List of English words of Yiddish origin
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This is a list of English language words of Yiddish language origin, many of which have entered the language by way of American English or Cockney. Spelling of some of these words may be variable (for example, schlep is also seen as shlep, schnoz as shnozz, and so on). Many of these words are more common in the entertainment industry, via vaudeville, the Catskills/Borscht Belt, and Hollywood. Others are more regionally oriented, e.g. in the New York City metropolitan area.
It is worth noting that some of these words are in fact of Hebrew origin but have entered the English language via their Yiddish forms. Some of these words have Indo-European roots, namely German and to a lesser extent Dutch, Russian or Ukrainian; from which many Yiddish words are derived.
It should also be noted that many of these words are used in English differently than in Yiddish. For example "Chutzpah" is usually used in Yiddish with a negative connotation meaning improper audacity, while in English it has a more positive meaning. "Shlep" in Yiddish is usually used for carrying (or dragging) something else, while in English it is used more commonly for dragging the self. "Glitch" simply means "slip" in Yiddish.
This list also includes words from Yinglish; these words have not been assimilated into English and are unlikely to be understood by English speakers who do not have substantial Yiddish influence. Leo Rosten's book, The Joys of Yiddish, explains these words (and many more) in detail.
- A shande - a disgrace; one who brings embarrassment through mere association (cognate with the German word Schande, meaning "disgrace")
- "A shande far di goyim" - "A shame in front of the goyim," the scathing criticism of Judge Julius Hoffman by Abbie Hoffman during the trial of the Chicago Eight
- Ay-ay-ay (sometimes spelled "ai-yi-yi") (אײַ־אײַ־אײַ)
- Abi gezunt! - "As long as you're healthy!"; often used as an ironic punchline to a joke (abi, cf. Polish aby = "so that"; gezunt cognate with German gesund, "healthy")
- Abi Meleibt "At least I am alive"
- Aleichem shalom - "To you be peace" (the polite response to a greeting of "Shalom Aleichem")
- Alter kicker (or alter kocker) - a lecherous old man; an old fart (from German Alter "old" and kacker "crapper")
- Bagel : from בײגל beygl - a ring-shaped bread roll made by boiling then baking the dough; originating from Viennese German "Beugerl" a "bowed" piece of pastry)
- Bisel - a small amount, "a pinch of" something (cf. German bissel, a dialectal variant of the more standard bisschen, "a little bit")
- Blintz : a sweet cheese-filled crepe (from Yiddish בלינצע blintse)
- Bris : the circumcision of a male child.
- Bubbeh, bubbe, - grandmother; pronounced like "book", not like the Southern U.S. nickname (cf. the Slavonic baba, "old woman" with different overtones in different languages)
- Bubbameisse - Old wives' tale (literally "grandmother's tale")
- Bubkes (also spelled "bupkis") - emphatically nothing, as in He isn't worth bubkes (literally "goat droppings")
- Chazarai - junk, garbage, junk food (in Yiddish, khazerai 'filth', from khazer 'pig') From the hebrew word "Chazeer", pig.
- chiddush : a term used in the context of rhetoric and argumentation to mean a new forceful point brought into a discussion; the upshot or novel point made by an argument (from Hebrew Chadash, meaning 'new')Also used when you are making fun of someone for something entirely obvious. "Chiddush! Chiddush!"
- chutzpah : ballsiness, guts, daring, audacity, effrontery (Hebrew via Yiddish חוצפּה khutspe)
- dybbuk : the malevolent spirit of a dead person which enters and controls a living body until exorcised (from Hebrew דיבוק dibbuk, that which clings)
- dreck : (Vulgar) Worthless material, especially merchandise; "crap" (German Dreck, "dirt")
- Ess - to eat, especially used in the imperative: Ess! Ess! (German essen, "to eat")
- Farbissen (far-BISS-en) - adj. Bitter; sullen; crippled by bitterness. Also farbissener. (cf. German verbissen)
- Farblondzhet - (fer-BLUNJ-it) - lost, bewildered, confused, mixed-up (appropriately, there are several variant spellings) (far- cf. German ver- and Polish błądzić = "to stray around")
- Fardrayt - confused, mixed-up, distracted (dray meaning turn, cf. dreidel; also cf. German verdreht = "twisted" )
- Farkakte - (an adjective whose usage resembles English goddamn; literally, 'shitty', cf. German "verkackte(r)")
- Feygele or faygeleh – (pejorative) homosexual (literally 'little bird', cf. German "Vögele"), could be used for anyone slighlty effeminate, "Ugh, that, Moishele washes his hands, what a faygel." *NOTE* A Fayge is a bird, and is the basis of the female name Fayga. Such a person, as an infant, might be called Faygeleh, until later on being called Faygie.
- finagle : (verb) to achieve by sly and deceitful methods.
- Fress - to eat, especially with enthusiasm (German fressen = "to eat like an animal, in an untidy way")
- frimmer: (British English slang): a Hasidic Jew (from Yiddish "frum", religious; also cf. German "fromm" = pious)
- Gantze - all, the whole of ("the gantze mishpoche" = the whole family, etc., cf. German ganz = "whole, all")
- Gelt - money (German Geld with the same meaning), also chocolate coins eaten on Hanukkah (געלט gelt 'money')
- Genug (גענוג) - enough (German genug)
- Glick - a piece of good luck (German Glück)
- glitch : a minor malfunction (from Yiddish glitsh)
- goilem or golem : a man-made humanoid; an android, Frankenstein monster, or an insult, suggesting that a person has no mental capacity
- Gonef or gonif (also ganiv) - thief (גנבֿ ganef. Like the Romanian curve, this can be used as a somewhat generic insult, implying a "lowlife" ) - the word has also been adopted from Yiddish into German as Ganove, also a thief {often figurative)
- Gornisht - nothing, not a bit, for naught (German gar nicht = not at all)
- Goy - Someone not of the Jewish faith or people; a gentile (גוי, plural גוים goyim, Hebrew 'nation(s)', often referring to nations other than Israel, although the Tanach calls Israel the "goy koddesh", "the Holy Nation", so Israel is also a 'goy' ["nation" in the sense of "a people", not "a state"] ) "John Gross is on jdate but he is so goy." Also used for anyone who is not Ultra-Orthodox.
- Goyisher kop - foolishness (lit. "Gentile head")
- Hegdesch-pigpen, often used to describe a mess (as in "your room is a hegdesch")
- Hock - Bother, pester (as in the character Maj Hockstetter from Hogan's Heroes; a hockstetter being someone who constantly bothers you) [from Hak mir kayn chaynik or "Clanking like a teakettle" from the old time pre-whistle teakettles whose tops clank against the rim as the pressure pushed them up and down.
- Heymish (also Hamish) - home-like, friendly, folksy (German heimisch)
- Ipish - a bad odor
- Kadoches - a fever; frequently occurs in oaths of ill-will (e.g., "I'll give him a kadoches is what I'll give him!)
- Keppe - head (e.g. I needed that like a lach en keppe, hole in my head; German "Kopf", coll. "Kopp" - "head"; German "Loch" - "hole")
- Keyn aynhoreh - (also pronounced: kin ahurrah) - lit., "No evil eye!" spoken to avert a curse after something or someone has been praised; the phrase has mutated into "Don't give me a canary!" in the Bronx
- kibitz : to offer unwanted advice, e.g. to someone playing cards; to converse idly, gossip (Yiddish קיבעצען kibetsn), German thieves' jargon kiebitschen "to examine, search, look through", influenced by German Kiebitz (any of several birds called peewits [imitative]).
- kife or kyfe - ? probably from koyfn ( = "to buy"), "to swipe", "to pilfer", "to steal (something small)"
- kitsch : trash, especially gaudy trash (German "Kitsch")
- Klop - a loud bang or wallop (German klopfen = "to knock")
- klutz : clumsy person (from Yiddish קלאָץ klots 'wooden beam') "Shloimy, you wear your hat like a klutz."
- kosher : conforming to Jewish dietary laws; (slang) appropriate, legitimate (originally from Hebrew כּשר) see Yashrusdik.
- Krankhayt - a sickness (German Krankheit)
- Kvell (קװעל) - beam/ be proud
- kvetch : to complain habitually, gripe; or, a person who always complains, sometimes known as whinge (from Yiddish קװעטשן kvetshn and German quetschen 'press, squeeze')
- latke : potato pancake, especially during Hanukkah (from Yiddish, from either Ukrainian or Russian)
- l'chaim - an expression of joy, the traditional toast "to life!"
- Litvak - a Jew of Lithuanian ancestry
- lox : smoked salmon (from Yiddish לאַקס laks and German Lachs 'salmon') eaten with bagels.
- Macher (מאַכער) - lit. "doer, someone who does things", big shot, important person (e.g. within an organization) (German Macher = maker)
- Mamish - really, very (an expression of emphasis)
- Mamzer - bastard (from Hebrew ממזר)
- maven : expert (from Yiddish מבֿין meyvn, from Hebrew mevin 'one who understands')
- Mazel (מזל mazl) - luck (literally, constellation of stars)
- Mazel tov! (מזל־טובֿ! mazl tov) - congratulations! (literally, 'good constellation' from Hebrew, meaning, May you be born under a good star, or at a good time. When you tell someone Mazel Tov, it is customary to shake hands.)
- Mechuteynestn - the mothers of the bride and groom
- Megillah - a lengthy document or discourse (from Yiddish מגילה megile, from Hebrew 'scroll')
- mensch : an upright man; a decent human being (from Yiddish מענטש mentsh 'person') the generic term for a virtuous man or person; one with honesty, integrity, loyalty, firmness of purpose--a fundamental sense of decency and respect for other people (from German Mensch, meaning human being)[link]
- meshuga / meshugge / meshugah / meshuggah (משוגען meşugn) : crazy (from Yiddish meshuge)
- meshuggener : a crazy person (from Yiddish meshugener)
- meshugaas : nonsense (lit. "crazy talk")
- minyan : the quorum of ten adult (i.e., 13 or older) Jews (among the Orthodox, males) who are necessary for the holding of a public worship service
- Mishegoss - insane situation, irrationality (from Yiddish meshugas, from meshuge 'crazy')
- Mishpoche - family (from Yiddish משפּחה mishpokhe)
- Mohel - a professional religious circumciser (from Hebrew מוהל)
- Nachas (נחת) - pride (usage: I have nachas from you)
- Narishkeit - foolishness (German "närrisch" - foolish)
- Nasheray - snack food (German naschen - to snack, cf. German "Nascherei")
- nebbish : a hapless, unfortunate person, much to be pitied; the one who cleans up after the schlemiel's accidents (from Yiddish nebekh)
- nosh : snack (from Yiddish נאַשן nashn)Also a verb "Nu, stop noshing on that nosh."
- Nu - multipurpose interjection often analogous to "well?" or "so?"; of the same linguistic origin as English now (Russian "ну")
- Nudnik (נודניק) - pest, "pain in the neck", originally from Polish ("nuda" in Polish means "boredom"; nudziarz is the Polish word for the Yiddish nudnik)
- Oy : (exclamation) Oh!
- Oy gevalt (אױ גװאַלד) - Oh no! (from Yiddish gvald 'emergency'). Cognate with German Gewalt "force, violence".
- Oy vey (אױ װײ) : (exclamation) Oh, woe! (Oh no! -- literally, 'Oh, pain!', cf. German "Oh Weh!").
- Oy vey is mir : (exclamation) from אױ װײ איז מיר Oh, woe am I!
- Pisher - a male infant; a little squirt; a nobody , (cf. South German "Pisch´n" = to piss)
- Plotz - to burst, as from strong emotion: "I was so angry, I thought I'd plotz!" (from Yiddish פּלאַצן platsn 'to crack', cf. German platzen)
- Punim - the face (Yiddish ponem, from Hebrew)
- Pupik - the navel; belly button (Polish pępek= the navel)
- Putz - unclean penis; stupid 'dirty' person, a jerk (from Yiddish פּאָץ pots)
- schicker or schickered: drunk, intoxicated
- schlemiel : an inept clumsy person; a bungler; a dolt (from Yiddish shlemil or shlimil)
- schlep : to drag or haul (an object); to make a tedious journey (from Yiddish שלעפּן shlepn)
- schlimazel / schlamazel : a chronically unlucky person (שלימזל shlimazl, from shlim 'bad' and mazl 'luck'); The difference between a shlemiel and a shlimazl is described through the aphorism, "A shlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup; a shlimazl is the person the soup lands on." One of the ten non-English words that were voted Words hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company. Lyric following "schlemiel" in Laverne and Shirley theme (from Yiddish shlimazl cf. German Schlamassel)
- schlock : A poorly made product or poorly done work, usually quickly thrown together for the appearance of having been done properly; "this writing is schlock." Something shoddy or inferior. (perhaps from Yiddish shlak 'a stroke')
- schlong : Vulgar. penis (from Yiddish שלאַנג shlang and German Schlange 'snake')
- schmaltz : excessive sentimentality; chicken fat or drippings used as a shmeer on bread (from Yiddish שמאַלץ shmalts and German Schmalz)
- schmeer : as a verb, to spread, e.g. the cream cheese on your bagel; also, as a noun, that which you spread on something, e.g. "I'll have a piece of challah with schmeer." (from שמיר) (cf. German schmieren)
- schmo : a stupid person. (an alteration of schmuck; see below)
- schmooze : to converse informally, to small talk or chat. Can also be a form of brown-noseing (from Yiddishשמועסן shmuesn - cf. German schmusen).The word has been somewhat popularised by Sir Alan Sugar (a Jew himself) on the BBC TV series The Apprentice.
- schmuck : a contemptible or foolish person; a jerk; literally means 'penis' (from Yiddish שמאָק shmok 'penis')
- schmutz : dirt, often pertaining to petty household dirt(on the table, floor, clothes etc.) Also used metaphorically to the English equivalent; smut, sleaze (from German Schmutz)
- schnook : an easily imposed-upon or cheated person, a pitifully meek person. a particularly gullible person. (from Yiddish שנוק)
- Schnor / Tsnorr - to beg.
- Schnorrer (שנאָרער) - beggar or person always asking others for hand-outs or services (cf. German Schnorrer, schnorren)
- schnoz / schnozzle / shnozzle : a nose, especially a large nose. cf. English nozzle. (also spelled from Yiddish שנויץ shnoits 'snout')
- schtupp / schtuff : (vulgar) to have sex with, screw (from Yiddish שטופּן shtupn 'push, poke'; similar to 'stuff')
- Shabbes goy - a Gentile who performs labour forbidden on the Sabbath for observant Jews; sometimes used (by implication) for someone who "does the dirty work" for another person (from Yiddish Shabbes, Sabbath + goy, a non-Jew)
- shammes : the beadle or sexton of a synagogue, possibly contributory to the American slang word "shamus," for a policeman, by way of the Irish "Seamus" (from Yiddish shames, an attendant) (originally from Hebrew שמש shamash 'servant')
- Sheygetz or shegetz (שגץ، שײגעץ) - (semi-pejorative) Gentile male (plural שקצים shkotsim), also a non-Frum Jew
- Sheyne meydel - a beautiful girl (cf. German schönes Mädel)
- Shiksa (שיקסע) - (can be pejorative) a Gentile woman (the origin is much more offensive, meaning abomination)
- Shmatte - an old rag. Used literally: I spilled the coffee, bring me a shmatte, quick! Used figuratively (usu. derisively): That fancy dress she spent half her husband's money on just looked like a shmatte to me. (Cf. Polish szmata "rag, piece of cloth")
- Shmegege - a stupid person, a truly unlucky one; has been said to be the one who cleans up the soup the shlemiel spilled on the shlimazl. -->
- Shmendrik - ineffectual person
- shpiel : a lengthy, often instructive talk (from Yiddish שפּיל shpil and German Spiel 'play')
- Shpilkes - upset stomach, or simply nervous energy (like before an interview)
- Shtark, shtarker -- strong, brave (German stark)
- shtick : comic theme; a defining habit or distinguishing feature (from Yiddish שטיק 'a piece of something' - cf. German Stück)
- Shtum - quiet (שטום shtum 'mute') (German stumm)
- shvartze : (שװאַרצער) - Black person (possibly derogatory) (from שװאַרץ shvarts 'black', German schwarz)
- Shvitz - A steam bath (German Schwitzen = to sweat). Also used for sweat or some kind of dirt/filth.
- tchotchke : knickknack, trinket, miscellaneous curios of no obvious practical use (from Yiddish טשאַטשקע tshatshke) May be used to refer to pretty women. "You saw how zaftig she was, what a chotchke"
- Tornig - a disobedient nephew
- Traif (or trayf) - forbidden, non-Kosher foods; anything forbidden (from Exodus 22:30, technically referring to an animal with any of a specific group of physical defects making it inedible)
- Tsimmis - a fuss, a disturbance. "Don't make a big tsimmis!" Also, a kind of stew.
- tsu gezunt - to [your]health! Used as a response to a sneeze; German "gesund" - "healthy")
- tuchas or tochis : butt, rear end (from Yiddish תּחת tokhes)
- tummeler : raucous comedian, e.g. Jerry Lewis, Robin Williams, from vaudeville and the Catskills Borscht Belt origin from the English tumult.
- Tsaddik - Pious, righteous person; one of the 36 legendary saints for whose sake God does not destroy the world
- Tsuris - troubles (from Yiddish צרות tsores)
- Verklempt - choked with emotion (German verklemmt = emotionally inhibited in a convulsive way; stuck)
- Vilde chaya - impolite or undisciplined child, literally, wild beast
- Yekke - A German Jew
- Yenta or yente - a talkative woman; a gossip; a blabbermouth; a scold
- Yichus - pedigree, family background
- Yiddisher kop - intelligence (lit. "Jewish head"; German "Jüdischer Kopf" - jewish head)
- Yiddisher Mama - a stereotypical Jewish mother
- Yiddisher mazel - bad luck (lit. "Jewish luck")
- Yontiff - a Jewish holiday on which work is forbidden, eg. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Pesach (from the Hebrew "Yom Tov", Good Day, or Holiday)
- Zaydeh (or zayde) - grandfather (possibly a Slavonic word, cf. Polish dziadek, meaning "grandfather")
- Zaftig or zoftig - plump, chubby, full-figured (German saftig, meaning juicy)
This list is [Incomplete listsincomplete]; you can help by [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ expanding it].
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