Ever wondered where the iconic Seinfeld phrases ‘yada yada,’ ‘shrinkage,’ and ‘double-dip’ originated? I mean, can you believe there was a time when ‘double dip’ wasn’t part of America’s vernacular? How did grumpy couples passive-aggressively chastise each other at parties before the concept entered our cultural consciousness? (The Jews have actually been double dipping for centuries (see: Passover), but I guess the word ‘matbilin’ doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so easily.)

Anyway, wonder no more! The answers to those questions (OK, some of them) can be found in Vulture’s fascinating interview with Seinfeld writer and producer Peter Mehlman, the man who coined the phrases ‘yada yada’ and ‘double dip,’ among others. Apparently he once heard ‘yada yada’ used by the editor of a women’s magazine (heyyy ladies!), then decided to adopt it as a catch-all term for things you can’t be bothered explaining:

… A couple of times she used the words yada yada and I don’t think I had even heard anyone say it after. And I don’t know why, but it just popped back into my mind. At first, I just thought of it as some little quirk that I could throw in, but then all of a sudden, I started thinking of all of the things you could just gloss over using yada yada.

Seriously, what a goddamned gift to the world. To Mehlman’s surprise, the popularity of ‘yada yada’ quickly usurped ‘anti-dentite,’ which was his personal favorite: “I love when Kramer goes, ‘You’re a rabid anti-dentite!’ I really liked that one more than ‘yada yada.'”

Alas, an ironic professional slur which pokes fun at Jews’ preoccupation with anti-Semitism is no match for a phrase which can mean anything from “we had sex” to “my fiancée died licking our wedding invitation envelopes.”

Related: ‘Seinfeld’ Saw the Future, And it Was Facebook
Now You Can Take a Virtual Tour of Jerry Seinfeld’s TV Apartment

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I used to tell people Jerry Seinfeld was a cousin of mine. At one friend’s car-ride-away bat mitzvah, it was one of my talking points. “He took out the “ch” for professional reasons,” I said. “Hollywood stuff.”

Regardless if Jerry is long lost kin, today he took to Reddit to do an Ask Me Anything session where he touched on many subjects–of course the magic of Seinfeld, obsessing over the minutiae, and most excitingly, a new project with his right hand man, Larry David.

On his first time meeting Larry David:

“The first time I met him, that’s a long story… I actually was eavesdropping on him talking to another comedian, and I wasn’t even in comedy yet. But he was leaning on my car in front of the Improv on 9th Ave and 44th Street, and this would be probably 1975. That was the first time I ever saw him. But we didn’t talk. But him and this other comedian were leaning on the fender of my car, and I knew that they were real comedians and I was still just flirting with it. So I don’t know if that answers the question.

Then when we finally did talk in the bar Catch a Rising Star on 1st Ave and 78th Street 2 or 3 years after that, we couldn’t stop talking. We were both obsessed with the smallest possible issue.”

On how his white sneaker collection started:

“It started with wanting to be Joe Namath of the 1969 New York jets, who at that time was one of the only football players to wear white shoes. And I wanted to be like him, so I always wore white sneakers. Also, Bill Cosby on I SPY always wore white sneakers. And they were my fashion icons.”

On new Larry David project:

“We never obsess over anything that isn’t mundane. Most recent was intentional mumbling. We wrote this script for this thing that you will eventually see but I can’t reveal what it is at this time. All I can do is tell you is that it’s big, huge, gigantic. Even bigger than that Amazon package.”

On why he chose comedy:

“I chose comedy because I thought it seemed much easier than work. And more fun than work. It turned out to be much harder than work, and not easy at all. But you still don’t have to ever really grow up. And that’s the best thing of all.”

(Photo by Getty)

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Over the weekend, during President Obama’s weeklong vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, he took to the green with comedian Larry David. Because nothing helps the mind rest quite like nine holes with The Fussiest. The two were joined by former U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and private equity investor Glenn Hutchins. You know, just your average motley crew.

David has been staying on the affluent Massachusetts island producing and starring in Clear History, a new HBO comedy released this month, starring fellow comedians Bill Hader and Danny McBride. They probably weren’t invited.

It was especially thoughtful of the president to invite David to the Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs because he did only play 27 hours of golf all week. The two men had spoken at a party earlier in the week, perhaps that’s when they made the plans:

Obama and the Seinfeld co-creator also crossed paths on Wednesday, at a sunset cocktail party thrown in the president’s honor by cable TV mogul Brian Roberts. David discussed his new movie, set in Martha’s Vineyard, The New York Times reports. Attorney General Eric Holder, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett were also in attendance.

We can only speculate, but it probably went exactly like this:

(Photo by Shutterstock)

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The Huffington Post pointed out today that Seinfeld basically predicted Facebook. Seriously: in this stand-up routine, Jerry describes the unfortunate circumstance of calling someone on the telephone—and having them actually pick up. All you ever really want to do is leave a message.

Then he summarizes the entire point of Facebook’s existence, explaining why we so eagerly embrace this social networking force. Hint: it’s so we’d never actually have to talk to people.

Here what we have is two people who hate each other, don’t really ever want to talk, but the phone machine is like this relationship respirator keeping these marginal brain-dead relationships alive, and we all do it. Why? So that when we come home you can see that little flashing red light. You go, ‘all right, messages.’

You see, people need that. It’s very important for human beings to feel that they are popular and well-liked amongst a large group of people that we don’t care for.

Emphasis ours. Touche, Jerry. And while you’re at it, can you accept our friend request?

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Flu season is upon us, and whether you’ve had it or been around people who have it, chances are you’re probably complaining about it. From sickly coworkers to sniffling family members, no one is safe.

What better way to fight the flu*—and stay stylish—than with these printable flu masks bearing the faces of your favorite Jewish stars? Just download the PDF, cut along the dotted lines, punch holes where marked and tie the mask on, and you’re all set! You can thank us later, once you’ve Purell-ed. Masks by the one and only Margarita Korol of Urban Pop Art Projects.

Option 1: The Larry David

It’s pretty, pretty, pretty gross out there with everyone coughing all over the place. Take a bold stand against all the sick people around you by pledging allegiance to the king of principled decision-making.

Printer-friendly Larry David flu mask [PDF]

Option 2: The Lena Dunham

You’re almost kind of getting it together this flu season, but not so much that you’ve actually gotten a flu shot or taken any real precautions. Never fear, the unflappable writer/director/tweeter has you covered—literally.

Printer-friendly Lena Dunham flu mask [PDF]

Option 3: The Jason Schwartzman

Bored to death of the interminable flu season? Stroll around Brooklyn fearlessly with Schwartzman’s mustachioed face atop your own. Moonrise Kingdom khaki scout cap sold separately.

Printer-friendly Jason Schwartzman flu mask [PDF]

Option 4: The Natalie Portman

Flu season got you on your toes? Take a page from the Black Swan herself and you’ll get an Aleph for effort.

Printer-friendly Natalie Portman flu mask [PDF]

Option 5: The Woody Allen

Show the world—or everyone on the subway, at least—that you’re so much more than a run-of-the-mill hypochondriac with this facial salute to the master alarmist himself.

Printer-friendly Woody Allen flu mask [PDF]

*Fine print: These paper masks probably won’t prevent the flu or any other real afflictions, but they’ll go a long way toward combating hypochondria and looking awesome.

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• Documentary nominees for the Directors Guild of America include Allison Klayman, the filmmaker behind the award-winning documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (who was Beijing’s most popular bat mitzvah tutor during filming) and Lauren Greenfield, whose film The Queen of Versailles offers a revealing look into the astronomical excess of the wacky Siegel family. [THR]

• Larry David watches Degrassi. Someone tell Drake. [Huffington Post]

• This is pretty much what Shoshanna’s Emoji-ridden texts look like [Vulture]

• Brisket, so trendy right now. [NYMag]

• Etsy’s Jewish stuff (see: this and this). [Forward]

• A scene from the ill-fated James Deen/Lindsay Lohan flick, The Canyons:

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• There’s a food revolution happening in Poland, and it sounds pretty good. [Washington Post]

• Ramaz alum Leandra Medine—better known as her sartorial alter ego, Man Repeller—made the New York Post’s list of 13 Women to Watch Under 30. [NYP]

• Mila Kunis cooks Russian food. That is all. [Esquire]

• Meanwhile, when Carmelo Anthony was lurking by the Celtics bus the other night, he was “probably not there to to tell his opponents they could still get to Veselka and order the latkes.” [WSJ]

• Jeff Garlin is getting a podcast called “By The Way,” and comedy pals like Larry David and Judd Apatow will be stopping by. [HuffPo]

• Until then, here’s Apatow talking to Alex Baldwin on Baldwin’s similarly-named WNYC show, “Here’s the Thing:”

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• Krakow made Conde Nast Traveler’s list of top 10 cities in the Europe, earning an 89.3 rating for ambience. [CN Traveler]

• Gary Shteyngart, who was roasted at BAM last night, refers to his first novel as The Russian Debutante’s Handjob. We knew we liked him. [Entertainment Weekly]

• Jonathan Adler has a nanny, whatever. [Bon Appetit]

• For only $23.5 million, you can buy Madonna’s Central Park West apartment (Kabbalah string sold separately). [NY Daily News]

• Chelsea Clinton is reportedly trying to make a baby with king of the nebbishes Marc Mezvinsky [The Cut]

• We’re thankful for Larry David’s animated video about Thanksgiving in Brooklyn. “Rosie, would you sit down please?” [Funny or Die]

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Larry David lent his star power in the ’18-24 young person demographic’ to a voting initiative directed at young Americans, filming a slightly awkward, if well-intentioned, short video.

“Not to vote…why are you even living here?” he asks. “You could be living anywhere. You could be living in Iran, or North Korea, how would you like that? Then you could sit on your couch.”

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• Buenos Aires, “kosher capital” of Latin America?

• The man orchestrating NBC’s 2012 Olympic coverage keeps kosher.

• Seriously though, what did happen to Jordache?

• Even Oprah (Magazine) loves Ari Seth Cohen’s granny-chic blog.

• Looks like Larry David might be headed back to HBO with a new film project, starring Jon Hamm.

• Gary Shteyngart’s new gig? Toilet reporter.

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