A Glossary of Yiddish Expressions
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A leben ahf dir!
| A | B | C |D | E | F
G | H | I | J/K | L | M | N | O | P | S | T | Y
A
A bisel - A little
A biseleh - A very little
A broch! - Oh hell! Damn it!! A curse!!!
A broch tsu dir! - A curse on you!
A brocheh - A blessing
A deigeh hob ich - I don''t care. I should worry.
A farshlepteh krenk - A chronic ailment
A feier zol im trefen - He should burn up!
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 dir getrofen! - Big deal! Sarcastic; lit., A piece
of luck happened to you
A klog iz mir! - Woe is me!
A klog tzu meineh somin! - A curse on my enemies!
A leben ahf dir! - You should live! And be well and have more!
A lung un leber oyf der noz - Stop talking yourself into
illness! (Lit., Don''t imagine a lung and a liver upon the nose)
A mentsh on glik is a toyter mensh - An unlucky person is a dead
person.
A metsieh fun a ganef - It''s a steal (Lit., A bargain from a
thief.)
A nechtiker tog! - Forget it!
A nishtikeit! - A nobody!
A shandeh un a charpeh - A shame and a disgrace
A shtik naches - A great joy
A sof! A sof! - Let''s end it ! End it!
Abi gezunt! - As long as you''re healthy!
Achrahyes - Responsible
Ahf mir gezogt! - I wish it could be said about me!
Ahf tsores - In trouble
Ahntoisht - Disappointed
Ahzes ponim - Impudent fellow
Aidel - Cultured or finicky
Aidim - Son-in-law
Aiver butel - Absent minded; mixed up
Alaichem sholom - To you be peace
Alef-bais - Alphabet; the first two letters of the Jewish
alphabet
Alevei! - It should happen to me (to you)!
Alteh moid - Spinster, old maid
Alteh bocher - Bachelor
Alter Kucker - A lecherous old man
An alteh machashaifeh - An old witch
An alter bakahnter - An old acquaintance
An alter trombenick - An old bum
Arein - Come in!
Arumgeflickt! - Plucked! Milked!
Arumloifer - Street urchin; person who runs around
Az a yor ahf mir. - I should have such good luck.
Az och un vai! - Touch luck! Too bad! Misfortune!
Azoy? - Really?
Azoy gait es! - That''s how it goes!
Azoy gich? - So soon?
Azoy vert dos kichel tzekrochen! - That''s how the cookie
crumbles!
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B
Badchan - Jester, merry maker or master of ceremonies at a
wedding; at the end of the meal he announces the presents,
lifting them up and praising the giver and the gift in a
humorous manner
Bagroben - To bury
Baitsim - Testicles
Balebatisheh yiden - Respectable Jews, men of substance and good
standing in the community
Balhabosteh - Mistress of the house
Balnes - Miracle-worker
Bal Toyreh - Learned man, scholar
Bareden yenem - To gossip
Baren (taboo) - Fornicate: bother, annoy
Barimer - Braggart, show-off
Baroygis - Angry, petulant
Bashert - Fated or predestined
Bashert zein - To be destined
Behaimeh - Animal, cow (when referring to a human deing, means
dull-witted)
Bentshen lecht - Recite prayer over lit candles on Sabbath eve
or Holy Day candles
Beryeh - Efficient, competent housewife
Bes medresh - Synagogue
Billik - Cheap, inexpensive
Bist meshugeh? - Are you crazy?
Biteh - Please
Blondjen - To wander, be lost
Bobkes - Small things, triflings, peanuts, nothing, worthless
Bohmer - Bum (masc.)
Bohmerkeh - Bum (fem.)
Borsht - Beet soup
Borsht circuit - Hotels in the Catskill Mountain, New York area,
with an almost entirely Jewish clientele, who are fond of
borsht; term is used by entertainers
Bris - Circumcision
Bristen - Breasts
Broitgeber - Head of family
Bronfen - Whiskey
B''suleh - Virgin
Bubee - Friendly term for anybody you like
Bulvan - Man built like an ox; boorish, coarse, rude person
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C
Chaleshen - To faint
Chaloshes - Nausea, faintness, unconsciousness
Chamoyer du ainer! - You blockhead! You dope, You ass!
Chap a gang! - Beat it! (Lit., Catch a way, catch a road)
Chap nit! - Take it easy! Not so fast! (Lit., Don''t grab)
Chas v''cholileh! - G-d forbid!
Chazen - Cantor
Chazenteh - Wife of chazen (cantor)
Chazzer - A pig (one who eats like a pig)
Chazzerei - Swill; pig''s feed; anything bad, unpalatable, rotten
Chei - Eighteen; life; word formed by the combination of Hebrew
letters meaning eighteen and life
Chei kuck (taboo) - Nothing, infinitesimal, worthless,
unimportant (Lit., human dung)
Chmalyeh! - Bang, punch; Slam! Wallop!
Chochem attick - A wise guy
Chochmeh - Wisdom, bright saying, witticism
Choleryeh - Cholera; a curse, plague
Choshever mentsh - Man of worth and dignity; elite person;
respected person
Chosid - Rabid fan
Chossen - Bridegroom
Chossen-kalleh - Bride and groom; engaged couple
Choyzik machen - Make fun of, ridicule
Chropen - Snore
Chupah - Canopy under which a bride and groom stand during
marriage ceremony.
Chutzpeh - Brazenness, gall, baitzim
Chutzpenik - Impudent fellow
Cristiyah - Enema
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D
Danken Got! - Thank G-d!
Davenen - Pray
Deigeh nisht! - Don''t worry!
Derech erets - Respect
Dershtikt zolstu veren! - You should choke on it!
Dingen - Bargain, hire, engage, lease, rent
Dos gefelt mir - This pleases me
Dos hartz hot mir gezogt - My heart told me. I predicted it.
Dos iz alts - That''s all.
Dos zelbeh - Likewise
Drai mir nit kain kop! - Don''t bother me! (Lit., Don''t twist my
head)
Drai zich! - Keep moving!
Draikop - Scatterbrain
Drek - Human dung, feces, manure or excrement; inferior
merchandise or work; insincere talk or excessive flattery
Druchus - The sticks (way out in the wild)
Du fangst shoyn on? - Are you starting up again?
Dumkop - Dumbbell, dunce (Lit., Dumb head)
Dybbuk - Soul condemned to wander for a time in this world
because of it''s sins. (To escape the perpetual torments
inflicted upon it by evil spirits, the dybbul seeks refuge in
the body of some pious man or woman over whom the demons have no
power. The dybbuk is a Cabalistic conception)
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E
Ech - A groam, a disparaging exclamation
Efsher - Maybe, could be
Ei! Ei! - Yiddish exclamation equivalent to the English "Oh!"
Eingeshpahrt - Stubborn
Eingetunken - Dipped, dunked
Einhoreh - The evil eye
Eizel - Fool, dope
Ek velt - End of the world
Emes - The truth
Er bolbet narishkeiten - He talks nonsense
Er est vi noch a krenk. - He eats as if he just recovered from a
sickness.
Er frest vi a ferd. - He eats like a horse.
Er hot a makeh. - He has nothing at all (Lit., He has a boil or
a minor hurt.)
Er hot nit zorg. - He hasn''t got a worry.
Er iz a niderrechtiker kerl! - He''s a low down good-for-nothing.
Er iz shoyn du, der nudnik! - The nuisance is here already!
Er macht a tel fun dem. - He ruins it.
Er zitst oyf shpilkes. - He''s restless. (Lit., He sits on pins
and needles.)
Er zol vaksen vi a tsibeleh, mit dem kop in drerd! - He should
grow like an onion, with his head in the ground!
Eretz Yisroel - Land of Israel
Es brent mir ahfen hartz. - I have a heartburn.
Es gait nit! - It doesn''t work! It isn''t running smoothly!
Es gefelt mir. - I like it. (Lit., It pleases, me.)
Es hot zich oysgelohzen a boydem! - Nothing came of it! (Lit.,
There''s nothing up there but a small attic.)
Es iz a shandeh far di kinder! - It''s a shame for the children!
Es iz (tsu) shpet. - It is (too) late.
Es ken gemolt zein. - It is conceivable. It is imaginable.
Es macht mir nit oys. - It doesn''t matter to me.
Es past nit. - Is is not becoming. It is not fitting.
Es tut mir a groisseh hanoeh! - It gives me great
pleasure!(often said sarcastically
Es tut mir bahng. - I''m sorry. (Lit., It sorrows me)
Es tut mir vai - It hurts me.
Es vert mir finster in di oygen. - I am fainting! (Lit., It''s
getting dark in my eyes.)
Es vet gornit helfen! - Nothing will help!!
Es vet helfen vi a toiten bahnkes! - It won''t help (any)! (Lit.,
It will help like blood-cupping on a dead body.)
Ess gezunterhait - Eat in good health
Essen mitik - Dine
Essen teg - Yeshiva students would arrange to be fed by various
householders on a daily basis in different houses. (Lit., Eat
days)
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F
Faigelah - Bird (also used as a deragatory reference to a gay
person).
Fantazyor - Man who builds castles in the air
Farbissener - Embittered; bitter person
Farblondzhet - Lost, bewildered, confused
Farblujet - Bending your ear
Fardeiget - Distressed, worried, full of care, anxiety
Fardinen a mitzveh - Earn a blessing or a merit (by doing a good
deed)
Fardrai zich dem kop! - Go drive yourself crazy!
Fardross - Disappointment, sorrow
Farfolen - Lost
Farfoylt - Mildewed, rotten, decayed
Farfroyren - Frozen
Farkuckt (taboo) - Dungy, shitty
Farmach dos moyl! - Shut up! Quiet. (Lit., Shut your mouth.)
Farmatert - Tired
Farmisht - Befuddled
Farmutshet - Worn out, fatigued, exhausted
Farshlepteh krenk - Fruitless, endless matter (Lit., A sickness
that hangs on)
Farshmeieter - Highly excitable person; always on the go
Farshnoshket - Loaded, drunk
Farshtaist? - You understand?
Farshtopt - ...
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