I should change my line in this play? Emphasis is up to you.

I may tweak one of my lines in this year's play slightly - the way the translation was done, it always comes out from my brain in a Yiddish accent. If I change "maybe" to "perhaps" it will probably solve the issue. I don't think Yiddishizing the line is really called for onstage.

This got me remembering a sequence from Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish that I've always liked. It demonstrates how tone and emphasis are used to completely change the meaning of the same sentence:

1. I should buy two tickets for her concert? --meaning:, "After what she did to me?"
2. I should buy two tickets for her concert? --meaning: "What, you're giving me a lesson in ethics?"
3. I should buy two tickets for her concert? --meaning: I wouldn't go even if she were giving out free passes!
4. I should buy two tickets for her concert? --meaning: I'm having enough trouble deciding whether it's worth one.
5. I should buy two tickets for her concert? --She should be giving out free passes, or the hall will be empty.
6. I should buy two tickets for her concert? --Did she buy tickets to our daughter's recital?
7. I should buy two tickets for her concert? --You mean, they call what she does a "concert"?

A thumb in the eye to those who say Asian languages are the only ones that are tonal.