Oy vey!

So I'm heading off to my cousin's daughter's bat mitzvah in a few days. I've told a few people this. The news usually gets the "Oh, I didn't know that you're Jewish!" response, followed by the onset of confusion when I say that I'm not - my cousin married a Jewish man and converted. (As for my last name... who knows? We have documentation of our ancestry reaching back to the mid-1600's, but nothing that I'm aware of indicating Jewish ancestry).

Then there are the people who decide to be annoying.

When I say "bat mitzvah," they get a smug look on their face and say, "oh, you mean bar mitzvah" in a tone dripping with condescension.

I hate people like that. They get a big thrill out of correcting minor mistakes in people's speech, writing, basically useless factoids, etc. because they've got nothing else.

Anyway, much hilarity ensues when I shoot back, "not unless my cousin's daughter got a sex change."

That's usually when the smug face changes to the unmistakable look of panic. Instead of just saying, "no, you're wrong," which in and of itself is an empty counter lacking support, my response signals that I might have information that they don't. People who act this way hate that, especially after they've made an attempt at one-upping you.

And I do have information that they don't: What is a Bat Mitzvah?

It does seem that you hear the term "bar mitzvah" most of the time (outside of Jewish circles, anyway). Not sure why. It might have to do with the relatively short history of ceremonies to mark the transition of becoming a bat mitzvah. Who knows?

Anyway, mazel tov.