Yiddish Words

Aah Yiddish, what a quirky language. Really it's a blend of things, religion and culture. The language is High German. Anyway, here it goes:

meshuggener
A crazy and/or foolish person.

chutzpah
Chutzpah is extreme confidence, and also suggests recklessness. This one is used a lot.

gelt
Gelt is money. There's a similar word - "geld" which refers to a crown tax payed to Norman and Anglo-Saxon kings back in the day.

fin
More money - "fin" is slang for $5.00.

fleishig
Made of meat products. Used in religious(Jewish) contexts.

pareve
Totally kosher - made of no milk or meat. You see this frequently on food-products.

meister
An expert of some area. Used in compound words like chess-meister, croissant-meister, word-meister,etc.

kvetch
To complain frequently. Think "the lech would kvetch about his frustration every day."

kugel
A tasty side dish, this is a baked pudding - usually of baked potatoes or noodles.

kreplach
Sounds yum right? Actually it is! Kreplach is dumplings that are fried and put into soups!

luftmensch
A deep-thinking and unemployed person with impractical ideas.

nudnick (or nudnik)
A bore or nuisance.

nebbish
A timid or useless person. The adjective is nebbishy, ha.

yenta
This is someone who meddles in others affairs. Also one who gossips a lot.

zaftig
Wow this one is a juicy word. Referring to ladies, it means plump and attractive, hmm like a pumpkin I suppose.

kibitz
To overlook someone doing something (usually like playing chess or cards) and give unwanted advice. Kibitzer is the noun, and also be someone gives an opinion.

So now you know some Yiddish, you're certainly not a nebbish!