Word origins

• pshhSynonym of pshaw.
• SatmarA member of the Satmar movement.
• afikomenThe matzoh eaten at a Passover seder, after dinner.
• alter kakerAn old fart or old fogey.
• baal koreiThe person who reads from the Torah scroll during religious services.
• balebosMaster of the house, head of the household, host.
• balebostemistress of the house
• bashertpreordained, fated
• bekisheA black frock coat worn by Hassidim.
• bentshTo recite the Birkat Hamazon.
• bentsherA booklet containing grace after meals and often other blessings and prayers related to mealtime.
• bichlalin general, generally, in any way
• blintzA thin blin (pancake), filled (often with sweet cheese) and folded, then fried and often served with sour cream, fruit, or a sweet sauce.
• boychikTerm of endearment for a young boy, or a young man.
• brifkaa small folding envelope used for keeping diamonds or other gemstones in
• broygesAngry or resentful.
• bubbe meiseAn old wives' tale; a fairytale.
• bubeledarling, sweetie; term of endearment for an infant
• bulkie rollA soft round sandwich roll.
• bupkisAbsolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance.
• chalafA knife used by Ashkenazi Jews in shehitah, the kosher slaughter of animals.
• chassenehA wedding.
• chazzerA pig.
• chazzeraiJunk; trash; anything worthless.
• chederAn elementary school for Jewish children, teaching basic Judaism and Hebrew.
• chelevCertain animal fats that the Torah prohibits Jews and Israelites from eating.
• chochemA wise and learned man
• cholentA meat and/or bean stew traditionally served on the Sabbath by Jews.
• chrainA relish in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, consisting of grated horseradish, vinegar, sugar, salt, and optionally beetroot.
• chremselA fried dumpling made of matzo meal and filled with fruit, typically prunes, and eaten on Passover.
• chutzpadikShowing chutzpah; not showing due respect; impudent; impertinent; brazen.
• doikeytThe focus on strengthening Jewish communities wherever they live (instead of focusing on founding a separate Jewish nation-state), usually associated with Bundism.
• EpshteynA surname from Yiddish.
• farbrengenA gathering of Hassidic Jews for the purpose of inspiring each other in religion and spirituality.
• farfelSmall pellet-shaped egg pasta in Ashkenazic Jewish cuisine, made instead out of matzah during Passover.
• faynshmekerA fussy or picky person; a connoisseur.
• FeivelA male given name from Yiddish; commoner variant of Fievel.
• feygeleA little bird.
• finifA five-dollar bill (note).
• fisnogaSynonym of p'tcha (“calves'-foot jelly”).
• flankenA certain cut of beef used in Ashkenazic Jewish cuisine, made by cutting short ribs across the bone
• fleischigMeaty, containing meat.
• fresserA glutton.
• freygishIn Ashkenazi music, the Phrygian dominant scale.
• frummerA Jew who is frum (pious and observant of Jewish laws and customs).
• fumfSynonym of fumfer (“to speak awkwardly or evasively; to fiddle or fumble”).
• fusgeyera Romanian Jew who emigrated from Romania to the United States in the early 20th century; so called because they travelled across Romania on foot before oftentimes being provided with train and ship tickets by charitable Jewish organizations once they reached the Austro-Hungarian border.
• GalitzianerA Jew of Galician ancestry.
• gartelA belt or sash used in prayer.
• gefilte fishOriginally, a dish of stuffed fish with the skin intact.
• gemishA mixture of various things, a melange.
• gesheftA business deal.
• geshmakdelicious, yummy!
• gornishtNothing; zilch.
• goyishkeitNon-Jewish culture, customs, lifestyle, and values.
• graggerA type of ratchet (an idiophone musical instrument) used mainly in Purim celebrations in Jewish tradition; it consists of a board and a gearwheel attached to a handle, and is played by swinging the mechanism to make the gearwheel scrape against the board, producing a percussive sound.
• gribenesA snack food in Eastern European Jewish cuisine, combining cracklings of chicken or goose skin with fried onions.
• gvirA wealthy person.
• haimishhomey, folksy
• hakafahA circular religious procession, traditionally practiced on Simchat Torah.
• halevayif only, I wish, I hope
• hamantaschenTraditional Ashkenazi three-cornered cookies eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim. The filling may be made from variously from poppy seeds, prunes, nuts, dates, apricots, fruit preserves, chocolate, caramel, or cheese.
• haymishefamiliar; everyday; homely.
• hecherlouder
• holishkesCabbage rolls, prepared from blanched cabbage leaves wrapped in a parcel-like manner around minced meat and then simmered in tomato sauce.
• kasha varnishkesA dish of lokshen and kasha.
• khavershaftcamaraderie or solidarity
• khazerA pig; a greedy person.
• khvatA boy or lad; a rascal.
• kichela sweet cracker or cookie in Jewish cuisine
• Kiryas JoelA village in Orange County, New York, United States, coterminous with the town of Palm Tree.
• kishkeA dish made from stuffed intestine.
• kloyza small private synagogue or circle of religious learning
• knaidelA type of dumpling made of matzo eaten by Ashkenazi Jews during Passover.
• krekhtsA jolting upward slide on violin made by pressing a finger down on the string at the end of a note.
• kreplachSmall dumplings of Eastern European origin, filled with meat or cheese and served usually in soup.
• kvetcherA person who kvetches; a complainer, kvetch.
• kvitlA note with a (general or specific) petitionary prayer, used in Hasidic Judaism.
• landsmanshaftA mutual aid society or benefit society of Jewish immigrants from the same European town or region.
• lantzmanA fellow Jew who grew up in the same Eastern European shtetl as the speaker.
• lapserdakA traditional Jewish black kaftan.
• lehavdilexcuse the comparison
• lekachA Jewish honey-sweetened cake, mainly associated with Rosh Hashanah.
• leynto read from a Torah scroll
• LitvishThe dialect of Yiddish spoken in Lithuania, Belarus, southern Latvia, northern and eastern Ukraine, and western Russia.
• lo aleinumay it not happen to us; an expression that indicates a desire that a previously mentioned negative thing not happen again or effect anyone else
• lokshenFlat egg noodles from Yiddish cuisine.
• LudmirYiddish form of Volodymyr (A city in Ukraine).
• luftgeschaeftA meaningless or unproductive job, which contributes little or no value to society.
• luftmenschA person who is highly intellectual or contemplative but detached from practical affairs, especially the need to earn a living.
• LuntschitzŁęczyca, Poland.
• mameloshenThe Yiddish language.
• mandlachJewish food consisting of crisp mini croutons used as a soup accompaniment.
• mashkealcoholic drink, booze.
• mashugananonsense; silliness; craziness; garbage
• mazaldiklucky, fortunate
• mazel tovUsed to express congratulations or good wishes, especially at weddings.
• mechaiehA pleasure; a joy.
• meshuganonA hypothetical particle that could explain cold fusion.
• meshuggecrazy, mad, senseless, insane