As a secondary meaning, Yinglish describes the distinctive way certain Jews in English-speaking countries add many Yiddish words into their conversation, beyond general Yiddish Words And Phrases Used By English Speakers . In this meaning, Yinglish is not the same as Yeshivish , which is spoken by many Orthodox Jews , though the two share many parallels.
Yinglish has its own ISO 639-3 code, yib .
Leo Rosten's ''The Joys of Yiddish'' uses the word ''Yinglish'' and ''Ameridish'' to describe new words, or new meanings of existing Yiddish words, created by English-speaking persons with some knowledge of Yiddish. The fact that ''donstairsiker'' is listed as Ameridish and its opposite ''opstairsiker'' is listed as Yinglish, coupled with the fact that no Yinglish word is suggested in ''The Joys of Yiddish'' to have arisen outside the United States Of America , suggests that ''Ameridish'' and ''Yinglish'' are synonyms. ''The Joys of Yiddish'' describes the following words as Yinglish except where noted as Ameridish:
- , '''alrightnikeh''', '''alrightnitseh''' — male, female, female individual who has been successful; ''nouveau riche''
- (Yinglish because the true Yiddish is ''blintzeh'')
- , '''blufferkeh''' — male, female person who bluffs
- , '''bordekeh''' — (Ameridish) female paying boarder
- , '''boychikel''', '''boychiklekh'''
- (Ameridish) — an actor who muffs his lines, from ''bulba'' (literally ''potato'', figuratively ''error'')
- (Ameridish) — a female bum
-
- false, ersatz, crazy (of an idea), artificial, jury-rigged (prob. from Eng. "decalcomania," a "decal," a sticker, a cheap process for transferring images from paper to glass.) In the Bronx, 1st half 20th century, a "cockamamie" was a washable temporary "tattoo" distributed in bubblegum packets.
- , '''donstairsiker''' — female, male living downstairs
- — bargain-basement dress
- — five, or five-dollar bill, shortened form of Yiddish ''finif'' (five)
- — Yinglish, not in its religious or Yiddish meanings, but only in five slang senses: authentic, trustworthy, legitimate, fair, and approved by a higher source. Its pronunciation, as "''kōsher''", is another distinguishing factor, as in true Yiddish it is pronounced "''kūsher''" or "''kösher''"
- , '''nextdooreker''' — female, male living next door
-
- , '''opstairsiker''' (Ameridish) — female, male living upstairs
- — corruption of English card game Pitch And Patience
- (Ameridish) — a small object that causes shutting up, e.g. a pacifier, teething ring
- (Ameridish) — an unadmirable or untalented person
- (Ameridish)
- — single man
-
- — ''tuches lecker'' or ass-kisser (literally, one who licks buttocks)
This list includes words from Yinglish in this secondary sense; many of these words have not been assimilated into English and are unlikely to be understood by English speakers who do not have substantial Yiddish influence. Leo Rosten 's book, '' The Joys Of Yiddish '', explains these words (and many more) in detail but, excepting ''blintz'', ''kosher'' (used in English slang), and ''shmo'', none of them is described as Yinglish in that book.
- — son-in-law
- (Yid., אַ שאַנדע) — a disgrace; one who brings embarrassment through mere association (cognate with the German word ''Schande'', meaning "disgrace")
- "" (Yid., אַ שאַנדע פֿאַר די גוים) — "A shame in front of the ''goyim,''" the scathing criticism of Judge Julius Hoffman by Abbie Hoffman during the trial of the Chicago Eight
- (Yid., אײַ־אײַ־אײַ) (sometimes spelled "ai-yi-yi")
- (Yid., אַבי געזונט) — "As long as you're healthy!"; often used as an ironic punchline to a joke (''abi'', cf. Polish ''aby'' = "so that"; ''gezunt'' cognate with German ''gesund'', "healthy")
- (Yid., אַבי מע לעבט) "At least I am alive"
- — "To you be peace" (the polite response to the greeting " Shalom Aleichem ")
- (or ''alter kocker'') (Yid., אַלטער קאַקער) — a lecherous old man; an old fart (from German ''Alter'' "old" and ''kacker'' "crapper")
- (Yid., בײגל ''beygl'') — a ring-shaped bread roll made by boiling then baking the dough; originating from Viennese German "Beugerl" a "bowed" piece of pastry)
- (Yid., ביסל) — a small amount, "a pinch of" something (cf. German ''bissel'', a dialectal variant of the more standard ''bisschen'', "a little bit")
- (Yid., בלינצע ''blintse'') — a sweet cheese-filled crepe
- — the circumcision of a male child.
- — Sweetheart.
- , — grandmother; pronounced like "book", not like the Southern U.S. nickname (cf. the Slavonic ''baba'', "old woman" with different overtones in different languages)
- — Old wives' tale, cock and bull story, (often attrib. by erroneous folk etymology to combination of bubbe, "grandmother," and meisse, "tale", but in fact from "Bove-meisse," from the "Bove Bukh," the "Book of Bove," chivalric adventures of fictitious knight Sir Bevys ("Bove") of Hampton, first pub. in Yiddish in 1541 and continually repub. until 1910.
- (also spelled "bupkis") — emphatically nothing, as in ''He isn't worth bubkes'' (literally "goat droppings", in Polish "bobki")
- — literally, fainting, ("I was chalishing from hunger,")sometimes used as a term of desperate desire for something or someone ("After a thirty-six hour shift, I was chalishing to go home already.")
- (Yiddish, חזירײַ ''khazerai'' 'filth' or, perhaps more literally, 'piggery', from חזיר ''khazer'' 'pig' from Hebrew חַזִיר "chazeer", pig) — junk, garbage, junk food
- — to bother someone incessantly ("Stop cheppening me!") or to playfully banter with someone ("We spent the entire date cheppening each other about what bad taste the other one had.")
- — a term used in the context of rhetoric and argumentation to mean a new forceful point brought into a discussion; the upshot or novel point made by an argument (from Hebrew ''Chadash'', meaning 'new'); also used when you are making fun of someone for something entirely obvious. "Chiddush! Chiddush!"
- — (Yid. from Heb.חוצפּה ''khutspe'') ballsiness, guts, daring, audacity, effrontery
- — (Yid. from Heb. דיבוק ''dibbuk'', that which clings) the malevolent spirit of a dead person which enters and controls a living body until exorcised
- (Yid., דרעק from Ger. ''Dreck'', "dirt") — Worthless material, especially merchandise; (vulgar) "crap"
- (Yid., עס; cf. German ''essen'', "to eat") — to eat, especially used in the imperative: ''Ess! Ess!''
- (far-BISS-en) (Yid., פֿאַרביסן; cf. German ''verbissen'') — adj. Bitter; sullen; crippled by bitterness. Also farbissener.
- (fer-BLUNJ-it) (Yid., פֿאַרבלאָנדזשעט; ''far-'' cf. German ''ver-'' and Polish ''błądzić'' = "to stray around") — lost, bewildered, confused, mixed-up (appropriately, there are several variant spellings)
- (Yid., פֿאַרדרײט; ''dray'' meaning ''turn'', cf. Dreidel ; also cf. German ''verdreht'' = "twisted" ) — confused, mixed-up, distracted
- — negative term for someone very religious or pious. "She came back from seminary and became all farfrumt."
- — negative term meaning very religious, often used to connote someone holier-than-thou. Can be shortened to "chnyok," or used as a noun ("don't be such a chnyok") or an adjective ("you're so chnyokish").
- - Adjective; Religious, specificaly in the area of Judaism.
- (Yid., פֿאַרקאַקטע) — an adjective whose usage resembles English ''goddamn''; literally, 'crapped' or 'becrapped', cf. German "verkackte(r)"
- or '''faygeleh''' — (pejorative) Homosexual (literally 'little bird', cf. German "Vögele", also possible cf. German word "Feigling", meaning 'coward'), could be used for anyone slightly effeminate, "Ugh, that, Moishele washes his hands, what a faygel." ---NOTE--- A Fayge is a bird, and is the basis of the female name Fayga. Such a person, as an infant, might be called Faygeleh, until later on being called Faygie.
- — to eat, especially with enthusiasm (German ''fressen'' = "to eat like an animal, in an untidy way")
- — ( (from Yiddish "frum", religious; also cf. German "fromm" = pious)
- — literally "go know," as in "go figure." ("Last week she said she hated his guts and now she's engaged to him. Gai vais.")
- — all, the whole of ("the gantze mishpoche" = the whole family, etc., cf. German ''ganz'' = "whole, all")
- — money (German ''Geld'' with the same meaning), also chocolate coins eaten on Hanukkah (געלט ''gelt'' 'money')
- (גענוג) — enough (German ''genug'')
- — a piece of good luck (German ''Glück'')
- — a minor malfunction (possibly from Yiddish ''glitsh'')
- or Golem — a man-made humanoid; an android, Frankenstein monster, or an insult, suggesting that a person has no mental capacity
- or gonif (also ''ganiv'') — thief (גנבֿ ''ganef''. This can be used as a somewhat generic insult, implying a "lowlife" ) — the word has also been adopted from Yiddish into German as ''Ganove'', also a thief (often figurative)
- — nothing, not a bit, for naught (German ''gar nicht'' = not at all)
- — Someone not of the Jewish faith or people; a Gentile (גוי, plural גוים ''Goyim'', Hebrew 'nation(s)', often referring to nations other than Israel, although the Tanach calls Israel the "goy koddesh", "the Holy Nation", so Israel is also a 'goy' in the sense of "a people", not "a state" ) "What's John Smith doing in temple, he's a goy!"
- — fool or foolishness (lit. "Gentile head")
- — pigpen, often used to describe a mess (as in "your room is a hegdesch")
- — Bother, pester (as in the character Maj Hockstetter from Hogan's Heroes; a hockstetter being someone who constantly bothers you) [from Hak mir kayn chaynik or "Stop clanking like a teakettle" from the old time pre-whistle teakettles whose tops clank against the rim as the pressure pushed them up and down.
- (also '''''Hamish''''') — home-like, friendly, folksy (German ''heimisch'')
- — a bad odor
- — a fever; frequently occurs in oaths of ill-will (e.g., "I'll give him a ''kadoches'' is what I'll give him!)
- — head (e.g. ''I needed that like a lach en keppe,'' hole in my head; German "Kopf", coll. "Kopp" — "head"; German "Loch" — "hole")
- — (also pronounced: kin ahurrah) — lit., "No Evil Eye !" spoken to avert a curse after something or someone has been praised; the phrase has mutated into "Don't give me a canary!" in The Bronx
- — to offer unwanted advice, e.g. to someone playing cards; to converse idly, gossip (Yiddish קיבעצען ''kibetsn''), German thieves' jargon ''kiebitschen'' "to examine, search, look through", influenced by German ''Kiebitz'' (any of several birds called peewits {Link without Title} ).
- or '''kyfe''' — enjoyment
- : trash, especially gaudy trash (German "Kitsch")
- — a loud bang or wallop (German ''klopfen'' = "to knock")
- — empty person, a good-for-nothing (From Hebrew "klum," nothing.)
- — clumsy person (from Yiddish קלאָץ ''klots'' 'wooden beam') "Shloimy, you wear your hat like a klutz."
- — conforming to Jewish dietary laws; (slang) appropriate, legitimate (originally from Hebrew כּשר) see Yashrusdik.
- — a sickness (German ''Krankheit'')
- (קװעל) — beam/ be proud
- — to complain habitually, gripe; or, a person who always complains, sometimes known as whinge (from Yiddish קװעטשן ''kvetshn'' and German ''quetschen'' 'press, squeeze')
- — potato pancake, especially during Hanukkah (from Yiddish, from either Ukrainian or Russian)
- — an expression of joy, the traditional toast "to life!"
- — a Lithuanian Jew
- — smoked salmon (from Yiddish לאַקס ''laks'' and German ''Lachs'' 'salmon') eaten with bagels.
- (מאַכער) — lit. "doer, someone who does things", big shot, important person (e.g. within an organization) (German ''Macher'' = maker)
- — one's first or native language, literally from Hebrew, 'mother-tongue'.
- — really, very (an expression of emphasis)From the Hebrew "mamash"=substantially, "mamashut"=substance.
- — bastard, literally or figuratively (from Hebrew ממזר, meaning the child of a married woman where the biological father is not the married woman's husband (slightly more restrictive than the English work Illegitimate )
- — expert (from Yiddish מבֿין ''meyvn'', from Hebrew ''mevin'' 'one who understands')
- (מזל ''mazl'') — luck (literally, ''constellation'' of stars)
- (מזל־טובֿ! ''mazl tov'') — congratulations! (literally, 'good constellation' from Hebrew, meaning, ''May you be born under a good star, or at a good time.'' When you tell someone Mazel Tov, it is customary to shake hands.)
- — your child's female or male parent-in-law '''
- — a lengthy document or discourse (from Yiddish מגילה ''megile'', from Hebrew 'scroll')
- — an upright man; a gentleman; a decent human being (from Yiddish מענטש ''mentsh'' 'person') the generic term for a virtuous man or person; one with honesty, integrity, loyalty, firmness of purpose — a fundamental sense of decency and respect for other people (from German ''Mensch'', meaning human being) {Link without Title}
- / '''meshugge''' / '''meshugah''' / ''' Meshuggah ''' (משוגען ''meşugn'') : crazy (from Yiddish ''meshuge'')
- — a crazy person (from Yiddish ''meshugener'')
- — nonsense (lit. "crazy talk")
- — the quorum of ten adult (i.e., 13 Or Older ) Jews (among the Orthodox, males) who are necessary for the holding of a public worship service
- — insane situation, irrationality (from Yiddish ''meshugas'', from ''meshuge'' 'crazy')
- — family (from Yiddish משפּחה ''mishpokhe'')
- — a professional religious circumciser (from Hebrew מוהל)
- (נחת) — pride (usage: I have ''naches'' from you)
- — foolishness (German "närrisch" — foolish)
- — snack food (German ''naschen'' — to snack, cf. German "Nascherei")
- — a hapless, unfortunate person, much to be pitied; the one who cleans up after the schlemiel's accidents (from Yiddish ''nebekh'')
- — snack (from Yiddish נאַשן ''nashn'')Also a verb "Nu, stop noshing on that nosh."
- — multipurpose interjection often analogous to "well?" or "so?"; of the same linguistic origin as English ''now'' (Russian "ну")
- (נודניק) — pest, "pain in the neck", originally from Polish ("nuda" in Polish means "boredom"; ''nudziarz'' is the Polish word for the Yiddish ''nudnik'')
- — (exclamation) Oh!
- (אױ גװאַלד) — Oh no! (from Yiddish ''gvald'' 'emergency'). Cognate with German ''Gewalt'' "force, violence".
- (אױ װײ) : (exclamation) Oh, woe! (Oh no! — literally, 'Oh, pain!', cf. German "Oh Weh!").
- — (exclamation) from אױ װײ איז מיר 'Oh, woe is me!', 'Oh, my suffering
- — sweetheart, dear (from Hebrew Otzar, treasure)
- — a male infant; a little squirt; a nobody , (cf. South German "Pisch´n" = to piss)
- — a light spanking or disciplinary slap, done usually by a parent to a child, and often taking place on the top of the hand or the buttocks (cf. German word "peitsch" meaning whip).
- — to burst, as from strong emotion: "I was so angry, I thought I'd plotz!" (from Yiddish פּלאַצן ''platsn'' 'to crack', cf. German ''platzen'')
- — the face (Yiddish ''ponem'', from Hebrew)
- — the navel; belly button (Polish pępek= the navel)
- — unclean penis; stupid 'dirty' person, a jerk (from Yiddish פּאָץ ''pots'')
- or '''schickered''': drunk, intoxicated (from the Hebrew ''shikur'' — drunk, cf. German {Link without Title} ''angeschickert'' 'soused, tipsy')
- — an inept clumsy person; a bungler; a dolt (from Yiddish ''shlemil'' or ''shlimil'' from the Hebrew "Sh'aino Mo'eil" literally ineffective)
- — to drag or haul (an object); to make a tedious journey (from Yiddish שלעפּן ''shlepn'' and German ''schleppen'')
- bum
- / '''schlamazel''' : a chronically unlucky person (שלימזל ''shlimazl'', from ''shlim'' 'bad' and ''mazl'' 'luck', from the Hebrew ''Sh'ain Lo Mazel'' literally Has No Luck); The difference between a ''shlemiel'' and a ''shlimazl'' is described through the aphorism, "A ''shlemiel'' is somebody who often spills his soup; a ''shlimazl'' is the person the soup lands on." One of the ten non- English words that were voted Words Hardest To Translate in June 2004 by a British translation company. Lyric following "schlemiel" in ''Laverne and Shirley'' theme (from Yiddish ''shlimazl'' cf. German ''Schlamassel'')
- — A poorly made product or poorly done work, usually quickly thrown together for the appearance of having been done properly; "this writing is schlock." Something shoddy or inferior. (perhaps from Yiddish ''shlak'' 'a stroke')
- — Vulgar. penis (from Yiddish שלאַנג ''shlang'' and German ''Schlange'' 'snake')
- — a clumsy, stupid, or unattractive person.
- — excessive sentimentality; chicken fat or drippings used as a ''shmeer'' on bread (from Yiddish שמאַלץ ''shmalts'' and German ''Schmalz'')
- — as a verb, to spread, e.g. the cream cheese on your bagel; also, as a noun, that which you spread on something, e.g. "I'll have a piece of challah with schmeer." (from שמיר) (cf. German ''schmieren'')
- — a stupid person. (an alteration of ''schmuck''; see below)
- — to converse informally, to small talk or chat. Can also be a form of brown-noseing (from Yiddishשמועסן ''shmuesn'' — cf. German ''schmusen'').The word has been somewhat popularised by Sir Alan Sugar (himself Jewish) on the BBC TV series The Apprentice .
- — a contemptible or foolish person; a jerk; literally means 'penis' (from Yiddish שמאָק ''shmok'' 'penis', also possibly, cf. German "schmuck" meaning ornament or jewelry)
- — dirt, often pertaining to petty household dirt(on the table, floor, clothes etc.) Also used metaphorically to the English equivalent; smut, sleaze (from German ''Schmutz'')
- — an easily imposed-upon or cheated person, a pitifully meek person. a particularly gullible person. (from Yiddish שנוק)
- / '''Tsnorr''' — to beg.
- (שנאָרער) — beggar or person always asking others for hand-outs or services (cf. German ''Schnorrer'', ''schnorren'')
- / '''schnozzle''' / '''shnozzle''' : a nose, especially a large nose. cf. English ''nozzle''. (also spelled from Yiddish שנויץ ''shnoits'' 'snout', cf. German ''Schnauze'' 'snout')
- — a shriek or wail, sometimes used to connote over-exaggerated hysterics. ("When I told her I'd be ten minutes late, she let out such a shrai!") (cf. German ''Schrei'')
- / '''schtuff''' : (vulgar) to have sex with, screw (from Yiddish שטופּן ''shtupn'' 'push, poke'; similar to 'stuff')
- — take pride. Sometimes shortened to "shep." ("Your son got into medical school? You must be shepping.")
- — to put someone down, often facetiously ("I shtuched him out." Can be used as a noun to refer to a clever put-down or rejoinder ("When I told my father that my stupidity must be hereditary,it was such a good shtuch!").
- — fancy or elegant; may sometimes be perjorative ("She thinks she's so shtotty with that new dress of hers.")
- — father-in-law (German ''Schwäher'')
- — mother-in-law (German ''Schwieger'')
- — a Gentile who performs labour forbidden on the Sabbath for observant Jews; sometimes used (by implication) for someone who "does the dirty work" for another person (from Yiddish Shabbes, Sabbath + goy, a non-Jew)
- — the beadle or sexton of a synagogue (from Yiddish ''shames,'' an attendant) (originally from Hebrew שמש ''shamash'' 'servant')
- or ''' Shegetz ''' (שגץ، שײגעץ) — (semi-pejorative) Gentile male
- — a beautiful girl (cf. German ''schönes Mädel'')
- (שיקסע) — (can be pejorative) a Gentile woman (the origin is much more offensive, meaning ''abomination'')
- — an old rag. Used literally: ''I spilled the coffee, bring me a shmatte, quick!'' Used figuratively (usu. derisively): ''That fancy dress she spent half her husband's money on just looked like a shmatte to me.'' (Cf. Polish ''szmata'' "rag, piece of cloth") Used ironically: "I'm in the schmatte business," meaning "I manufacture or sell clothing."
- — a stupid person, a truly unlucky one; has been said to be the one who cleans up the soup the shlemiel spilled on the shlimazl.
- — ineffectual person
- : a lengthy, often instructive talk (from Yiddish שפּיל ''shpil'' and German ''Spiel'' 'play')
- — upset stomach, or simply nervous energy; to be feeling "antsy", to be "sitting on pins and needles." Cf. Polish szpilka, "pin"
- , '''shtarker''' — strong, brave (German ''stark''), a criminal
- — comic theme; a defining habit or distinguishing feature (from Yiddish שטיק 'a piece of something' — cf. German ''Stück'', "piece"). In "delis," salami ends were sold from a plate on the counter labelled "A nickel a schtickel."
- — a little piece of something, usually food. Dim. of stick, from German ''Stückchen''
- — quiet (שטום ''shtum'' 'mute') (German ''stumm'')
- — (שװאַרצער) — Black Person (possibly derogatory) (from שװאַרץ ''shvarts'' 'black', German ''schwarz'')
- — A steam bath (German ''Schwitzen'' = to sweat). Also used for sweat or some kind of dirt/filth.
- — really, totally. "This is takeh a problem!"
- — knickknack, trinket, miscellaneous curios of no obvious practical use (from Yiddish טשאַטשקע ''tshatshke'' and possibly from a Ukrainian word for toy) May be used to refer to pretty women.
- — a disobedient nephew
- (or '''trayf''') — forbidden, non- Kosher foods; anything forbidden (from Exodus 22:30, technically referring to an animal with any of a specific group of physical defects making it inedible)
- — a fuss, a disturbance. "Don't make a big tsimmis!" Also, a kind of stew.
- — to {Link without Title} health! Used as a response to a sneeze; German "gesund" — "healthy")
- or '''tochis''' — Buttocks (from Yiddish תּחת ''tokhes'')
- — excitement.
- — raucous Comedian , ''e.g.'' Jerry Lewis , Robin Williams , from Vaudeville and the Catskills Borscht Belt origin from the English tumult.
- — Pious, righteous person; one of the 36 legendary saints for whose sake God does not destroy the world
- — troubles (from Yiddish צרות ''tsores'')
- — Stubborn
- — choked with emotion (German ''verklemmt'' = emotionally inhibited in a convulsive way; stuck)
- — impolite or undisciplined child, literally, wild beast
- — A German Jew
- or '''yente''' — a talkative woman; a gossip; a blabbermouth; a scold
- — pedigree, family background, an advantage
- — a Stereotypical Jewish Mother
- — intelligence (lit. "Jewish head"; German "Jüdischer Kopf" — Jewish head)
- — bad luck (lit. "Jewish luck")
- — a Jewish holiday on which work is forbidden, eg. Rosh Hashanah , Yom Kippur , Pesach (from the Hebrew " Yom Tov ", Good Day, or Holiday)
- — thing or item. When used with "gantze," can refer to an event or story, i.e. "The ganztze zach only took two hours."
- (or '''zayde''') — grandfather (possibly a Slavonic word, cf. Polish ''dziadek'', meaning "grandfather")
- or '''zoftig''' — plump, chubby, full-figured (German ''saftig'', meaning juicy), especially with a child or an attractive woman
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