Yiddish words used in English


Yiddish words used in the English language include both words that have been assimilated into Englishused by both Yiddish and English speakersand many that have not. An English sentence that uses either may be described by some as Yinglish, though the second meaning of the term refers to the distinctive way certain Jews in English-speaking countries add many Yiddish words into their conversation, beyond common Yiddish words and phrases that entered English vocabulary.
Many of these words have not been assimilated into English and are unlikely to be understood by English speakers who do not have substantial Yiddish knowledge. Leo Rosten's book The Joys of Yiddish explains these words in detail.

Yinglish

Yinglish words are neologisms created by speakers of Yiddish in English-speaking countries, sometimes to describe things that were uncommon in the old country. Leo Rosten's book The Joys of Yiddish uses the words Yinglish and Ameridish to describe new words, or new meanings of existing Yiddish words, created by English-speaking persons with some knowledge of Yiddish. Rosten defines "Yinglish" as "Yiddish words that are used in colloquial English" and Ameridish as words coined by Jews in the United States; his use, however, is sometimes inconsistent. According to his definition on page x, alrightnik is an Ameridish word; however, on page 12 it is identified as Yinglish.
While "Yinglish" is generally restricted in definition to the adaptation of Yiddish lemmas to English grammar by Jews, its usage is not explicitly restricted to Jews. This is especially true in areas where Jews are highly concentrated, but in constant interaction with their Gentile fellows, esp. in the larger urban areas of North America. In such circumstances, it would not be unusual to hear, for example, a Gentile griping about having "shlepped" a package across town.
The portmanteau word Yinglish is first recorded in 1942. Similar colloquial portmanteau words for Yiddish influenced English include: Yidlish, Yiddiglish, and Yenglish. A number of other terms have been promulgated, such as Engdish and Engliddish, but these have not enjoyed widespread adoption.
As with Yiddish, Yinglish has no set transliteration standard; as the primary speakers of Yinglish are, by definition, Anglophones, Yinglish used in running speech tends to be transliterated using an English-based orthography. This, however, varies, sometimes in the same sentence. For instance, the word פֿאַרקאַקטע may be spelled farkakte, ferkockte, verkackte'', among others. In its roots, though, Yiddish descended from mediaeval High German; although mediaeval German suffered from the same vagaries in spelling, it later became standardised in Modern High German. This list shall use the same conventions as Modern High German, with the exception of certain words, the spellings of which have been standardised. Furthermore, common nouns shall be left lowercase, as in English.
Yinglish was formerly assigned the ISO 639-3 code yib, but it was retired on July 18, 2007, on the grounds that it is entirely intelligible with English.

A

  • aidim : son-in-law, from middle-high-German eidam
  • a schande : a disgrace; one who brings embarrassment through mere association, cf. German eine Schande, translated "a disgrace", meaning "such a shame"
  • a schande far di goyim : "A disgrace before the Gentiles", used as a Jewish insult against Jews who are perceived to further antisemitic stereotypes. Also spelled in varied phonetic and Germanic ways as "a shanda fur di goyim", "a schande fur die goyim", and so forth. Sometimes partially mistranslated as "a shande for the goyim", though far here means before and not for.
  • ay-ay-ay
  • abi gezunt! : the first word is Slavic: compare Ukrainian aby, Belarusian aby and Polish oby, both meaning "if only", "hopefully". The second word is Germanic, cognate to High German gesund. The phrase thus means "As long as you're healthy!"; often used as an ironic punchline to a joke
  • abi me lebt : abi from Slavic, as in the previous entry; me lebt cognate to the German, man lebt, meaning "At least I'm alive"

B

  • billig or billik : cheap, shoddy ; common expression "Billig is Teir" . As the German billig, "cheap".
  • bissel : a small amount, "a pinch of" something
  • bentsch/bentsching : to bless, blessing; commonly referred to saying Birkat Hamazon or when lighting shabbat candles, from Latin, "benedicere",.
  • *bentcher a booklet with Birkat Hamazon and other prayers and songs associated with meal.
  • bubbameisse Old wives' tale, cock and bull story (often attributed by erroneous folk etymology to combination of bubbe, "grandmother", and meisse, "tale", but in fact derives from "Bove-meisse", from the "Bove Bukh", the "Book of Bove", the chivalric adventures of fictitious knight Sir Bevys ("Bove") of Hampton, first published in Yiddish in 1541 and continually republished until 1910.

C

  • chazerei/chazerai/chozerai : junk, garbage, junk food

E

  • ekht : real, true
  • emes : the truth. From Hebrew אמת emet, "truth".
  • eppes a little, not much, something. Probably from Old High German eddeshwaz, with the eventual /-tw-/ assimilating into /-p-/. Compare modern Swiss German and Bavarian dialects which have a rough equivalent ebbes
  • ess : to eat, especially used in the imperative: ''Ess! Ess!''

F

  • fachnyok : negative term meaning very religious, often used to connote someone holier-than-thou. Can be shortened to "chenyok", or used as a noun or an adjective. Possibly derived from Russian хныка.
  • farblunjet : confused, perplexed, totally lost
  • farkakte : screwed up, contemptible; literally "shat upon"
  • farklemt : choked up
  • farmisht : confused
  • farshtunken: contemptible, nasty
  • feh : expression of disgust
  • feygele or faygeleh : homosexual, could be used for anyone slightly effeminate, "Ugh, that, Moishele washes his hands, what a faygel." Often used as a disparaging term for a homosexual male.
  • fress : to eat, especially with enthusiasm
  • frimmer : : a Hasidic Jew

G

  • gantz; gantze : all, the whole of
  • gei gesund : go in health; used as a goodbye. Repeated in reply. Usually neutral, but can be used sarcastically to mean "good riddance".
  • gei avek : go away, from German.
  • gei shlofen : go sleep.
  • gehivays : literally "go know", as in "go figure".
  • genug : enough
  • geschmad, geschmadde : adjective meaning " converted to Christianity".
  • gewalt : equivalent to "oi, weh" or "good grief!" Literally "violence".
  • glück : a piece of good luck
  • gonef or gonif : thief : the word has also been adopted from Yiddish into German as Ganove, also a thief
  • gornisht : nothing, not a bit, for naught
  • goyisher mazel : good luck. Mazel is from Hebrew מזל mazzal, referring to luck or fate.
  • graube : coarsely or crudely made.

H

  • hegdesch : pigpen, often used to describe a mess
  • hock : Bother, pester ; a contraction of the idiom Hakn a tshaynik, from the old time pre-whistle teakettles whose tops clank against the rim as the pressure pushed them up and down. Often partially translated in informal speech, as in, "Don't hock my tshaynik about it!"
  • hocker : botherer, pesterer

K

  • kadoches : a fever; frequently occurs in oaths of ill-will. From Hebrew קדחת kedachat.
  • keppalah : forehead, diminutive of keppe.
  • keppe : head ; German "Kopf", coll. "Kopp": "head"; German "Loch": "hole".
  • keyn ayn horeh : lit., "No evil eye!"; German kein: none; Hebrew עין ayn—eye, הרע harrah—bad, evil; an apotropaic formula spoken to avert the curse of jealousy after something or someone has been praised
  • khaloymes : dreams, fantasies; used in the sense of "wild dreams" or "wishful thinking", as in "Ah, boy, that's just khaloymes, it'll never come true." From the Hebrew חלום khalom, pl. khalomot.
  • kife or kyfe : enjoyment. From Arabo-Persian keyf 'opiate; intoxication; pleasure, enjoyment'.
  • klop : a loud bang or wallop
  • klumnik : empty person, a good-for-nothing
  • krankhayt : a sickness

L

  • l'ch'oira: "seemingly". From Hebrew לכאורה lichora. Ultimately from אור or, "light", as light is being shed on what has happened.
  • lobbus: a rascal, or young mischievous person. From לאָבעס lobes, לאָבוס lobus 'urchin, young rascal'.
  • luzim : let it go, forget about it, from Old High German lazan, "let, allow". Famously used by the "Indians" in Blazing Saddles, where Mel Brooks says luzim gayen, "let him go".

M

  • maiseh : lit. "deed, occurrence", a story or vignette about a person or event,. A small problem that blew up into a big story would be called a "ganze maiseh". Also famous in the phrase a "bubbe maiseh", the equivalent of the English idiom "an old wives' tale".
  • mamish : really, very From the Hebrew ממש, "substantially"
  • maydl : Girl, young woman, from Austrian Maedel. "That's a shayne Maydl."
  • mazel : luck
  • mechaye : a source of pleasure
  • mechutanista, mechutan, mechutanim, Machtainista : kinship term for one's child's female or male parent-in-law.
  • meh, mnyeh: an expression of indifference or boredom
  • meiven : expert
  • mishegoss: a crazy, mixed up, insane situation; irrationality

P

  • pulke : thigh, particularly fat ones on babies. From Russian пол, "half".
  • punkt farkert : just the opposite, total disagreement. German: punkt verkehrt; lit "point/precisely false/backward" = wrong.
  • pupik : the navel; belly button

S

  • schicker or schickered: drunk, intoxicated
  • schissel or shisl : bowl, especially a large mixing bowl
  • schlepper: bum
  • schmeckle : a little penis, often ascribed to a baby boy. Diminutive of שמאָק shmok, "penis".
  • schrai : a shriek or wail, sometimes used to connote exaggerated hysterics.
  • schtick'l: a little piece of something, usually food. Dim. of stick, from German Stückchen. In "delis", salami ends were sold from a plate on the counter labeled "A nickel a schtickel"
  • schtupp, schtuff: to have sex with, screw ; to fill, as in to fill someone's pocket with money. Frequently used in the former context by Triumph the [Insult Comic Dog]. In German 'stopfen' means to fill or to stuff something.
  • schverr : father-in-law
  • schvigger : mother-in-law
  • Shabbos goy: A non-Jew who performs labour forbidden on the Jewish Sabbath for observant Jews; sometimes used for someone who "does the dirty work" for another person.
  • shep naches : take pride. Sometimes shortened to "shep". From שעפּן, "derive", from Old High German scaphan; and Hebrew נחת nachat, "contentment".
  • sheyne meydel : a beautiful girl
  • Shiva : The mourning of seven days after one dies by his family. From Hebrew שבעה shiv'a, "seven".
  • 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 shlimazel.
  • shpilkes : nervous energy; to be feeling "antsy", to be "sitting on pins and needles". Cf. Polish szpilka, "pin"
  • shtark, shtarker: strong, brave, zealously religious
  • shtick: comic theme; a defining habit or distinguishing feature.
  • shtotty : fancy or elegant; may sometimes be pejorative
  • shtuch : to put someone down, often facetiously
  • shtick dreck : literally "a piece of dirt", but usually applied to a person who is hated because of the antisocial things he has done: "He's a real shtuck dreck." Possibly shtick dreck: a piece of crap. Cf. German Stück Dreck.
  • shtuss : nonsense, foolishness ; also the name of a card game. In German, 'Stuss' means nonsense.
  • shvartze or shvartzer: : Black person

T

  • takeh : really, totally. "This is takeh a problem!" From Russian/Ukrainian таки, "still, after all, in spite of".
  • tchepen sikh : to bother someone incessantly or to playfully banter with someone From Polish czepiać sie, "cling to, find fault with".
  • tornig : a disobedient nephew
  • tsim gezunt
  • Tsekruchen : to be bent over, to be dejected. "Don't be so tsekruchen all the time, lighten up a bit"
  • tummel : excitement

V

  • verblandzhet : lost, bewildered, confused, mixed-up
  • verdreyt : confused, mixed-up, distracted
  • verfrumt : negative term for someone very religious or pious. "She came back from seminary and became all farfrumt." From Old High German fruma, cognate to German fromm.
  • vershimmelt : shook up, rattled, in a state of nerves. "She wasn't hurt in the accident, but she was pretty farshimmelt".
  • verkakte : an adjective, meaning 'screwed up' or 'a bad idea'; literally, 'crapped' or 'becrapped', cf. German "verkackte"
  • vershtuft : pregnant, recently had sex, constipated.

W

  • wilde chaya : impolite or undisciplined child, literally, wild beast. From Old High German wildi and Hebrew חייה.

Y

  • Yiddishe Mama : a stereotypical Jewish mother
  • Yiddisher kop : intelligence
  • yiddisher mazel : bad luck From Hebrew מזל mazal, "constellation".
  • yungatch : a rascal. From יונג yung.

Yinglish words

The Joys of Yiddish describes the following words as Yinglish except where noted as Ameridish:
  • alrightnik, alrightnikeh, alrightnitseh – male, female, female individual who has been successful; nouveau riche
  • bleib shver – from German bleibt schwer, meaning remains difficult – unresolved problem, especially in Talmud learning
  • blintz
  • bluffer, blufferkeh – male, female person who bluffs
  • boarderkeh, bordekeh – female paying boarder
  • boychick, boychikel, boychiklekh – young boy, kiddo, handsome
  • bulbenik – an actor who muffs his lines, from bilbul – mixup
  • bummerkeh – a female bum
  • chutzpah – audacity
  • cockamamy false, ersatz, crazy, artificial, jury-rigged In the Bronx, in the first half of the 20th century, a "cockamamie" was a washable temporary "tattoo" distributed in bubblegum packets.
  • donstairsikeh, donstairsiker – female, male living downstairs
  • dresske – bargain-basement dress
  • fin – five, or five-dollar bill, shortened form of Yiddish פינף finif
  • kosher – Yinglish, not in its religious or Yiddish meanings, but only in five slang senses: authentic, trustworthy, legitimate, fair, and approved by a higher source. Its pronunciation, as "kōsher", is another distinguishing factor, as in true Yiddish it is pronounced "kūsher" or "kösher"
  • mensch – a person of uncommon maturity and decency
  • nextdoorekeh, nextdooreker – female, male living next door
  • opstairsikeh, opstairsiker – female, male living upstairs
  • pisha paysha – corruption of English card game "Pitch and Patience"
  • sharopnikel – a small object that causes quieting, such as a pacifier, teething ring, cf. shaddap
  • shmata – everyday clothing
  • shmegegge – an unadmirable or untalented person
  • shmo – shortened version of 'shmock' or 'shmearal', see 'shnuk'
  • shnuk – an idiotic person
  • tararam – a big tummel
  • tuchas – buttocks