Wandering around Manhattan yesterday I passed a construction site
where concrete was being pumped up to an upper storey via a long
hollow boom — altogether a very ingenious contraption. What stuck in
my mind, though, was the name of the firm painted along the length of
the boom: PUTZMEISTER.
Excuse me? “Putzmeister”? My knowledge of Yiddish is pretty
scanty, but I think I know “putz.” Is this a spoof? No, it’s a real
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