Yiddish Words list

drnaga

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Yiddish Words list​

There is no universally accepted transliteration or spelling; the standard YIVO version is based on the Eastern European Klal Yiddish dialect, while many Yiddish words found in English came from Southern Yiddish dialects. In the 1930s, Yiddish was spoken by more than 10 million people, but by 1945, 75% of them were gone. Today, Yiddish is the language of over 100 newspapers, magazines, radio broadcasts, and websites.

baleboste
A good homemaker, a woman who’s in charge of her home and will make sure you remember it.

bissel
Or bisl – a little bit.


bubbe
Or bobe.
It means Grandmother, and bobeshi is the more affectionate form. Bubele is a similarly affectionate word, though it isn’t in Yiddish dictionaries.

bupkes
Not a word for polite company. Bubkes or bobkes may be related to the Polish word for “beans”, but it really means “goat droppings” or “horse droppings.” It’s often used by American Jews for “trivial, worthless, useless, a ridiculously small amount” – less than nothing, so to speak. “After all the work I did, I got bupkes!”

chutzpah
Or khutspe. Nerve, extreme arrogance, brazen presumption. In English, chutzpah often connotes courage or confidence, but among Yiddish speakers, it is not a compliment.

feh!
An expression of disgust or disapproval, representative of the sound of spitting.

glitch
Or glitsh
. Literally “slip,” “skate,” or “nosedive,” which was the origin of the common American usage as “a minor problem or error.”

gornisht
More polite than bupkes, and also implies a strong sense of nothing; used in phrases such as “gornisht helfn” (beyond help).

goy
A non-Jew, a Gentile. As in Hebrew, one Gentile is a goy, many Gentiles are goyim, the non-Jewish world in general is “the goyim.” Goyish is the adjective form. Putting mayonnaise on a pastrami sandwich is goyish. Putting mayonnaise on a pastrami sandwich on white bread is even more goyish.

kibbitz
In Yiddish, it’s spelled kibets, and it’s related to the Hebrew “kibbutz” or “collective.” But it can also mean verbal joking, which after all is a collective activity. It didn’t originally mean giving unwanted advice about someone else’s game – that’s an American innovation.
 

drnaga

Par 100 posts (V.I.P)
klutz
Or better yet, klots. Literally means %u201Ca block of wood,%u201D so it%u2019s often used for a dense, clumsy or awkward person. See schlemiel.

kosher
Something that%u2019s acceptable to Orthodox Jews, especially food. Other Jews may also %u201Ceat kosher%u201D on some level but are not required to. Food that Orthodox Jews don%u2019t eat %u2013 pork, shellfish, etc. %u2013 is called traif. An observant Jew might add, %u201CBoth pork and shellfish are doubtlessly very tasty. I simply am restricted from eating it.%u201D In English, when you hear something that seems suspicious or shady, you might say, %u201CThat doesn%u2019t sound kosher.%u201D

kvetsh
In popular English, kvetch means %u201Ccomplain, whine or fret,%u201D but in Yiddish, kvetsh literally means %u201Cto press or squeeze,%u201D like a wrong-sized shoe. Reminds you of certain chronic complainers, doesn%u2019t it? But it%u2019s also used on Yiddish web pages for %u201Cclick%u201D (Click Here).

maven
Pronounced meyven. An expert, often used sarcastically.

Mazel Tov
Or mazltof. Literally %u201Cgood luck,%u201D (well, literally, %u201Cgood constellation%u201D) but it%u2019s a congratulation for what just happened, not a hopeful wish for what might happen in the future. When someone gets married or has a child or graduates from college, this is what you say to them. It can also be used sarcastically to mean %u201Cit%u2019s about time,%u201D as in %u201CIt%u2019s about time you finished school and stopped sponging off your parents.%u201D

mentsh
An honorable, decent person, an authentic person, a person who helps you when you need help. Can be a man, woman or child.

mishegas
Insanity or craziness. A meshugener is a crazy man. If you want to insult someone, you can ask them, %u201DDoes it hurt to be crazy?%u201D
 
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