Ten Yiddish Expressions You Should Know

For a language originally spoken only by Eastern European Jews, Yiddish has certainly found its way into common English. My wife was raised in a farming region in the American Midwest and never knew any Jewish people as a child, so she was surprised when I informed her that she uses Yiddish words all the time. Most Yiddish words comes from German, as well as Hebrew and the Slavic languages, but they’ve entered the popular English language through the entertainment industry and East Coast American society. I like the sound of Yiddish words that begin with the letter S, especially sh, and here are some of my favorites.

1. shlep
To drag, traditionally something you don’t really need; to carry unwillingly. When people “shlep around,” they are dragging themselves, perhaps slouchingly. On vacation, when I’m the one who ends up carrying the heavy suitcase I begged my wife to leave at home, I shlep it.

2. shlemiel
A clumsy, inept person, similar to a klutz (also a Yiddish word). The kind of person who always spills his soup.

3. shlimazel
Someone with constant bad luck. When the shlemiel spills his soup, he probably spills it on the shlimazel. Fans of the TV sitcom “Laverne and Shirley” remember these two words from the Yiddish-American hopscotch chant that opened each show.

4. shmooze
Chat, make small talk, converse about nothing in particular. But at Hollywood parties, guests often schmooze with people they want to impress.

5. shmaltzy
Excessively sentimental, gushing, flattering, over-the-top, corny. This word describes some of Hollywood’s most famous films. From shmaltz, which means chicken fat or grease.

6. schlock
Cheap, shoddy, or inferior, as in, “I don’t know why I bought this schlocky souvenir.”

7. spiel
A long, involved sales pitch, as in, “I had to listen to his whole spiel before I found out what he really wanted.” From the German word for play.

8. schmuck
Often used as an insulting word for a self-made fool, but you shouldn’t use it in polite company at all, since it refers to male anatomy.

9. shalom
It means “deep peace,” and isn’t that a more meaningful greeting than “Hi, how are ya?”

10. shtik
Something you’re known for doing, an entertainer’s routine, an actor’s bit, stage business; a gimmick often done to draw attention to yourself.

I could keep going, with chutzpah (audacity), kvetch (complain), kibbitzing (unwanted advice), glitch (minor problem), tush (rear end), and meshugah (crazy), except they don’t begin with S! You can find more Yiddish words and expressions at Michael Fein’s Yiddishkeit website.

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37 Responses to “Ten Yiddish Expressions You Should Know”

  1. Joy-Mari Cloete on December 6th, 2007 12:27 pm

    Does “oy vey” not feature in here?

  2. Joy-Mari Cloete on December 6th, 2007 12:28 pm

    Oh no, I didn’t read the post in its entirety… now I feel like a shlemiel.

  3. Michael on December 6th, 2007 12:48 pm

    Wikipedia has another good list (which includes oy vey) at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....ish_origin

  4. Daniel Scocco on December 6th, 2007 1:27 pm

    Interesting list, I had seen many before without connecting the origin.

  5. Open English on December 6th, 2007 2:23 pm

    Great list. I had no idea that “glitch” and “spiel” were Yiddish words… I guess you learn something new every day.
    Thank you!

  6. Katy on December 6th, 2007 3:27 pm

    Isn’t “shalom” Hebrew rather than Yiddish?

    Also, regarding the spelling of the words — is it equally acceptable to begin them with sh- and sch-?

    I usually see them with the sch- beginning, but it strikes me as kind of like Chanukah/Hannukah, where there’s not really a standard English equivalent. But I always wonder which is correct when I write them down!

  7. Katy on December 6th, 2007 3:28 pm

    Um, that was supposed to be Hanukkah. Oy!

  8. Michael on December 6th, 2007 4:02 pm

    Unfortunately, there isn’t an Academie Yiddische, like the Academie Francaise, that determines the correct English spelling of Yiddish words. I usually saw them written with sch- but my latest sources seemed more… authoritative.

  9. Ellen Mahoney on December 6th, 2007 4:29 pm

    I never knew where shlimazel came from in Laverne and Shirley! And the origins of spiel and glitch were an interesting surprise.

    I am very partial to mensch (which Yiddishkeit says is spelled mentsh) and Mazel Tov is fun to say.

    Thanks for a fun and informative post.

  10. Mari on December 6th, 2007 5:26 pm

    Was sad not to see plotz on the list until I got to the bottom. LOL

  11. Scott on December 6th, 2007 11:18 pm

    Great list, but you forgot schmendrik!

  12. Michael on December 6th, 2007 11:37 pm

    Yes, schmendrick would be an 11th Yiddish word that would be good to know, if you really needed yet another way of calling someone a fool, a jerk, a ne’er-do-well, almost an idiot, a clueless person, someone who’s dumb, stupid or not worthy of respect.

  13. Mari on December 6th, 2007 11:38 pm

    Of course when I read Scott’s post, I immediately thought of the character from “The Last Unicorn”. ;)

  14. Scott on December 7th, 2007 2:36 am

    That’s where I got it…I thought it sounded Yiddish so I googled it and found out what it meant.

  15. Mari on December 7th, 2007 2:37 am

    Too cool!

  16. William Wilgus on December 7th, 2007 3:20 am

    Sorry, but `schmuck’ refers to the FEMALE genitalia.

  17. Michael on December 7th, 2007 3:39 am

    William, you can read about the origins and definitions at http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schmuck

  18. Dickard on December 7th, 2007 3:21 pm

    Is there some reason why they all begin in “sh” or “sch” - the shh sound? Since most are derogatory or pejorative in some way is there something about that sound signifies in Yiddish?

    Just found it interesting.

  19. Dickard on December 7th, 2007 3:22 pm

    Sorry, I meant is there something that sound signifies in Yiddish?

  20. Michael on December 7th, 2007 3:56 pm

    A lot of popular Yiddish words are derogatory. I think the sh sound is onomatopoetic - it just sounds derogatory.

  21. William Wilgus on December 11th, 2007 2:26 am

    Michael: are you telling me my Jewish friend and his Jewish wife were wrong when they told me it referred to female genitalia? I find that difficult to believe . . . but hey, who knows?

  22. Melvin S. Merzon on December 14th, 2007 11:46 pm

    Jews spell it “Chanukah,” these letters–cha-nu-kah being the closest English spelling equivalent to the Hebrew letters. Non-Jews, goyim, if you prefer, spell it Hanukkah, without any reason.

  23. Melvin S. Merzon on December 14th, 2007 11:49 pm

    William Wilgus on December 7th, 2007 commented “but `schmuck’ refers to the FEMALE genitalia.”

    A Jew myself, for nearly 75 years, I never heard the term, nor used it, to apply to any body part but the–excuse my expression–the penis.

  24. Melvin S. Merzon on December 14th, 2007 11:55 pm

    Katy on December 6th, 2007 asks Isn’t “shalom” Hebrew rather than Yiddish?

    Yes, it is Hebrew, meaning “hello,” “goodbye,” or “peace,” depending on context. The word “shalom”, as well, has been adopted into Yiddish, as have many other Hebrew words.

    You do know, I assume, that Hebrew and Yiddish use the identical alphabet, though the pronunciation of the letters (apart from regional dialects, mispronunciations, and accents) varies between the two languages.

  25. Nick on December 23rd, 2007 1:57 am

    I always thought ’spiel’ was from the German word ’spiel’ or ’spielen’ which means to play.

    http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=spiel

  26. Sami on December 25th, 2007 9:57 am

    Great post!

    For those who want to start learning Yiddish seriously, we are starting Yiddish language courses over the internet. For further information have a look at http://www.eYiddish.org

    Sami

  27. Jon on December 26th, 2007 8:12 am

    A fantastic and funny reference book for Yiddish words is the Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten. I haven’t seen the new book that his daughter put out, but I’ve heard mixed reviews (to put it nicely).

  28. Annette on December 31st, 2007 4:18 pm

    Some of these and I think a lot more Yiddish words are still part of everyday german language.

    shlep –> schleppen

    shlimazel –> Schlamassel, but it’s not used to describe a person, but a mess someone has gotten into.

    shmaltzy –> schmalzig

    spiel is, as you said, the german word for “game” or “to play” (can be either noun of verb), I’ve never heard it used in the way you describe it though.

    I’m not sure about whether these were german words, adapted into yiddish or vice versa.

  29. Michael on January 1st, 2008 2:51 pm

    One of the members of Yahoo’s Yiddish Forum says:

    About "shmooze": The word for "to converse" in Yiddish is "shmuesn" (pronounced SHMU-esn), not "shmoozen". it is from "shmues", a conversation, ultimately of Hebrew origin.

  30. Buttoned-Up.com on January 6th, 2008 1:58 am

    So, what does “hasenfeffer incorporated” mean?

  31. Michael on January 6th, 2008 2:29 pm

    In context, hasenpfeffer does sound a little nonsensical. But then, it’s a children’s chant. Hasenpfeffer is a German stew made with marinated rabbit, or sometimes squirrel, and maybe with chicken. Rabbits and squirrels aren’t kosher.

  32. Michael on January 6th, 2008 2:44 pm

    Annette, you’re right. Yiddish is based on very old German. Some words such as shpiel have changed their connotations over the centuries. But it still means “play” too - I laughed when, on their Yiddish version of the Beatle’s Hard Day’s Night, California Klezmer introduced the guitar solo with “Shpiel!” How do you say, “Rock on” in Yiddish?

  33. marcia pannell on April 11th, 2008 8:43 pm

    what is the meaning of shh in hebrew? thanks.

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