Etymology

chopped liver

chopped liv·er

Today it means: A Jewish pâté-like food, usually spread on bread, made by mincing beef or chicken liver and onions which have been broiled or fried in schmaltz (“chicken fat”) together with hard-boiled eggs. Full definition →

Yiddish געהאַקטע לעבער
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The story

  1. Yiddish · calque ofגעהאַקטע לעבער
  2. English todaychopped liver

Calque of Yiddish געהאַקטע לעבער (gehakte leber), from געהאַקטע (gehakte, “chopped”) (compare the verb האַקן (hakn, “to chop”)) + לעבער (leber, “liver”). According to the Hungarian-American lexicographer and linguist Sol Steinmetz (1930–2010), sense 2 (“person or object not worthy of being noticed”) may be from the fact that chopped liver is served as an appetizer or side dish rather than as a main dish.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.