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Yiddish arose from Old High German about 1000 years ago. The medieval Jews were being persecuted by Christians and wandered from east Europe to west/central Europe. The development of Yiddish happened by taking up the spoken languages of their surroundings but not in a pure grammatical way, then supplying the foreign words of the language (in this case Germany) with Hebraic elements. ‘Jewish’ is in German Jüdish with was corrupted into Yiddish.

 

The transliterated spellings of Yiddish words and conventional German spellings are different, but the pronunciations are frequently the same (e.g., shvarts in Yiddish is pronounced the same way as schwarz in German, which means ‘black’).

German and Yiddish used to be pretty much dialects of each other - though in many cases only the literal meaning is known in German, while the transferred meaning is peculiar to Yiddish.

 

Active vocabulary is the vocabulary we use when speaking and writing, passive vocabulary is the vocabulary we hear and understand.

 

Ashkenaz is a Hebrew name for “Germany”.

 

Naches is a Yiddish word that means "pride" or "joy." Typically naches refers to the pride or joy that a child brings a parent. For instance, when a child is born people will often say to the new parents "May [your son or daughter] bring you naches." The "ch" is pronounced gutturally - so it's not "ch" as in "cheese" but rather "ch" as in "Bach" (the composer).

Examples: You bring me such naches!

 

Kvetch is a Yiddish word that means "to complain." It can also be used to refer to someone who does a lot of complaining, as in: "Phil is such a kvetcher!" Kvetch is one of many Yiddish words that has become popularly used in the English language.

Examples: Stop your kvetching, things are not as bad as you make them sound.

 

"Mazel Tov" (מזל טוב) is a Hebrew phrase that literally means "good destiny" but is more commonly understood to mean "good luck" or "congratulations." "Tov" is the Hebrew word for "good" and "mazel" is the Hebrew word for destiny or constellation (as in the stars in the sky).

 

When is the appropriate time to say "mazel tov" to someone? Whenever something good has happened. Whether someone recently got married, had a child, became a Bar Mitzvah, or did well on an exam, "mazel tov" would be an appropriate (and very nice) thing to say.

Pronunciation: mah-zehl tahv

Examples: I heard you just got a promotion at work - mazel tov!

 

a bisl     a bit, a little bit, some

 

Chutzpah (pronounced huuts-pah) is a Yiddish word that is used by Jews and non-Jews alike to describe someone who is particularly audacious or has a lot of "guts." Chutzpah can be used in a variety of ways. You can say someone "had chutzpah" to do something, or you could describe them as a "chutzpanik" and achieve the same meaning. Chutzpah can be used to describe both males and females.

Examples: Rachel invited her boss out to dinner last week and convinced him to give her a huge raise. That took chutzpah!

 

Dreidel is a Yiddish word that comes from the German word "drehen," which means “to turn.” In Hebrew the dreidel is called a "sevivon," which comes from the root "savov" and also means "to turn."

A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side. It is used during Hanukkah to play a popular children's game that involves spinning the dreidel and betting on which Hebrew letter will be showing when the dreidel stops spinning. Children usually play for a pot of gelt, which are chocolate coins covered in gold colored tin foil, but they can also play for candy, nuts, raisins – anything really!

 

A game similar to the dreidel game was popular during the rule of Antiochus. During this period Jews were not free to openly practice their religion, so when they gathered to study Torah they would bring a top with them. If soldiers appeared, they would quickly hide what they were studying and pretend to be playing a gambling game with the top.

 

Meaning of the Hebrew Letters on a Dreidel

A dreidel has one Hebrew letter on each side. Outside of Israel, those letters are: נ (Nun), ג (Gimmel), ה (Hay) and ש (Shin), which stand for the Hebrew phrase "Nes Gadol Haya Sham."

This phrase means "A great miracle happened there [in Israel]." When played outside Israel.

 

After the State of Israel was founded in 1948 the Hebrew letters were changed for dreidels used in Israel. They became: נ (Nun), ג (Gimmel), ה (Hay) and פ (Pey), which stand for the Hebrew phrase "Nes Gadol Haya Po." This means "A great miracle happened here."

The miracle referred to in both versions of the Hebrew phrase is the miracle of the Hanukkah oil, which lasted for eight days instead of one.

 

How to Play the Dreidel Game

Any number of people can play the dreidel game. At the beginning of the game each player is given an equal number of gelt pieces or candy, usually 10-15.

 

At the beginning of each round, every player puts one piece into the center "pot." They then take turns spinning the dreidel, with the following meanings assigned to each of the Hebrew letters:

 

Nun means "nichts," which means "nothing" in Yiddish. If the dreidel lands with a nun facing up the spinner does nothing.

Gimmel means "ganz," which is Yiddish for "everything." If the dreidel lands with the gimmel facing up the spinner gets everything in the pot.

Hey means "halb," which means "half" in Yiddish. If the dreidel lands with a hey facing up the spinner gets half of the pot.

Shin means "shtel," which is Yiddish for "put in." Pey means "pay." If the dreidel lands with either a shin or a pey facing up the player adds a game piece to the pot.

If a player runs out of game pieces they are "out."

 

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  • Like 2
Posted

This is fun looking at the urls and finding insights I never had before.

So there is even Yiddish slang talking. very interesting.

 

"Oy Vey" is an exclamation of negativity or woe

 

Literally this translations are "oh woe", but has a wider usage in Yiddish. It can be shortened to just "oy".

"Oy gevalt" is a similar expression that carries a larger sense of fear, shock, and surprise.

 

 

 
Posted

Well, what could be hindering us to use that second url you offered? I haven't a clue.post-20-0-66818200-1414602073.gif

Posted

I got into both of them with no problem. Thanks for the links. :cool1: stuff

I got to yiddishdictionary.com but couldn't get further.  Just the splash screen.

GnuPG/PGP key: 0xB07F9AAE

Posted

I tried four different browsers to get into yiddishdictionary but also only got the splash screen.

 

I even turned off my proxy anomy shield and didn't get any better results.

 

Also on this theme, I noticed that when I am browsing pages and messages without being logged-in the animations or even the icons are not working. Only when being logged-in do they come to life.

 

So to quote the famous Ted....

 

                                                        Oy gevalt!

Posted

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Brit milah, which means "covenant of circumcision," is a Jewish ritual performed on a baby boy eight days after he is born.

 

It involves the removal of the foreskin from the penis by a mohel, who is a person that has been trained to safely perform the procedure.

 

Brit milah is also known by the Yiddish word "bris."

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Yiddish is a highly plastic and assimilative language, rich in idioms, and possessing remarkable freshness, pithiness, and pungency.

 

Since it was spoken by ordinary people rather than by scholars, its vocabulary is weak in abstractions.

 

By the same token it has few items descriptive of nature, with which the Jews of eastern Europe had relatively little contact, and a wealth of words and expressions descriptive of character and of relations among people.

 

It makes liberal use of diminutives and terms of endearment and exhibits a variety of expletives.

 

The use of proverbs and proverbial expressions is considerable. These qualities and usages give Yiddish a uniquely warm and personal flavor.

----------------------

Here is a list of American words in use to be found in literature, media, conversations stemming from Yiddish-German:

 

bris, boychik, bubkes/bupkis, chutzpah, dreck, feygele, ganef/gonif, gelt, glitch, golem, goy/goyim, klutz, kosher, kvetch, latke, l'chaim, lox, mamzer, maven, Mazel tov, megillah, mensch, meshuga, meshuggener, nebbish, noodge, nosh, nudnik, oy, oy vey, putz, schlemiel, schlep, schlimazel, schlock, schlong, schmaltz, schmendrik, schmooze, schmuck, schnook, shamus, shiksa, shtick, shtup, spiel, tchotchke/tsatske, tuchus, tush, yarmulke, yenta, Yiddish, zaftig.

(I got this list in the above paragraph from a Yiddish forum user.

If any of you wish to protest ….  Please feel free to do so)

Posted

Here is a list of words of Yiddish origin ……

 

bagel: a ring-shaped bread roll made by boiling, then baking, the dough (from beygl)

 

blintz: a sweet cheese-filled crepe (Yiddish blintse from Russian bliny)

 

bris: the circumcision of a male child. (from Hebrew brith 'covenant')

 

boychik: boy, young man. (English boy + Eastern Yiddish chik)

 

bupkis: emphatically nothing, as in He isn't worth bupkis, or  either 'beans' or 'goat droppings'.

 

chutzpah: nerve, guts, daring, audacity, effrontery (Yiddish khutspe, from Hebrew)

 

Chochmah - a joke, originally a piece of wisdom, from Hebrew chacham - a wise man

 

daven: to recite Jewish liturgical prayers (Yiddish davnen)

 

dybbuk: the malevolent spirit of a dead person that enters and controls a living body until exorcised

(from Hebrew dibbuk, 'a latching-onto')

 

fleishig: made with meat (Yiddish  fleyshik 'meaty', from fleysh 'meat', from German fleischig 'meaty')

 

ganef or gonif: thief, scoundrel, rascal (Yiddish from Hebrew gannav)

 

gelt: money; chocolate coins eaten on Hanukkah (Yiddish gelt 'money', from German Geld)

 

glitch: a minor malfunction (Yiddish from glitshn 'slide', from German glitschen 'slither')

 

golem: a man-made humanoid; an android, Frankenstein monster (from Hebrew gōlem, but pronunciation by Yiddish goylem)

 

goy: a Gentile, term for someone not of the Jewish faith or people (Yiddish plural goyim; from Hebrew goyim meaning 'nations [usually other than Israel]'

 

haimish: home-like, friendly, folksy (Yiddish‫ heymish, from German heimisch)

 

handel: to bargain ("If you handel long enough, you'll get a good price."); from German handeln

 

huck: to bother incessantly, or nag; 

 

kasha: porridge (from Hebrew. Yiddish "kash" which is derived from a Slavic word meaning porridge)

 

khazeray: food that is awful; junk, trash; anything disgusting, even loathsome (Yiddish from Heb. "khazir," pig)

 

kibitz: to offer unwanted advice, e.g. to someone playing cards; to converse idly, hence a kibitzer, gossip (Yiddish kibetsn)

 

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Posted

kike : a derogatory slur used to refer to Jews. (In the early 20th century, Jews immigrating to the Americas would sign papers with a circle instead of an X, the latter being the more common practice amongst non-English speaking immigrants.)

 

klutz: clumsy person (from Yiddish klots 'wooden beam', from German Klotz)

 

knish: doughy snack consisting mainly of potato (Yiddish word that was derived from the Ukrainian)

 

kosher: correct according to Jewish law, normally used in reference to Jewish dietary laws; (slang) appropriate, legitimate (originally from Hebrew kašer, kasher)

 

kvell: to express great pleasure combined with pride (Yiddish kveln, akin to old German quellen 'well up')

 

kvetch: to complain habitually, gripe; a person who always complains (from Yiddish kvetshn 'press, squeeze', from German quetschen 'squeeze')

 

latke: potato pancake, especially during Hanukkah (from Yiddish meaning "patch")

 

Litvak: a Lithuanian Jew

 

lox: cured salmon (from Yiddish laks 'salmon'; from German Lachs)

 

macher: big shot, important person (Yiddish makher, literally 'maker' from makhn 'make', from German Macher)

 

mamzer: bastard (from Yiddish or Hebrew)

 

maven: expert; when used in a negative sense: a know-it-all; enthusiast (from Yiddish meyvn, from Hebrew mevin 'one who understands')

 

mazel: luck (Yiddish mazl, from Hebrew  mazzāl 'luck')

 

mazel tov: congratulations! (Yiddish mazl-tov, Hebrew mazzāl ōv: mazzāl 'fortune' or 'sign of the Zodiac + ōv 'good')

 

megillah: a tediously detailed discourse (from Yiddish megile 'lengthy document, scroll, from Hebrew  məgillā 'scroll')

 

mensch: an upright man; a decent human being (from Yiddish mentsh 'person', from German Mensch)

 

meshuga: crazy (Yiddish meshuge, from Hebrew məšugga‘)

 

meshuggenehe: a crazy woman

 

meshuggener: a crazy man (Yiddish meshugener)

 

milchig: made with milk (Yiddish milkhik milky, from German milchig)

 

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Posted

minyan: the quorum of ten adult ( males 13y or older) Jews that is necessary for the holding of a public worship service; in Orthodox Judaism ten adult males are required, while in Conservative and Reform Judaism ten adults of either sex are required. (Yiddish minyen, from Hebrew minyān)

 

mishpocha: extended family (Yiddish  mishpokhe, from Hebrew mišpāā)

 

naches: feeling of pride and/or gratification in 1: the achievements of another(s); 2. one's own doing good by helping someone or some organization; (Yiddish nakhes, from Hebrew naath 'contentment')

 

narrischkeit: foolishness, nonsense (Yiddish from nar 'fool', in German närrisch 'foolish')

 

nebbish, also nebbich: an insignificant, pitiful person; (from Yiddish interjection nebekh 'poor thing!', from Czech nebohý)

 

noodge, also nudzh: to pester, nag, whine; as a noun, a pest or whiner (from Yiddish nudyen, from Polish or Russian)

 

nosh: snack (noun or verb) (Yiddish nashn, in German naschen)

 

nu: multipurpose interjection often analogous to "well?" or "so?" (Yiddish nu, German na ='well']

 

nudnik: a pest, "pain in the neck"; a bore (Yiddish nudnik, from Polish nudne, 'boring')

 

oy or oy vey: interjection of grief, pain, or horror (Yiddish oy vey 'oh, pain!' or "oh, woe"; from German oh weh)

 

pareve: containing neither meat nor dairy products (from Yiddish)

 

pisher: a nobody, an inexperienced person (Yiddish pisher, from German pissen )

 

potch: spank, slap, smack (Yiddish patshn; from German patschen 'slap')

 

plotz: to burst, as from strong emotion (from Yiddish platsn 'crack', from German platzen)

 

schav: A chilled soup made of sorrel.  (via Yiddish from Polish Szczaw)

 

shikse refers specifically to 'gentile' (non-jewish) young women; it is as such derogatory and discriminatory.

 

schlemiel: an inept clumsy person; a bungler; a dolt (Yiddish shlemil from Hebrew "ineffective”)

 

schlep: to drag or haul (an object); (from Yiddish shlepn; from German schleppen)

 

schlimazel also schlemazl: a chronically unlucky person

In June 2004, Yiddish schlimazel was one of the ten non-English words that were voted hardest to translate by a British translation company. In a classic Vaudeville skit, the schlemiel spills the soup into the schlimazel's lap.

 

schlock: something cheap, shoddy, or inferior (from Yiddish shlak 'a stroke', from German Schlag)

 

schlub: a clumsy, stupid, or unattractive person (Yiddish zhlob, perhaps from Polish) 

 

schmaltz: melted chicken fat; excessive sentimentality (from Yiddish shmalts or German Schmalz)

 

schmatta: a rag; junk or low-quality merchandise: "Don't buy from Silverman; all he sells is schmatta." (from Yiddish shmate, from Polish szmata) ; also means schmeer also schmear: to spread (e.g., cream cheese on a bagel); bribe (from Yiddish shmir 'smear'; from German schmieren)

 

schmo: a stupid person.

 

schmooze: to converse informally, make small talk or chat (from Yiddish shmuesn 'converse' gossip')

 

schmutz: dirt (from Yiddish shmuts or German Schmutz 'dirt')

 

schnook: an easily imposed-upon or cheated person, a pitifully meek person, a particularly gullible person, a cute or mischievous person or child (perhaps from Yiddish shnuk 'snout')

 

schnoz or schnozzle: a nose, especially a large nose (from Yiddish shnoyts 'snout', in German Schnauze)

 

schvartze: term used to denote Black people; (from Yiddish shvarts 'black'; in German schwarz)

 

schvitz or schvitzing: To sweat, perspire (From Yiddish, in German schwitzen).

 

Shabbos, Shabbas, Shabbes: Shabbat (Yiddish Shabes, from Hebrew Šabbāth)

 

shalom: 'peace', used to say hello or goodbye.

 

shammes or shamash: the caretaker of a synagogue; also, the 9th candle of the Hanukkah menorah, used to light the others (Yiddish shames, from Hebrew šammāš 'attendant')

 

shegetz: (derogatory) a young non-Jewish male (Yiddish sheygets, from Hebrew šeqe 'blemish')

 

shemozzle (slang) quarrel, brawl. This word is commonly used in Ireland to describe confused situations during the Irish sport of hurling, e.g. 'There was a shemozzle near the goalmouth'.

 

shikker, shicker, shickered: drunk (Yiddish shiker 'drunk', from Hebrew šikkōr)

 

shiksa or shikse: (often derogatory) a young non-Jewish woman (Yiddish shikse, from Polish siksa)

 

sheitel: a wig worn by strictly Orthodox Jewish women.

 

shmendrik: a foolish or contemptible person

 

shteig: to accumulate wealth and possessions; in the realm of spirituality, to grow in wisdom (from German steigen 'to rise or ascend'

 

shtetl: a small town with a large Jewish population in pre-Holocaust Eastern Europe (Yiddish  shtetl 'town', in German Städtl)

 

shtiebel: (Yiddish: shtibl, meaning "little house" or "little room"; in German Stübel, Stüblein) is a place used for communal Jewish prayer. In contrast to a formal synagogue, a shtiebel is far smaller and approached more casually. It is typically as small as a room in a private home or a place of business which is set aside for the express purpose of prayer, or it may be as large as a small-sized synagogue.

 

shul: synagogue, typically refers to an Orthodox Jewish place of worship that is also a place of study (from Yiddish shul literally 'school'; in. German Schule 'school')

 

schmieren: in the transferred sense of "to bribe" in Germany.

 

tchotchke: knickknack, trinket, curio (from Yiddish tshatshke, from Polish cacko)

 

tref: not kosher (Yiddish treyf, from Hebrew 'carrion')

 

tzimmes: a sweet stew of vegetables and fruit; a fuss, a confused affair, a to-do (Yiddish tsimes)

 

tsuris: troubles (from Yiddish tsores or tsoris, from Hebrew tsarot 'troubles')

 

tukhus: buttocks, bottom, rear end (from Yiddish tokhes, from Hebrew taath 'underneath')

 

tush: buttocks, bottom, rear end (from tukhus)

 

verklempt: choked with emotion (German verklemmt = emotionally inhibited in a convulsive way)

 

witz is Yiddish for "joke" (from German Witz)

 

yarmulke: round cloth skullcap worn by observant Jews (from Yiddish yarmulke)

 

Yekke: a German Jew (Yiddish Yeke (jacket), in German Jacke 'jacket.' Its most common usage derives from the British Mandate period to describe Fifth Aliyah German Jews, who were perceived to be more formal in dress and manners.

 

yenta: a talkative woman; a gossip; a scold (from Yiddish yente, from a given name)

 

Yiddish: from German jüdisch)

 

yontef also yom tov: a Jewish holiday on which work is forbidden, e.g. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Pesach (Yiddish yontef 'holiday', from Hebrew yōm ōv 'good day')

 

yutz: a fool

 

zaftig: pleasingly plump, buxom, full-figured, as a woman (from Yiddish  zaftik 'juicy'; in German saftig 'juicy')

 

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Posted

Now I'll share a handful of pictograms for certain German words...... 

 

 

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Posted

I am half Jewish, however, I only know how to eat or how to describe people in Yiddish.

Behold what manner of love the Father hath given unto us.

  • Members
Posted

Unfortunately according to Jews, there is no such thing as half Jewish. You're either a full Jew or not a Jew. Personally I don't buy that argument! If you have Jewish blood running in you, you are Jewish, period.

phkrause

Obstinacy is a barrier to all improvement. - ChL 60
Posted

Since it is my Mom they would consider me Jewish. Unfortunately many but not all would have a problem with my professing Jesus (or Yeshua as Messianic Jews might say ) as my Lord and Savior.

Behold what manner of love the Father hath given unto us.

Posted

             post-20-0-06563300-1415528638.gif

Now this is new to me.

Brit Shalom ceremony as a substitute for circumcision?

Apparently this present generation has many of Jewish descent who are opposing the basic Jewish ritual.

It sort of feels to me as an analogue of present day progressive SDA’s chucking away Sabbath holiness.

 

This is what I read over at Wiki….

“Ritual circumcision of a male child on the eighth day of life is part of Jewish law. Although one does not need to be circumcised to be Jewish, Orthodox Jews consider an intended failure to follow this commandment as bringing forth the penalty of kareth, or being cut off from the community, as well as being indicative of a conscious decision to cut oneself off from his people. However, even in the most Orthodox groups, Jewish identity is defined by matrilineal descent. A child born to a Jewish mother is identified as Jewish, regardless of the status of the genitals. In Progressive Judaism, uncircumcised boys are usually accepted for religious training and bar mitzvah if they are sons of a Jewish mother and have been raised with a Jewish identity. Movements that do not see Jewish law as binding, such as Reform Judaism and Humanistic Judaism, may allow this ceremony. These more progressive branches of Judaism can also recognize Jewish identity by patrilineal descent.”

Posted

The First Words You Learn

 

Selected Yiddish Words and Phrases - impress your friends and family

 

 

ABI GEZUNT: So long as you're healthy. Expression means, "Don't worry so much about a problem, whatever it is. You've still got your health."

 

ALTER COCKER: An old and complaining person, an old fart.

 

AY-YAY-YAY: A Joyous, or at times sarcastic, exclamation.

 

BALABUSTA: The wife of an important person or a bossy woman.

 

BEI MIR BIST DU SHAYN: To me you're beautiful.

 

BERRYER: Denotes a woman who has excellent homemaking skills. Considered a compliment in the pre-feminist era.

 

BISSEL, BISSELA: A little.

 

BOBBEMYSEH: Old wive's tales, nonsense.

 

BOYCHICK: An affectionate term for a young boy.

 

BROCHE: A prayer.

 

BUBBA: A grandmother.

 

BUBBALA: A term of endearment, darling.

 

BUPKES: Something worthless or absurd.

 

CHAYA: An animal. "Vilda Chaya," a wild animal, is a term used to describe unruly children.

 

CHAZEREI: Food that is awful, junk or garbage.

 

CHUTZPAH: Nerve; gall, as in a person who kills her parents and asks for mercy because she is an orphan.

 

ESS: Eat.

 

FERBLUNJIT: Lost, mixed up.

 

FERDRAYT: Dizzy, confused.

 

FARPITZS: All dressed up.

 

FERMISHT: All shook up, as in an acute disturbance.

 

FERSHLUGINA: Beaten up, messed up, no good.

 

FERSHTAY?: Do you understand.

 

FERTUMMELT: Befuddled, confused.

 

FRESS: To eat like an animal, i.e., quickly, noisily, and in great quantity. (Compare with ess, to eat like a human being.)

Posted

GAVALT: A cry of fear or a cry for help. Oy Gevalt is often used as expression meaning "oh how terrible."

 

GAY AVEK: Go away, get out of here.

 

GAY GA ZINTA HATE: Go in good health. Often said in parting but can be spoken with irony to mean, "go do your own thing."

 

GAY SHLAFEN: Go to sleep.

 

GELT: Money.

 

GONIF: A thief, a tricky clever person, a shady character.

 

GOY: A derogatory term meaning gentile, goyim is the plural, and goyisher is the adjective.

 

GORNISHT: Nothing. Often used in a sarcastic manner, as in what did you get from her? Gunisht.

 

HAYMISH: Informal, friendly. A haimisher mensch is someone you feel comfortable with.

 

HOK A CHAINIK: To talk too much, to talk nonsense.

 

KIBITZ: To offer comments which are often unwanted during a game, to tease or joke around. A kibitzer gives unasked for advice.

 

KINE-AHORA: A magical phrase to ward off the evil eye or to show one's praises are genuine and not tainted by envy.

 

KISHKA: Intestines, belly. To hit someone in the "kishka" means to hit him in the stomach or guts.

 

KLUTZ: An awkward, uncoordinated person.

 

KOSHER: Refers to food that is prepared according to Jewish law. More generally kosher means legitimate.

 

KVELL: To beam with pride and pleasure, Jewish parents are prone to kvell over their children's achievements.

 

KVETCH: To annoy or to be an annoying person, to complain.

 

LOCH IN KOP: Literally a hole in the head, refers to things one definitely does not need.

 

LUFTMENSH: A dreamer, someone whose head is in the clouds.

 

LUZZEM: Leave him be, let her or him alone. 

Posted

MACH SHNEL: Hurry up.

 

MACHER: An ambitious person; a schemer with many plans.

 

MAVEN: An expert, a connoisseur.

 

MAZEL TOV: Good luck, usually said as a statement of support or congratulations.

 

MEESA MASHEENA: A horrible death. The phrase "a messa mashee af deer" means a horrible death to you and is used as a curse. Some have suggested that Masheena is the origin for the insulting name for Jews of sheeny.

 

MEESKAIT: A little ugly one; a person or thing.

 

MEGILLAH: Long, complicated and boring.

 

MENSCH: A person of character. An individual of recognized worth because of noble values or actions.

 

MESHUGGE or MESHUGGINA: Crazy, refers to a more chronic disturbance.

 

MISHEGOSS: Inappropriate, crazy, or bizarre actions or beliefs.

 

MISHPOCHA: Family, usually extended family.

 

MOMZER: A bastard, an untrustworthy person.

 

MOYL: The man who circumcises baby boys at a briss.

 

NACH A MOOL: And so on.

 

NACHES: Joy. To "shep naches" means to derive pleasure. Jewish children are expected to provide their parent with naches in the form of achievement.

 

NARRISHKEIT: Foolishness, trivia.

 

NEBBISH: An inadequate person, a loser.

 

NOODGE: To bother, to push, a person who bothers you.

 

NOSH: To snack. 

 

NU: Has many meanings including, "so?; How are things?; how about it?; What can one do?; I dare you!"

 

NUDNIK: A pest, a persistent and annoying person.

 

OY-YOY-YOY: An exclamation of sorrow and lamentation.

 

OY VEY: "Oh, how terrible things are". OH VEZ MEAR means "Oh, woe is me".

 

PLOTZ: To burst, to explode, "I can't laugh anymore or I'll "plotz." 

 

POTCHKA: To fool around; to be busy without a clear goal.

 

RACHMONES: Compassion.

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SAYKHEL: Common sense.

 

SCHLOCK: A shoddy, cheaply made article, something thats been knocked around.

 

SCHMALTZ: Literally chicken fat. Usually refers to overly emotional and sentimental behavior.

 

SHADKHEN: a professional matchmaker.

 

SHANDA: A shame, a scandal. The expression "a shanda fur die goy" means to do something embarrassing to Jews where non-Jews can observe it.

 

SHAYGETS: A gentile boy and man, also means a clever lad or rascal.

 

SHAYNER: Pretty, wholesomely attractive, as in shayner maidel (woman.)

 

SHIKSA: A gentile girl or woman.

 

SHLEMIEL: A dummy; someone who is taken advantage of, a born loser.

 

SHLEP: To carry or to move about. Can refer to a person, a "shlepper," who is unkempt and has no ambition.

 

SHLIMAZL: A chronically unlucky person, a born loser, when a shlimazl sells umbrella the sun comes out.

 

SHMENDRICK: A weak and thin pipsqueak. The opposite of mensch, a a physically small shlemiel.

 

SHMEGEGGE: A petty person, an untalented person.

 

SHMATTA: A rag, often used as a putdown for clothes of the unfashionably dressed.

 

SHMEER: To spread as in to "shmeer" butter on bread. Can also mean to bribe. 

 

SHMOOZ: To hang out with, a friendly gossipy talk.

 

SHMUTZIK: Dirty.

 

SHNORRER: A begger, a moocher, a cheapskate, a chiseler.

 

SHNOZ: A big nose. 

 

SHTETL: A Jewish ghetto village.

 

SHTIK: A stick or thing. Often refers to an individual's unique way of presenting themselves, as in "She is doing her shtik."

 

SHTUNK: A stinker, a nasty person or a scandalous mess.

 

SHVITZ: To sweat. A shvitzer means a braggart, a showoff.

 

SPIEL: To play, as in to play a game.

 

TCHOTCHKA: An inexpensive trinket, a toy. can mean a  brainless girl. The affectionate diminutive is tchotchkala.

 

TSETUMMELT: Confused, bewildered.

 

TSIMMES: A side dish,  an involved and troubling business, as in the phrase, "don't make a tsimmes out of it."

 

TSORISS: Suffering, woes.

 

TSUTCHEPPENISH: Something irratating attaching itself like an obsession. a tsutcheppenish that's driving everyone crazy.

 

TUCHES: Backside, ass, "tuches lecker" means ass kisser, one who shamelessly curries favor with superiors.

 

TUMMEL: Noise, commotion, disorder.

 

UNGABLUZUM: To look as if one is going to cry.

 

VER CLEMPT: All choked up.

 

VUS MACHS DA: What's happening? What's up?

 

YENTA: A busybody, usually refers to an older woman.

 

ZAFTIG: Juicy, plump. Can refer to food, ideas or people. A buxom woman.

 

ZIE GA ZINK: Wishing someone good health.

 

ZETZ: A strong blow or punch.

 

ZEYDE: Grandfather, or old man.

 

ZHLUB: An insensitive, ill-mannered person, a clumsy individual.

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Yid-dish:   from German jüdisch, or Jude (Jew).

Is a High German language with an admixture of vocabulary from Hebrew and the Slavic languages

It is written in Hebrew letters, and spoken mainly by Jews in eastern and central Europe.

Elsewhere also spoken by Jewish emigrants from these regions and their descendants.

 

Interestingly enough in German, any speaker can put two unrelated words next to each other and create a novel compound word. The new word, however, must make sense and a mental picture is produced in the listener.

 

Weltschmerz literally means "world-pain" from the German roots welt meaning "world" and schmerz meaning "pain." It refers to the "sorrow that one feels and accepts as one's necessary portion in life," describing a state in which a person feels that their physical reality will never be as beautiful or blissful as the world they can imagine in their head.

 

Schadenfreude  "people taking pleasure in your pain."  It comes from the German words schaden meaning "harm" and freude meaning "joy."

 

Weltanschauung  "worldview". Combining welt meaning "world" and anschauung meaning "perception," the word denotes a comprehensive conception or image of the universe and humanity's relation to it. In the vernacular it is being now used in contemporary life as an expression for one’s personal philosophical viewpoint.

 

Zeitgeist is emblematic "spirits of the times". Literally translated as "time spirit" Zeitgeist refers to the "general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time."

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Judaism 101: Yiddish Language and Culture

 

http://www.jewfaq.org/yiddish.htm

  The Yiddish Language

Yiddish was at one time the international language of Ashkenazic Jews (the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe and their descendants). A hybrid of Hebrew and medieval German, Yiddish takes about three-quarters of its vocabulary from German, but borrows words liberally from Hebrew and many other languages from the many lands where Ashkenazic Jews have lived.

 

It has a grammatical structure all its own, and is written in an alphabet based on Hebrew characters. Scholars and universities classify Yiddish as a Germanic language, though some have questioned that classification.

 

Yiddish was never a part of Sephardic Jewish culture (the culture of the Jews of Spain, Portugal, the Balkans, North Africa and the Middle East). They had their own international language known as Ladino or Judesmo, which is a hybrid of medieval Spanish and Hebrew in much the same way that Yiddish combines German and Hebrew.

 

Today, less than a quarter of a million people in the United States speak Yiddish, about half of them in New York. The word "Yiddish" is the Yiddish word for "Jewish," so it is technically correct to refer to the Yiddish language as "Jewish" (though it is never correct to refer to Hebrew as "Jewish"). At the turn of the century, American Jews routinely referred to the Yiddish language as "Jewish". However, that usage has become unfashionable in recent years and people are likely to think you are either ignorant or bigoted if you refer to any language as "Jewish." Likewise, the Yiddish word "Yid" simply means "Jew" and is not offensive if used while speaking Yiddish or in a conversation liberally sprinkled with Yiddish terms, but I wouldn't recommend using the word in English because it has been used as an offensive term for far too long.

 

Often there is no English word that can convey the depth and precision of meaning that the Yiddish word can. Yiddish is a language full of humor and irony, expressing subtle distinctions of human character that other cultures barely recognize let alone put into words. What other language distinguishes between a shlemiel (a person who suffers due to his own poor choices or actions),

a shlimazl (a person who suffers through no fault of his own) and

a nebech (a person who suffers because he makes other people's problems his own).

An old joke explains the distinction: a shlemiel spills his soup, it falls on the shlimazl, and the nebech cleans it up!

 

Perhaps the Yiddish writer best known to Americans is Solomon Rabinovitch, who wrote under the name Sholem Aleichem (a Yiddish greeting meaning, "peace be upon you!"). Sholem Aleichem was a contemporary of Mark Twain and is often referred to as "the Jewish Mark Twain," although legend has it that Mark Twain, upon meeting Sholem Aleichem, described himself as "the American Sholem Aleichem"! Americans know Sholem Aleichem for his tales of Tevye the milkman and his daughters, which were adapted into the musical Fiddler on the Roof. How true is the musical to the stories? Based on my readings of the stories, I would say that Fiddler is a faithful adaptation of the plotlines of the Tevye stories, but the theme of "tradition" that pervades the musical is artificially imposed on the material. The stories certainly turn on the tension between the old world and the modern world, but Tevye's objections to his daughters' marriages are not merely because of tradition. For example, in the original stories, Tevye opposes Hodel's marriage to Ferfel not so much because of tradition, but because Ferfel is being sent to prison for his socialist political activities! Also, there is no fiddler in Sholem Aleichem's stories.

 

                  post-20-0-04526300-1417015973_thumb.jpg

 

 

  • 2 weeks later...
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Yiddish Transliteration

 

Transliteration is the process of writing a language in a different alphabet than its native alphabet. The Yiddish language began by transliterating Germanic words into the Hebrew alphabet, so I find it unspeakably amusing that we now take Yiddish and convert it back into the original alphabet!

 

In Yiddish, unlike Hebrew, there is a widely-accepted standard for transliterating Yiddish into the Roman alphabet (the alphabet used in English).

 

Bupkes (properly spelled bobkes and pronounced "BAUB-kess,"  pronounced to rhyme with "pup kiss")

Literally means "beans" in Russian; usually translated as "nothing," but it is used to criticize the fact that an amount is absurdly smaller than expected or deserved. Examples: "I was assigned to work on that project with Mike and he did bupkes!" or "I had to change jobs; the work wasn't bad, but they paid bupkes."

 

Chutzpah (rhymes with "foot spa", with the throat-clearing "kh" sound)

Nerve, as when the Three Stooges say, "The noive of that guy!!! Why, I oughta…"

It expresses an extreme level of bold-faced arrogance and presumption.

Example: "She asked me to drive her home, and once we were on the road she told to stop at the supermarket so she could pick something up. What chutzpah!"

 

Frum (like "from," but with the "u" sound in "put"; sort of sounds like the imitation of a car noise: brrrum-brrrum)

Observant of Jewish law is frum. Almost always used to describe someone else; almost never to describe yourself.

"He wasn't raised very strict, but when he went away to college he became very frum." 

 

Nu (rhymes with "Jew")

An all-purpose word that doesn't really mean anything. Similar to American like "well," "so" or "wassup?".

A friend of mine who worked for a Jewish history museum joked that they answered the phone "Jew mu, nu?"

When someone takes too long to respond in an online chat or trails off in the middle of a thought, I might type "nu?" (are you still there? are you answering?) If someone says something that doesn't seem to make any sense, you might say, "nu?" (what's that supposed to mean?)

 

Shmutz (rhymes with "puts")

Means: dirt. Refers to a trivial amount of nuisance dirt, not real filth.

Example: "You have some shmutz on your shirt; brush it off."

 

Shmooze (rhymes with "booze")

Having a long, friendly chat. Can be used as a noun, but is usually used as a verb.

Examples: "Come to our party! Eat, drink and shmooze!" or "Our salesman is very good at shmoozing the clients."

 

Tchatchke (almost rhymes with "gotcha")

1) Little toys; knick-knacks.

2) A pretty young thing, like a trophy wife.

Examples: "The collector had so many tchatchkes that he had to buy a bigger house!" or "when my mother visits, she always brings tchatchkes for the kids" or "The boss divorced his wife; now he's dating some little tchatchke."

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                                                Yiddish Music

 

Like Yiddish theater, Yiddish music ultimately has its roots in Jewish religion. The Jewish love of music is seen in the earliest stories in the Bible: in Exodus 15, both Moses and Miriam lead the Children of Israel in song after G-d drowns the pursuing Egyptians in the sea; King David is often portrayed playing musical instruments. Music is an integral part of Jewish worship: most of the prayers are sung or chanted. Even the Torah is read to a traditional chant. It has been customary for hundreds of years for synagogues to have a professional chazzan, a person with musical skills to lead the song-filled prayer services.

 

Yiddish culture has produced a wealth of music, from lullabies to love songs, from mournful songs of loss and exile to the wild dance music of klezmer.

 

Yiddish music traditionally was played on string instruments (fiddle, viola, etc.), the tsimbl (a Jewish instrument similar to a dulcimer) and flute, perhaps because these instruments were relatively quiet and would not attract the attention of hostile gentiles. In later days, however, the clarinet became a staple of Yiddish music because of it's ability to emulate the wailing or laughing sound of the human voice.

                                                       post-20-0-52240600-1418212484_thumb.jpg

                                           

 

The style of music most commonly associated with Yiddish culture is klezmer. The word "klezmer" comes from the Hebrew words "klei zemer" which means "instruments of song," and probably indicates the important role that instruments played in this kind of music. You've probably heard klezmer music in the background of television shows or movies featuring Jews: it is normally characterized by the wailing, squealing sounds of clarinets. It has also influenced some modern bands: I was in a bookstore a while ago and heard what I thought was klezmer music, only to be told it was Squirrel Nut Zipper! The klezmer style is based on cantoral singing in synagogue: simple melodies in a minor key with extensive ornamentation, such as fast trills and sliding notes. It's hard to explain unless you've heard it.

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Beginning in the tenth century, Jews from France and Northern Italy began to establish large communities in Germany for the first time. Small Jewish communities had existed, and spoke German for some time, however, the new residents along theRhine river arrived speaking a Jewish-French dialect known as Laaz.

 

The new arrivals punctuated their German speech with expressions and words from Laaz.

Additionally, they probably reached into Scriptural and Rabbinic literature and incorporated idioms into their daily speech. Thus, a modified version of medieval German that included elements of Laaz, biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew, and Aramaic came to be the primary language of western European Jews. The collective isolation that came to characterize Jewish communities in the aftermath of the Crusades probably contributed to the shift from regular German to a modified, more Jewish form.
 

The medieval Jews laid the foundation stone for the development of Yiddish by taking up the spoken languages of their surroundings, supplying them with Hebraic elements, integrating into them borrowings from the Romance languages and mixing them through supra-regional contacts with various
characteristics of Old High German dialects.
 

In spite of discrimination, persecution, expulsion and often enough pogroms, a Jewish minority lived throughout the centuries in the German-speaking area, and even if contact with their Christian neighbours may have been sporadic, it did exist. Jews, who in most major and minor states and
of the Holy Roman Empire were denied the right to own land or to be members of craftsmen’s guilds, traditionally earned their livelihood through money-lending and in trade, and in these connections came into linguistic contact with the Christian majority.


 

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