4 Ways Yiddish Has Influenced English

Many food lovers begin to appreciate the influence of Jewish cuisine with their first bite of a crispy potato latke. Latkes and other foods, like gefilte fish, hummus, and couscous, demonstrate the diversity of Jewish cuisine. And it’s not only delicious dishes that Americans have inherited from Jewish culture. Dozens of Yiddish words and expressions lend flavor to English. Yiddish itself is a mixture of High German, Hebrew, and Slavic languages. It’s spoken by Eastern and Central European Jews and by descendants of some who emigrated from these regions. How many phrases do you recognize?

Food

Since we’re on the subject of food, let’s talk about some with Jewish roots. You might encounter one Yiddish word, kosher, on some food labels. What exactly does that mean? Simply put, food that is kosher is suitable for use according to Jewish law. Besides labeling pickles and deli meats, kosher also describes anything good, proper, or authentic in informal speech.
Polish Jews invented a small, round bread with a hole in the middle. They called it beygl. Americans love bagels so much that they spend over $620 million on them each year. Sometimes, they top them with lox, which comes from the Yiddish word for salmon. If you prefer sweet treats, you may like thin, crepe-like blintzes filled with cheese or fruit. With all the yummy options, it’s no wonder that we’ve also learned nosh. In Yiddish, nashn means to nibble or gnaw. English speakers nosh when they snack between meals.

Verbs

Along with nosh, English borrowed other verbs from Yiddish. From kibetsn, a gossiper or someone who offers unsolicited advice, we have the verb kibitz. To kibitz is to give unwanted counsel, especially during a sports match or card game. Kibitz isn’t the only chatty word; to schmooze means to engage in idle conversation. If you drag a heavy object from one place to another, you can rely on the word schlep to describe your travails. Some words have changed meaning slightly during their journey from Yiddish to English. In English, to plotz means to collapse or faint from strong emotion; in Yiddish it means to burst or crack open.

Insults

A few not-so-nice words come from Yiddish. Klutz isn’t too bad; it’s a clumsy person. Others are downright derogatory. For example, putz is a strong insult in Yiddish. In English, it means a fool or jerk. You may be familiar with the term schmuck from the 2010 movie Dinner for Schmucks. A schmuck is a contemptible or obnoxious person, and in the movie a group of work colleagues compete to find the best example of such a person. Oy vey, what a mean thing to do!

Nouns

In English, a glitch is a minor problem or error, but in Yiddish it is a slip, skate, or nosedive. A spiel is a long speech, especially one used to persuade people into doing something. The difficult-to-spell tchotchke is a small object, usually a knickknack or toy. English also borrows some cutesy words for body parts from Yiddish. There’s the tukhus, tush, or tushy (rear end) and schnozz (nose).

Words You Should Know

The Daily Writing Tips website claims that there are some Yiddish expressions that everyone should know. Here are three of the most important:

Mazel Tov!

In Hebrew, mazel refers to constellations or destiny, and tov means good. Since people associated good fortune with constellations, the phrase entered Yiddish as an expression of goodwill or congratulations. Though it’s not an English term, it is so widely used at Jewish events that English speakers should be familiar with it.

Goy

A goy is simply a non-Jewish person. The plural is goyim, and the world of non-Jewish people is the goyim. It’s adjective form, goyish, is used for anything that is considered non-Jewish.

Chutzpah

In English, chutzpah is sometimes used in a positive light to describe someone with spirit. That little girl sure does have chutzpah! However, in Yiddish, it’s not flattering. It denotes impudence, extreme arrogance, and presumptuousness. Be careful how you use it, especially if you are around Yiddish speakers.
How many of the words mentioned in this article have you used? Did you realize they originated in the Yiddish language? From bagels to cool insults to funny words for body parts, we owe a lot to this language. In Yiddish, shalom literally means “deep peace.” It’s a greeting or a farewell. So the next time you encounter a Yiddish speaker, you can offer a shalom and perhaps even learn a few more useful Yiddish words to add to your vocabulary.

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