Yiddish is a combination of the local languages of Germany, Poland,
Russia, and other Eastern European nations where Jews settled from the
Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. It's a complete language full
of dramatic expression that reached its height of development before World
War II. Unfortunately, I don't know the language, but I'm very familiar with
Yiddish as many of these words and expressions are still uttered daily by my
grandparents and occasionally by me. You'll find that many of these words
are very onomatopoetic.
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| Some of my favorite words are bubele, shmuck, shmo, feygele, schmaltz, meshuggeneh, chutzpa, and the ever popular shmegege. |
| The most common phrase has to be "Oy vey!" |
| The only 2 obviously Yiddish named personalities are Shleprock and Megillah Gorilla. |
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| abi |
as long as |
| aha |
expletive signifying a myriad of meanings |
| aleichem |
to you (shalom aleichem & aleichem shalom) |
| aliyah |
to emigrate to Israel; to be called up to the Torah |
| alter kocker |
an old codger |
| Ashkenazi |
Eastern European Jew |
| ay ay ay |
an interjection - wonderful or painful |
| bagel |
hard glazed donut shaped roll |
| balebos |
a boss man: head of household |
| balebusta |
female boss; unbelievably capable homemaker |
| bar |
(Heb.) son of |
| bar mitzvah |
a 13 yr old boy's coming of age ceremony |
| bas |
(Heb.) daughter of |
| bas mitzvah |
a 12 or 13 fir old girl's coming of age ceremony |
| bashert |
predestined; meant to be |
| bialy |
Oat breakfast roll with a depressed center usually sprinkled with onion |
| bissel |
(bissl) a little, a bit |
| blintz |
filled pancake - sauteed or baked |
| bonditt |
a crook; a mischevious or (sometimes) a clever
fellow |
| borsht |
cold or hot beet soup |
| boychik |
young boy |
| bris |
circumcision ceremony |
| brokha |
blessing |
| brokh |
misfortune |
| bubbe |
grandmother (bubbemayse- nonsense; old wive's tale) |
| bubelah |
darling, sweetheart - especially a child (lit. "little grandma") |
| bubkes |
nothing - an insulting sum or price |
| bokher |
yeshiva student (lit. chosen) |
| bulvon |
a brute |
| chai |
(khay) life; the number 18 |
| chaim |
(khayim) a man's name meaning "life"; |
| chaim yankel |
a country bumpkin |
| challah |
soft, braided ceremonial bread glazed with egg white |
| chochma |
wisdom |
| cholent |
(tsholnt) a Slowly cooked stow begun before Sabbath and eaten after |
| choleria |
(kholerya) a plague - used as a curse (M. cholera) |
| chossen |
(khosn) groom |
| chuppa |
(khupa) wedding canopy |
| chutzpa |
unmitigated gall; nerve; daring; gall |
| daven |
(davn) to pray; agonize over a decision |
| deli |
prepared food, or piece where it is sold |
| derinnen |
thing - "in mitn derinnen' - in the middle
of the thing |
| dreck |
garbage; something of poor quality (lit. keel |
| driml |
dream |
| ek |
end |
| emmis |
the truth |
| er |
suffix - plural |
| farbissener |
embittered person |
| farblondget |
(farblondzhet) gone astray. lost your bearings confused, mixed up |
| farfel |
farfl noodles in the form of small pallets, granules or squares |
| farmisht |
confused; mixed up |
| farpatshket |
messed up |
| fartutst |
befuddled |
| feh |
exclamation of disgust or disapproval |
| feygele |
an effeminate or gay male (lit. little bird) |
| flanken |
boiled flank steak |
| fleyshik |
made with meat |
| fonfer |
to stutter: a double talker; bluffer; cheater |
| freilich |
happy, joyous |
| fress |
eat, especially a lot or quickly |
| frum |
religious; observant |
| gefilte fish |
fish cakes (lit. "filled fish") |
| >gelt |
money |
| geshmak |
extremely tasty |
| get |
a religious divorce |
| gevalt |
exclamation of help or fear |
| gezunt |
health |
| ghetto |
neighborhood; quarter of a city where Jews were required or chose to live |
| glatt |
strictly kosher (lit. smooth) |
| glick |
luck |
| glitch |
skip; commonly applied today to a minor detect, mishap, or malfunction in a machine. esp. a computer |
| goniff |
thief; rascal |
| gornisht |
nothing |
| gotenu |
(gotenyu) oh my God |
| gott |
God |
| goy |
a non Jew, a gentile |
| grosse |
big |
| gutt |
good |
| halakha |
(halokha) Jewish law |
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| halvah |
(khalva) (Arabic) crushed seam candy in a syrup base |
| hartz |
heart |
| hasid |
(khosid) member of ultra orthodox hasidic Jewish sect |
| heder |
(kheyder) room - especially a school room |
| hamish |
(heymish) cozy; homey; familiar |
| hok |
to yak; nag, strike; as in "hok a tshaynik" - to yak a Id |
| hondel |
(hondl) to bargain |
| hu ha |
expression meaning surprise envy or admiration |
| ic |
suffix |
| im |
suffix meaning plural |
| in |
in |
| is |
is |
| ish |
suffix meaning being like |
| kaddish |
mourner's prayer |
| kalle |
bride |
| kasha |
buckwheat groats |
| keppele |
(lit. "little head") usually used affectionately with a child |
| khaver |
friend |
| khazer |
pig; person who is a glutton or selfish |
| khazeray |
fifth, trashy food; assortment of items, junk, nic Am |
| kibosh |
something that serves as a check or stop |
| kibitz |
chit chat; discuss informally; to comment while watching a game or working |
| kind |
child |
| kinohora |
(keyn ayn-hora) sort Vie evil eye |
| kishkes |
guts intestines |
| klezmer |
Eastern European Jewish folk music |
| klog |
Woo |
| klug |
smart or clever |
| klutz |
a clumsy person |
| knaker |
big shot someone who thinks they are very important |
| kneidel |
(kneydl) a dumping - usually made of matzo meal |
| knish |
dumpling usually made of potato or kasha |
| kop |
head (loch in kop - a "hole in the head') |
| kosher |
in accordance with Jewish dietary laws; honest |
| kreplach |
(kreplekh) stuffed dumplings ~ usually served in a soup |
| kugel |
(kugl) noodle or potato pudding |
| kveil |
(kvel) to be delighted; beam with pride; especially over children |
| kvetch |
(kvetsh) a complainer; to complain |
| lacht |
(lakht) laughs |
| landsman |
person from the old neighborhood or country |
| latke |
potato pancake |
| leben |
life |
| liebe |
love |
| litvak |
Lithuanian Jew |
| loch |
(lokh) hole - 'loch in kW (lit. hole in the bead) |
| lokshn |
a tall thin person (lit. noodle) |
| lox |
smoked salmon |
| loyf |
run |
| luft |
air ("luftmensch" - an Impractical fellow - a dreamer) |
| machen |
(makhn) make |
| macher |
(makher) important person; big shot a 'mover" |
| makheteneste |
your daughter or son's mother-In-law |
| makhetunim |
your spouse's extended family |
| machuten |
(mekhutn) your daughter or son's father-in-law |
| madela |
(meydela) young girl |
| mama |
mother |
| mamela |
little girl (lit. little mother) |
| matzo |
unleavened bread |
maven |
expert; connisseur |
| mazel |
(mazi) luck |
| mecheieh |
(mekhaya) a pleasure |
| megillah |
(megilla) a long, complicated story |
| mensch |
(mentsh) a decent fellow, a decent human being |
| meshugge |
crazy person; nuts (meshuggener - crazy man) |
| meshuggeneh |
crazy woman) |
| metsieh |
a lucky break; bargain |
| mishegos |
craziness |
| mikvah |
ritual bath taken by Jewish women before getting married & other occasions |
| michlig |
(milkhik) milk product |
| minyon |
(minyen) quorum of ten people (traditionally men) needed to conduct religious services |
| Mir |
me |
| mish |
mosh a mix up |
| mishpocha |
(mishpokha) family |
| mit |
with |
| Mitn |
middle 'in mitn derinnen - out of the blue |
| mitzvah |
(mitsva) a good deed (Iit. commandment) |
| momzer |
rascal rogue (lit. bastard) |
| moyel |
ritual circumciser - performs a "bris" |
| naches |
(nakhes) pride & joy delight |
| nebbish |
(nebekh) a sad sack |
| nar |
a fool |
| nik |
suffix dandling a person or thing |
| nosh |
a snack; to snack |
| nu |
exclamation meaning well or, so |
| nudge |
(nudzh) a bore or pest; to bore or pester; to push |
| nudnik |
a pest |
| ongeblozzen |
(ongeblozn) bloated; puffed Lip; overdone |
| ongepotshket |
messed up; slapped together |
| ongeshtopt |
very wealthy (lit. "stuffed") |
| oy |
exclamation |
| oy oy oy |
exclamation |
| pareve |
dietetically neutral; made without meat or milk |
| patshke |
mess around, fiddle with things |
| pesach |
(peysekh) passover |
| peyes |
uncut sideburns grown by orthodox males |
| pisher |
a young squirt |
| plosher |
a braggart |
| plotz |
to fall down extremely fired (14. to burst) |
| punim |
face |
| pupik |
navel |
| pushke |
charity container kept at home |
| putz |
a real jerk (lit. penis); more offensive than "shmuck" |
| rachmones |
(rakhmones) pity, compassion |
| rabbe |
rabbi |
| sachel |
(seykyl) street smarts |
| safta |
(Heb.) grandmother |
| schneid |
(Ger.) to shut out an opponent - especially in |
| sephardi |
an Iberian or Middle Eastern Jew |
| seykhl |
common sense, street smarts |
| shm |
sound used as a dismissing prefix |
| shabbas |
(shabbes) sabbath - Saturday |
| shadchen |
(shadkhn) a professional matchmaker |
| shaineh |
(sheyneh) pretty |
| shalom |
(sholem) Heb. lit. peace; hello/good-bye |
| shanda |
(shand) a shame; embarrassment, humiliation |
| shaytl |
(sheytl) wig traditionally worn by European orthodox Jewish women |
| shekel |
(Heb.) money |
| sheygets |
a gentile man |
| shiddach |
(shiddekh) an arranged marriage; an arranged business relationship |
| shikker |
drunk |
| shikse |
gentile Woman |
| shiva |
period of mourning |
| shlemeil |
a simpleton unlucky person |
| shlemazl |
a fool; bungler; unlucky person: pathetic loser: nerd |
| shlep |
a bore or jerk; to carry or drag around |
| shlock |
junk, items of poor or worthless quality; cheap |
| shluff |
sleep |
| shlug |
to beat |
| shlump |
sloppy person |
| shmaltz |
wealth; corny; overly decorated (lit. chicken fat used for cooking,
|
| or |
eating) |
| shmatte |
dress or garment (lit. rag) - can be used as a compliment or insult |
| shmeer |
a bribe; flattery; to bribe (lit. spread) |
| shmegege |
silly or stupid person; a simpleton |
| shmendrik |
an ineffectual or insignificant person |
| shmo |
a simpleton |
| shmooze |
to idle around and talk shop |
| shmuck |
a jerk (lit. penis) |
| shmutz |
dirt |
| shnook |
a dope or fool |
| shnorrer |
someone who takes more than his share, chiseler, beggar |
| shnoz |
nose |
| shalom |
(Heb.) (sholem) peace |
| shpilkes |
jitters, nerves, anxious, inpatient (IN. pins) |
| shtarker |
a stout fellow; a strong person |
| shtetl |
a small town |
| shtik |
a routine or behavior, especially an actors |
| shtunk |
a stinker; an unpleasant person |
| shtup |
to stuff, screw or bribe |
| shul |
synagogue |
| shvitz |
to sweat |
| simca |
(simkha) happy occasion |
| soyne |
enemy |
| tallis |
prayer shawl |
| tam |
taste |
| tata |
father |
| tchotchke |
(tshotshka) insignificant item, toy or ornament |
| toches |
(tokhes) butt |
| tov |
(Heb.) good |
| tracht |
thinks |
| treyfe |
unclean, non-kosher, forbidden |
| tsaddik |
a righteous person |
| tshaynik |
teapot (commonly used in "hok a tchynik" - to yak a lot) |
| tsimmes |
a vegetable stew; big deal; fuss |
| tsdaka |
(tsdoka) charity (14. justice) |
| tsurris |
calamity, trouble |
| tsitses |
fringe (of a talis) |
| tummel |
(tumml) commotion |
| tummler |
(tumler) funmaker |
| un |
and |
| utz |
nag |
| vakakta |
(farkakt) screwed up |
| vance |
(vants) post (lit, bed bug) usually used regarding a child |
| veit |
world |
| vey |
when preceded by "oy" - an expression meaning 'oh my God" |
| veyn |
cry |
| vigorish |
(Ukranian) interest paid to a moneylender; lit. profit |
| vuss |
what |
| Yankel |
(Yankl) country bumkin (when preceded by "chaim") |
| yarmulka |
(yarmlke) skullcap |
| yenta |
a busybody. gossip or meddler |
| yeshiva |
school |
| yichis |
(yikhes) pedigree, lineage |
| Yiddish |
language of Central & Eastern European Jewry |
| yold |
a fool |
| yuntov |
(yuntef) holiday (lit. good day) |
| zaftig |
(zaftik) juicy plump, buxom |
| zayda |
(zeyda) grandfather |
| zetz |
a punch or blow |
| zhlub |
disheveled, pathetic person |
| zits |
sit |
| zy |
go |
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