Language App Duolingo Gives Free Bagel and Schmear to Customers Who Order in Yiddish

In celebration of the addition of Yiddish to their popular most downloaded education app worldwide—Duolingo partnered with bagel shops in five cities to offer a free bagel yesterday to anyone who attempted to order the Jewish dietary staple in the Yiddish dialect. And of course, these bagels came with a free schmear because, just like the word bagel, the term schmear also comes from Yiddish.

To order, customers had to give their best attempt at saying 'Ken ikh hubn a baygl mit shmirkeyz' or in English, 'I would like a bagel with schmear,'" the announcement explained. But even customers who were close enough were given a free breakfast from Duolingo.

The five participating shops were:

• New York City: Katz's Deli (205 E Houston St.)
• Los Angeles: Factor's Famous Deli (420 W Pico Blvd.)
• Chicago: Manny's Cafeteria & Deli (1141 S Jefferson St.)
• Miami: Zak The Baker (295 NW 26th St.)
• Pittsburgh: Pigeon Bagels (5613 Hobart St.)

Yiddish is the 40th language Duolingo offers, and the company says that though Yiddish was once spoken by as many as 13 million people, around 600,000 still speak the traditionally Ashkenazi Jewish language to this day. "Yiddish is spoken all around the world, and even if you've never heard of the language before, we bet you probably already know some Yiddish words," the company wrote.

Here's a report from a local New York TV station on the morning action at Katz's Deli.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.