List of Yiddish Words and Expressions

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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 finstere cholem auf dein kopf und auf dein hent und fiss - (a horrible wish on someone) A dark dream (nightmare) on your head, hands and feet!
A gesheft hob ich - I don't care
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 groyser tzuleyger - A big shot (sarcasticly.)
A kappore - A catastrophie.
A klog iz mir! - Woe is me!
A klog tzu meineh sonim! - 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 maidel mit a vaidel - A pony-tailed nymphet.
A maidel mit a klaidel - A cutie-pie showing of her (new) dress.
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 ritch in kop - Crazy (in the head.)
A schwartz yor - Bad luck. (LIT., A bad year)
A schwartzen sof - A bad end.
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!
A toches und a halb - A woman with enough toches for 1.5 men.
Abi gezunt! - As long as you're healthy!
Achrahyes - Responsibility
Ahf mir gezogt! - I wish it could be said about me!
Ahf tsores - In trouble
Ahf zu lochis - Spitefully (Lit: Just to get (someone) angry.)
Ahntoisht - Disappointed
Ahzes ponim - Impudent fellow
Aidel - Cultured or finicky
Aidim - Son-in-law
Ain klainigkeit - "No way, José!"
Aitzer - Treasure
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 bok - Old goat
Alter Kucker - A lecherous old man
An alteh machashaifeh - An old witch
An alter bakahnter - An old acquaintance
An alter trombenick - An old bum
An emmesser maisse - An (absolutely) true tale
Arbit - Work
Arein - Come in!
Arumgeflickt! - Plucked! Milked!
Arumloifer - Street urchin; person who runs around
Auf (or Ahf) tsalooches - For spite
Ayn klaynigkeit - Ya, sure!! (very derogatory)
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!

Babka - Coffee cake style pastry
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 being, means dull-witted)
Bentshen lecht - Recite prayer over lit candles on Sabbath eve or Holy Day candles
Beryeh - Efficient, competent housewife
Bes medresh - Synagogue
Bialy - A small roundish roll with a mild onion flavor. Crisp on the outside, soft and chewy within.
Billik - Cheap, inexpensive
Bist meshugeh? - Are you crazy?
Biteh - Please
Blondjen - To wander, be lost
Bobbe maisse - An old-wive's tale; fable
Bobkes - Small things, triflings, peanuts, nothing, worthless
Bohmer - Bum (masc.)
Bohmerkeh - Bum (fem.)
Boovisser fiss - Barefoot
Boreke borsht - Beet borsht which the wealthy could afford.
Borekes - Pastries with cheese inside
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
Botvenye borsht - Borsht made from beet leaves for the poor.
Boychvehtig - Stomach-ache
Breeye - Creature, animal
Bris - Circumcision
Bristen - Breasts
Broitgeber - Head of family
Bronfen - Whiskey
B'suleh - Virgin
Bubbee - Friendly term for anybody you like
Bubeleh - Endearing term for anyone you like regardless of age
Bulvan - Man built like an ox; boorish, coarse, rude person

Chaimyankel kooternooz - The perennial cuckold
Chaleshen - To faint
Chaloshes - Nausea, faintness, unconsciousness
Chamoole - Donkey, jackass, numbskull, fool
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)
Chassene machen - To plan and execute a wedding.
Chas v'cholileh! - G-d forbid!
Chavver - Friend
Chaye - Wild (woman)
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
Chazzershtal - Pigpen; slovenly kept room or house.
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)
Chev 'r' mann - Buddy
Chmalyeh! - Bang, punch; Slam! Wallop!
Chochem - 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
Chub Rach mun is - "Have pity on the poor soul!"
Chupah - Canopy under which a bride and groom stand during marriage ceremony.
Chutzpeh - Brazenness, gall, baitzim
Chutzpenik - Impudent fellow
Chvalye - Ocean wave
Cristiyah - Enema

Danken Got! - Thank G-d!
Darf min gehn in kolledj? - Is a college education necessary? (said of exceptionally rich athletes or other self made success stories. A dropout like Bill Gates.)
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
Drek auf dem teller - Mean spirited, valueless Lit.crap on a plate.
Drek mit Leber - Absolutely nothing; it's not worth anything.
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)

Ech - A groan, a disparaging exclamation
Ech mir (eppes) - Humorous, disparaging remark about anything. e.g. "American Pie" Ech mir a movie?"
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
Emitzer - Someone
Eppes - Something
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 toig (taig) nit - He's no good, worthless
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 it 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, bench, sei a mensch - Eat, pray, don't act like a jerk!
Ess gezunterhait - Eat in good health
Essen - To eat
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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