Common Yiddish
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4 members have voted
March 7th, 2017 at 9:13:09 AM permalink | |
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 | I've taken a list of Yiddish words that I think are common to most English speakers. Do you agree, or is my opinion biased growing up less than 100 miles from NYC? ================= Common Yiddish ================= chutzpah drek facacta kibitz kvetch mensch meshuginah mishigas nebbish nosh plotz schmaltzy schmendrick shtick ================= Less Common Yiddish ================= babkes balebosteh chavurah chaza chazerai famisht fardeiget farklempt Gai avek! gedempte fleisch gelt gonnif haken a tsheinik kvel landsman macher Mashgiach mavin milchig mishpacha nachas Nu? nudnik Oy vay iz mir! ongapatchka Rav Rebbe schlemazel schlep schlepper schmootz schnorrer schvitz shayna punim shicker shnorrer Shomer Shabbat shpilkes shtetl treyf tsures tumul chutzpah audacity/utter nerve drek trash/manure or excrement facacta lousy, rediculous kibitz to meddle kvetch complain/one who complains mensch a nice gentleman or person meshuginah crazy person mishigas craziness nebbish little nerd plotz burst schmaltzy sentimental/corny schmendrick a jerk shtick routine babkes nothing, beans balebosteh housewife/hostess/capable homemaker/matriach chavurah group of friends, prayer group winded and annoying conversation, sleep chaza a pig chazerai junk (lit. "pig stuff")/unpalatable/rotten famisht confused fardeiget distressed/worried/anxiety farklempt in a bad mood/bummed out Gai avek! Go away! gedempte fleisch a soft meat, usu. Brisket gelt money gonnif thief/crook haken a tsheinik [lit: banging a teapot]. Someone who startles, jars,annoys by repeated intrusive speech or action. Also can mean boring, long kvel to swell with pride landsman a neighbor/someone from the same town macher A big shot/man with contacts Mashgiach A person who certifies that food is kosher. mavin connoisseur milchig dairy. Used to describe kosher foods that contain dairy products and therefore cannot be eaten with meat. mishpacha family nachas joy nosh eat a little something Nu? So? Well? nudnik pesty nagger, a bore, obnoxious person Oy vay iz mir! Woe is me! ongapatchka a little too much Rav Rabbi/religious leader of the community. Rebbe Usu. translated Grand Rabbi. The leader of a Chasidic community, often believed to have special, mystical power. schlemazel unlucky person schlep to drag or lug around clumsily, as an object/a long, difficult journey schlepper a clumsy or stupid person schmootz dirt schnorrer beggar schvitz perspire shayna punim a pretty face shicker a drunkard shnorrer A beggar who makes pretensions to respectability; moocher; a parasite, but always with resourcefulness in getting money from others as though it was his own. Shomer Shabbat (Sabbath Observer)It refers to one who observes Shabbat all day. nervousness, hyperactivity shpilkes Lit. needles shtetl Small Jewish Village treyf non kosher tsures trouble tumul noise, confusion |
March 7th, 2017 at 9:26:05 AM permalink | |
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 | If I didn't speak English, I'd know no Yiddish at all by now :) Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
March 7th, 2017 at 10:57:38 AM permalink | |
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
I believe your family is Ashkanzi and not Sephardic. I thought they were relatively recently from Europe (like your parents or grandparents). Am I wrong? Patti LuPone & Tovah Feldshuh making mild fun of Jewish history. |
March 7th, 2017 at 11:07:17 AM permalink | |
kenarman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 14 Posts: 4470 | I didn't grow up in big cities so not many Jews around. I have never lived it a city with a Synagogue. Know about 5 or 6 of the words. Learned them mostly from the old time Jewish comedians who were mostly left over from the Vaudeville days. "but if you make yourselves sheep, the wolves will eat you." Benjamin Franklin |
March 7th, 2017 at 11:18:16 AM permalink | |
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
Grandparents. I took Yiddish in school from pre-school to junior high school. I hated it almost as much as Hebrew. I learned two things about both languages: 1) it's possible to learn a language by rote, but 2) if you do, you forget it as soon as you stop using it. I literally couldn't compose a simple sentence in Yiddish, or Hebrew, to save my life. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
March 7th, 2017 at 11:20:06 AM permalink | |
Fleastiff Member since: Oct 27, 2012 Threads: 62 Posts: 7831 | I know fewer than ten of them. |
March 7th, 2017 at 2:12:24 PM permalink | |
JimRockford Member since: Sep 18, 2015 Threads: 2 Posts: 971 | I know the words on the common list except : drek mishigas nebbish plots schmendrick From the less common list I only know babkes and schlep Words I know that aren't on the lists: schmuck, putz, schmooz Of the words I know I was I little unclear on the meaning of several. I'm from the southwest. Not a large Jewish community. I picked up the few Yiddish words I know from TV/ movies or from Northeasterners I have known. The mind hungers for that on which it feeds. |
March 7th, 2017 at 2:19:24 PM permalink | |
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
You have to spell it with a "z". |
March 7th, 2017 at 2:26:42 PM permalink | |
JimRockford Member since: Sep 18, 2015 Threads: 2 Posts: 971 |
Autocorrect on my phone. You should have see what it tried to do to some of the other words. The mind hungers for that on which it feeds. |
March 7th, 2017 at 4:17:03 PM permalink | |
odiousgambit Member since: Oct 28, 2012 Threads: 154 Posts: 5055 | I knew: ================= Common Yiddish ================= chutzpah drek mensch shtick but 'kibitz' I thought meant 'to confer together' the rest, nope of the below I knew: ================= Less Common Yiddish ================= farklempt mavin Oy vay iz mir! schlepper oddly, since I knew schlepper, which is kind of instinctive maybe, I got 'schlep' wrong! thought it meant to spill something and none of the rest I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me] |