What are some common Yiddish phrases?

What are some common Yiddish phrases?

30 Useful Yiddish Words Anyone Can Use

• Bubbe. Pronounced “buh-bee,” this Yiddish word is used to address your grandmother.
• Bupkis. The word bupkis means nothing.
• Chutzpah. Being told that you have chutzpah isn’t always a compliment.
• Goy. Quite simply, a goy is just someone who isn’t Jewish.
• Keppie.
• Klutz.
• Kvell.
• Kvetch.

Is schmuck a bad word?

In popular culture. Although schmuck is considered an obscene term in Yiddish, it has become a common American idiom for “jerk” or “idiot”. It can be taken as offensive, however, by some Jews, particularly those with strong Yiddish roots.

Is Schmuck a bad word?

What is good soul in Yiddish?

Guteh neshomeh (or neshumeh) means “good soul.” Atlhough you can say that somebody has one, it’s much more common to describe a person as actually being one: he or she is a guteh neshomeh.

What vey or oy vey translates to?

Oy vey comes from the Yiddish oy vey, which is translated and related to the English oh woe. It’s often uttered as a defeated-sounding sigh.

What’s the best way to get a Yiddish dictionary?

Type in a word, followed by the enter key. You might prefer to use the gloss displayer , which lets you enter an entire text (in Yiddish letters) and see definitions of all the words at one go.

Do you put an h after a vowel in Yiddish?

Don’t place an h after a vowel to lengthen it; write ey instead of eh, for instance. If the text doesn’t distinguish a tsvey-yudn ( ײ) from pasekh-tsvey-yudn ( ײַ ), try both ay and ey . Similarly, if the text doesn’t distinguish pe ( פּ) from fe ( פֿ ), try both p and f .

What does the Yiddish word good luck mean?

A gezunt ahf dein kop!: Good health to you (lit., Good health on your head) A glick ahf dir!: Good luck to you (Sometimes used sarcastically about minor good fortunes) Big thing! A glick hot dich getrofen!: Big deal! Sarcastic; lit., A piece of luck happened to you.

What is the meaning of the Yiddish word woe?

Can also be used as a noun to mean any kind of food. Oy vey —An expression of woe, as in “Oy vey, we left the gefilte fish at the grocery store!” Putz —A jerk, or a self-made fool, but this word literally means penis. Schlep — To carry or travel with difficulty, as in “We shlepped here all the way from New Jersey.”