Yiddish word of the day!

Page 1 of 1 [ 11 posts ]

Joined: 9 Oct 2021
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,116
Location: Northern Nevada, USA

16 Oct 2021, 11:40 am

I've long been fascinated by Yiddish, even being a non-Jew, purely based on the sound of it, and the often very special words that seem to be so uniquely apt to unusual circumstances.

Here's a new one for me:

"luftmensch"
(“to disregard the practical matters of life”, literally “to live on air and love”)

What are your faves?

_________________
Darron, temporary Desert Rat

kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

16 Oct 2021, 1:26 pm

Oy Vey!

I’m Yiddish on my mother’s side.

naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 70
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

16 Oct 2021, 3:25 pm

Cool term.

Can see the kinship to the words "Lufthansa", and to "Luftwaffe". All three have to do with flight.

Despite being Gentile I have picked up some Yiddish here and there.

Mom used curse the "mimzers" on the road. A mimzer is an old person who drives abnormally slowly, and blocks traffic in your lane.

funeralxempire
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 40
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 33,484
Location: Right over your left shoulder

16 Oct 2021, 4:32 pm

naturalplastic wrote:

Luft is air and is cognate with lift in English.

_________________
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. —Malcolm X
Just a reminder: under international law, an occupying power has no right of self-defense, and those who are occupied have the right and duty to liberate themselves by any means possible.

Redpaws
Velociraptor

Joined: 12 Aug 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 469

16 Oct 2021, 5:44 pm

chutzpah (nerve/guts/balls)

schlemiel (inept person)

meshugge (crazy) and meshuggener/ meshuggeneh (crazy man/ woman)

nudnik (person who is a PITA)

_________________
Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it's common sense.
Ronald Reagan

RightGalaxy
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Age: 65
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,145

16 Oct 2021, 10:05 pm

bupkes (nothing)

Me Too!! ! Sometimes, it is absolutely hilarious!!

A fakakta is a thing, object or person that is completely messed up.

It is not working as it should be, or maybe it should not have been working from the start.

This Yiddish term is the perfect slang for anything that is negative. Your house is falling apart? It’s “fakakta”. Your kid likes eating worms? He’s “fakakta”. You just lost your job, your partner left you and you got kicked out of your house? Well, your life is “fakakta”. It almost reminds me of "F'd up", but in Yiddish, it's funny and not so offensive.

“Fakakta” is one of the most used cuss terms in the Yiddish language.

Last edited by RightGalaxy on 16 Oct 2021, 10:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.

RightGalaxy
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Age: 65
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,145

16 Oct 2021, 10:16 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:

Oy Vey!

I’m Yiddish on my mother’s side.

Oy Gevalt!

ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 38,072
Location: Long Island, New York

17 Oct 2021, 10:49 am

Bubbe - Grandmother, Great Grandmother
Kvetch - The act of complaining, A person who complains too much
Schmear - A spread on food. “Bagel with schmear”
Mensch - An all around good person
Putz - A clueless, stupid person
Schmuck - a**hole
Tuches - Ass(part of the body, not personality)
Schvartze - Yiddish version of the N-Word

_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 17 Oct 2021, 11:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 6 May 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,939
Location:

17 Oct 2021, 10:50 am

Geshtunkinneh: The state of being “stinking drunk”.

DuckHairback
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 27 Jan 2021
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,484
Location: Durotriges Territory

17 Oct 2021, 11:05 am

I always enjoyed punim for face, or I think like a nice face, a cute face? There's a song where people sing about putting pudding in the punim - I like those words.

_________________

Les grands garçons sont dans les boucheries

naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 70
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

17 Oct 2021, 5:16 pm

Page 1 of 1 [ 11 posts ]

Jump to:

Yiddish word of the day! Post Reply New Topic

Yiddish word of the day!