" in possibly different ways and with possibly different meanings among Pittsburgh region's African American and
non-African American populations may come from the Yeddish word "nebish".

I'll then hand this question over to competent eytmologists for them to study, agree upon, and/or fight over.


Azizi