JUST DON'T CALL ME LATE FOR ZOOPER

Of the five Saferstein brothers in my father’s generation, all but one pronounced our name as SaferSTINE; the other brother, his wife, and their three children always called themselves SaferSTEEN.

“-steen" seems to be the default pronunciation, as in Burnstein, Goldstein, Epstein . . . but does anyone call Einstein "Een-steen"?

Oh, it’s swell and also fine
That my name is Saferstein.
But I’m not picky; I’m not mean . . .
You can call me Saferstein.

Zooper is what my grandmother called "supper." Maybe it's Yiddish; maybe it was her attempt to call it "supper." With an accent, who can tell?