FUN WITH YIDDISH

OK, no, I'm not Jewish; and no, I don't speak Yiddish.  But having read a number of writers that wrote originally in Yiddish (like Isaac Bashevis Singer) or that routinely use Yiddishisms (like Elie Wiesel, and Weird Al songs), I've come to the conclusion that Yiddish is a wonderfully expressive language that deserves more exposure.  In fact, many Yiddish words are already part of our popular vocabulary: glitch, chutzpah, kibitz, putz, schmuck, mishmash, klutz, schtick, tchotcke.  This page is my contribution to adding to our collective vocabulary by supporting this trend.  Much of this is taken from the wonderful book Meshugganary by Payson R. Stevens, Charles M. Levine and Sol Steinmetz.

Bobkes (or Bupkes); triflings, literally 'goat droppings'
    "I thought the presentation would be interesting, but it was nothing but a bunch of bobkes."

Chutzpah; hubris, moxie, guts
    "It took a lot of chutzpah for Joe to stand up to the boss like that."

Dreck; junk, feces
    "Mary may have liked K-Fed's new album, but to be honest, I think it's complete dreck."

Farklemt (or Ferklemt); frazzled, literally "choked up"
    "After my dissertation committee was through with me, I felt so farklemt I thought I was going to pass out."

Futz; to fool or mess with

Glitch; defect or malfunction; hence Glitchy, prone to errors

Goy; someone not Jewish; plural Goyim

Hotseplots; "hicksville"
    "My uncle Aaron lives somewhere out in hotseplots."

Kibitz; to give unsolicited (and unwanted!) advice; hence Kibitzer, one who kibitzes

Kvetch; to complain or gripe; hence Kvetcher, a continual complainer
    "I hope I don't run into Marty today.  He's such a kvetcher, and I'm just not in the mood to listen to it."

Macher; "mover-and-shaker", V.I.P.
    "Ever since Orin got that new job, he thinks he's such a macher."

Megillah; a long drawn-out story, long-winded
    "Once he gets going on another megillah, there's no stopping him."

Meshuga; crazy, screwed up, F.U.B.A.R.; hence Meshugas, a chaotic or crazy situation; and Meshugana, a crazy person
    "Is everything okay?  You seem a little meshuga."

Schlock; junk, trashy
    "What's that you're reading?  Rush Limbaugh?  Why are you wasting your time with that schlock?"

Schmaltzy; corny, overly sentimental
    "I tried to watch 'What Women Want' with my wife, but it was so schmaltzy that I just couldn't sit through it."

Shpilkes; literally 'needles', nerves; hence to sit on shpilkes is to be extremely nervous
    "I was sitting on shpilkes waiting for the results of that paternity test."

Shtick; something one does as a matter of routine; a modus operandi
    "He may act like he's crazy, but that's just his shtick."

Spiel; a long account, similar to a megillah
    "I just wanted the basic facts, but of course he had to give me the whole spiel."

Tchotcke; trinket, knickknack
    "My wife collects little tchotckes from every place we visit."

Toches; buttocks
    "I'm exhausted.  I worked my toches off today."

Some Fun Expressions

Ekh! or Feh!; general expressions of disgust

Gey plats!; go away!; literally 'go split your guts!' or 'go blow up!'

Lokh in kop; a hole in the head

Mayn bobes tam; bad or old-fashioned taste; literally 'my grandmother's taste'

Oy!, Oy vey!; generally useful expression of discomfort, disbelief, woe, etc.

Vey is mir!; literally 'woe is me'; a very strong expression of 'oy vey'

Veys ikh vos!; expression of disbelief; roughly 'says you!'

Yiddisher kop; literally "Jewish-head"; someone very intelligent, as opposed to the goyisher kop, someone very stupid

A Treasury of Yiddish Insults

Alte Makhsheyfe; old witch

Alter Kaker (A.K.); old fogey (esp. used with the lecherous), I won't put what it literally means

Alter Tayrekh; old fool

Alter Trombenik; old blowhard

Amorets; ignoramus

Batlen (or Batlonim); loafer

Beheyme; fool, literally a cow's head

Bulvan; boor

Ferd; literally 'horse', someone stubborn

Futz; simpleton or fool

Kadokhes; someone worthless

Kelev; vicious dog

Khamer; donkey

Khazer; glutton, literally 'pig'

Khnyok; bigot

Kholerye; a good-for-nothing

Klutz; someone clumsy or inept

Knocker; know-it-all, wise guy

Lekish; someone silly or foolish

Lemishke; someone weak or ineffectual

Mamzer; rascal

Meshugana; a crazy person, plural Meshugoim

Moyshe Kapoyer; someone who is always doing things incorrectly

Nebbish; someone ineffectual

Nikhshleper; a tag-along

Nisl; nut, plural Nislekh

Nudnik; a pest or bore, someone obnoxious

Ongeblozener; a "stuffed shirt"

Oysshteler; show-off, braggart

Prostak; someone crass or vulgar

Putz; jerk

Schlemiel; bungler, fool

Schlep; (from the verb Schlep, to haul) someone good only for manual labor

Schlimazel; someone with consistently bad luck

Schlump; someone pathetic

Schmatte; literally 'rag', doormat

Schmendrick; someone of little consequence with an inflated sense of self-importance

Schmo; someone foolish and boring

Schmuck; penis

Schnegeyge; someone incompetent and servile

Schnook; someone stupid or gullible

Schnorrer; a mooch

Schtunk; someone of a nasty disposition (from Farshtunken, smelly or rotten)

Schvitzer; lair, someone untrustworthy

Shikker; drunkard

Shikse; a non-Jewish woman, but with implications similar to tsatskale

Shoyte; a complete fool

Shtik Drek; s***head

Toches Lelar (T.L.); brown-noser

Tsatskale; bimbo

Tsatske; brat

Yente; a gossip

Zhlob (or Schlub); someone gross and vulgar