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YIDDISH SAYINGS

 


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There are plenty of books that have Yiddish sayings, so if this subject is of interest to you, use my link to Amazon.com to find them easier by
clicking here >  Jewish Genealogy



Farshtaist? 

Do you understand Yiddish was the secret code, therefore I don't farshtaist

A biselch maybe here and there, the rest has gone to waste. 
Sadly when I hear it now, I only get the gist.
 
My bobbeh spoke it beautifully; but me, I am tsemisht
So och un vai as I should say, or even oy vai iz mir.
 
Though my pisk is lacking Yiddish, it's familiar to my ear. 
And I'm no Chaim Yankel, in fact I was shtick naches.
 
But when it comes to Yiddish though, I'm talking out my toches
Es iz a shandeh far di kinder that I don't know it better (though it's really nisht kefelecht when one needs to write a letter).
 
But, when it comes to characters there's really no contention. 
No other linguist can compete with honorable menshen.
 
They have nebbishes and nebechels and others without mazel
Then too, shmendriks and schlemiels and let's not forget schlimazel.
 
These words are so precise and descriptive to the listener. 
So much better than a pill is to call someone  farbissener.
 
Or that a brazen woman would be better called chaleria
And you'll agree farklempt says more than does hysteria.
 
I'm not haken dir a tsheinik and I hope I'm not a kvetch
But isn't  mieskeit kinder than to call someone a wretch?
 
Mitten derinnen, I hear bobbeh say: It's nechtiker tog, don't fear.
To me you're still a maiven, zol zein shah, don't fill my ear.
 
A lieben ahf dein kepele, I don't mean to interrupt. 
But you are speaking narishkeit.
 
And a gezunt auf dein kop!

Anonymous


GLOSSARY

Biseleh = A little
Chaleria = Evil woman. Probably derived from cholera.
Farbissener = Embittered; bitter person
Farklempt = Too emotional to talk. Ready to cry.
Farshtaist = (Do You?) Understand
Haken dir a tsheinik = Don't get on your nerves (Lit., Don't bang your teapot!)
Kvetch = Whine, complain; whiner, a complainer
Lieben ahf dein kepele = Words of praise like; Well said! Well done! (Lit., A long life upon your head.)
Mazik-   (A demon or devil), mischievous, clever or ingenious
Mieskeit = Ugly!
Mitten derinnen = All of a sudden, suddenly
Momzer - (An illegitimate child), a clever little rogue
Naches = Joy, Gratification
Narishkeit = Nonsense
Nebbishes = A nobody or simpleton
Nebechels = A pitiful person or playing the role of being one
Nechtiker tog! = He's (it's) gone! Forget it! Nonsense! (Lit., a night's day)
Nudnik- pest, nag, Origin is Polish-Russian - "nuda" - boredom, dull, and Polish "nudziarz" is associated with bore or bromide. But say "nudnik", and this is a different world.
Och un vai = Alas and alack
Oi vai iz mir = Woe is me
Pisk = mouth
Schlemiel = Clumsy bungler, an inept person, butter-fingered; dopey person
Schmendrik = Nincompoop; pipsqueak, an inept or indifferent person; same as
schlemiel
Schlimazel = Luckless person. Unlucky person; one with perpetual bad luck (it is said that the schlemiel spills the soup on the Schlimazel)
Shandeh far di kinder = A pity/shame for the children!
Shmegegge- a no-talent person
Shtkefelecht = Not so terrible
Tsemisht = Confused or mixed up
Zol zein shah! = Be quiet. Shut up!!


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Yiddishkeit

Isn't it redundant to put a yarmulke on a toupee?

Yiddish word for Today: PULKES (PUHL-kees) THIGHS note: this word has been traced back to the language of one of the original Tribes of Israel, the Cellulites.

There are some English words that when said by someone with a Yiddish accent, take on a whole new meaning. For example, if you would have asked my dad what the word wrench meant, he would have said something like the following: A wrench is where the cowboys live.

The only really good advice that your Jewish mother ever gave you was "Go! You might meet somebody!"

You know you're a Jew if you watched Ed Sullivan every Sunday night, and your parents laughed out loud at Myron Cohen.

You spent your entire childhood thinking everyone called pot roast "brisket."

Yiddish in America
http://www.koshernosh.com/


Yiddish Proverbs

If they give, take: if they take, yell!

The wheel turns round
Talk less, do more
When you grease palms, you ride
A liar should have a good memory
When you have no linen, you save the laundry bill
Petty thieves are hanged, major ones go free
Times is the best healer
Too smart outsmarts itself
No one is deaf to praise
None so deaf as those who will not hear
If one man calls you a donkey, ignore him.  If two men call you a donkey, think about it.  If three men call you a donkey, buy a saddle
What one has, one doesn't want; what one wants one doesn't have
Don't spit in the well, you might drink from it later
You can't chew with someone else's teeth
When a rogue kisses you, count your teeth
When it falls, it falls butter side down
Your friend has a friend, and your friend's friend has a friend; be discreet
An insincere peace is better than a sincere war
If grandma had wheels, she'd be a wagon
The highest wisdom is kindness
One fool makes many fools
The sun will set without your help
What is cheap, is dear
Death is the only certainty
The whole world is one town



The Yiddish Dictionary of Fools
by Marnie Winston-Macauley

Legend has it that Eskimos (Inuit) have hundreds of words to describe
snow. We Jews have hundreds of words for ',pains in the neck.',
Among the many majesties of Yiddish, is its magical ability to turn
words into an emotional thesaurus. Both the 'good' and the 'bad' alike
are not merely 'said.' No. They're felt - in all their subtle nuance and
multiple meanings. This is never more true then when we're talking about
a 'fool' or a 'nudnek,' a 'shliemel,' or a 'schnook.' Face it. We Jews
don't bear fools lightly. Who had time?

So is it surprising that we have more words in Yiddish for fools than
there are Golden Arches? These words are so delicious, many have become part of American jargon. Do you have the story about these words, and what they truly mean? In case you don't, as a public service, we from Jewlarious are proud to present the first ..

Yiddish-Yinglish Dictionary of Fools

Bulvan:An ox, with no class. He'll move your house on his back - without asking.
 
Chaim Yankel:A mister nobody. His favorite color is
beige.
 
Chaleria:A shrew. If her pastrami's fatty, she'll make a federal
case. 
 
Chazzer:A pig: He'll take home the cheap wine he brought you for
Passover.
 
Draycup:She one not only forgot her address, she's in the wrong
city. 
 
Eingeshparht:He's got a head like a rock.
 
Gantseh Makher:He made a few bucks selling whoopie cushions, so suddenly he's Trump. Synonym: K'nocker

Gonif:Unscrupulous, a thief. His partner's sent out an APB.
 
Grubber yung:Crude. A big mouth who has dirt (from grabbing) under his fingernails.
 
Klutz:Clumsy. She falls over her own sneakers- fastened with
Velco.  
 
 Kvetch:A whiner. The food's salty, the place is chilly, eating out -who needs it? 
 
Luftmensch:A dreamer - who never wakes up. He could paint
a masterpiece, if only he had an easel - and knew how. 
 
Meshugener:A loony. Whether he thinks his underwear is after him or barrels over Niagra Falls, he's one letter short of an M&M.  
 
Moishe Kapoyr:Today he'd be called 'oppositional.' The family votes to hold the reunion in Vegas.   He votes for Vilna.  
 
Nar:He left his law practice to become a  clown.   
 
Nayfish:A doormat. When he's robbed, he apologizes for being short
on cash.  
 
Nebekh:A hapless unfortunate. He gets stepped on by accident a
lot.  
 
Nuchshlepper:A hanger-on. She shleps the 200 pound camping gear for
the group.
 
Nudnik:A persistent bore. She doesn't stop with the talking,
the asking, the annoying till you want to staple his lips
together.  
 
Nudzh:A pesty badgerer. She tells you twelve times to check the
locks. Unlike the nudnik, it could be an occasional occurrence. 
 

Ongeblussen:A self-involved blowhard. If his last name is Moses, he
thinks the Bible gave him a mention.   
 
Oysvorf:Unpopular outcast. Think David Duke at a Hadassah meeting.Paskudnyak:A revolting, corrupt person.   For him, there would be a very short funeral.
 
Shikker:A drunk. She has a little chaser with her Cheerios. 
 
Shlemiel:A pathetic, clumsy loser. He drives over - through your living room. 
 
Shlimazel:An unlucky loser. He's the one the shlemiel was visiting.
 
Shlump:Unkempt, saggy. She shleps, stooped, with her hair in strings.  
 
 
Shmeggege:And idiotic doofus. Short of a 'meshuganah,' he's sure he'll make a killing with his musical toilet seat ... and acts like a makher about it.  
 
Shmendrik:Nincompoop. A fraternal twin to a shlemiel, he's thinner and weaker.  
 
Shnook:A likeable patsy. You could sell him a time-share in Area 51, and he'll pay top dollar - for vacationing on an historical site.  
 
Shnorror:A beggar. He's forever borrowing, taking advantage. Bad for a potluck party. 
 

Trombenik:A lazy braggart. Not only does he blow his own horn, he
doesn't own one. 
 
Yuchna:A loud-mouthed, boorish female. In Loehmann's
dressing room she'll yell 'It would fit if you lost a few
pounds!  
 
'Yutz:Socially inept. He takes you to a restaurant with a clown
face and spends the evening discussing his train collection.  
 
Zshlub:Lazy slob. He shows up with schmutz on his untucked shirt. To Archie Bunker,  'meathead' looked like a zshlub when he met him - although he'd never say it.

 

Broken down wagon

Tsushedikt

Collapsed horse

Gepeygert

Deeds (Stories)

Buba Maise (stories told by Bubba)

 

 

 
   
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