Anyone know any good Yiddish words/expressions?

[henslee]

And I don't mean common ones like "meshugga" and "oy gavolt". Here's a good one....

Miskeit (sp?) pronounced mees-kite def. a heinously ugly girl.

The near extinct language of eastern Europe and Hollywood producers is wonderfully expressive.

[htuttle]

1. I don't know any good expressions

Mostly only bad ones...

:evilgrin:

[henslee]

10. duhhh, those are the ones we want... eom

[rusty charly]

2. one of my new favorites: Shmegegi

Shmegegi - Buffoon, idiot, fool



http://www.pass.to/glossary/

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. kerflempt

disorderly, messy

[MrScorpio]

4. Oy Vey!!

You can't go wrong with that one

[pistoff democrat]

5. I am so farklempt that I'll just direct you to:

http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Yiddish/English/comwor.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Kush meer in toches

kiss my ass!

[NightTrain]

7. I'm just guessing at how most of these are spelled, but....

Fershlugginer, schmendrick, schlemehil, tsuris, mensch. All I can think of for the moment.

[Kanary]

8. bissel

I always liked "bissel".

A bissel of this, a bissel of that...

Probably spelled wrong.

Kanary

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. A blivet

ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag...meant to describe people that are full of it

[drewb]

11. Machlamovis

The devil...

We have one boss at work that we call the Machlamovis....


Pretty sure that's spelled wrong, but it's correct phonetically and I R hukd on phonx

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. yutz

putz, schmutz

Put an "utz" at the end of it, it's Yiddish! :D

[Bertha Venation]

13. no, but I do know how the city of Van Nuys, CA, got its name...

You have to imagine an old Jewish gentleman speaking:

Early in the 20th Century, two old Jewish fellas, émigrés from Eastern Europe, were thinking of settling near Los Angeles. Out walking one day, discussing their new surroundings, they crested a small mountain and looked out over a lush, inviting valley.

Nodding their heads with pleasure, one man turned to the other and said, "very nice, very nice...."

edit for embarrassing typo

[UrbScotty]

14. Is "klutz" Yiddish?

I know klutzes are clumsy people; my brother would call me that a lot.

It does sound Yiddish.

[Bertha Venation]

16. I don't know, but "shit" must be...

...it's what I usually scream when I've been a klutz.

Oh yeah -- what about "schwartze" (pronounced "shvart-zuh") -- I think that's the rough equivalent of the unkind slur of the word "negro."

[madaboutharry]

15. Shnorer

Shnorer: a first class mooch. The verb is "to Shnor". This describes my mother's neighbor.

[Bertha Venation]

17. Hey -- Berl the Schnorrer! Thanks!

I have always wondered what that meant! Berl the Schnorrer was a family-shaming beggar in a story within Pat Conroy's novel Beach Music. There was also Mottele the Blade (a butcher) and Tordes the Bean (don't remember why he was "the Bean" but it made sense to me) -- but I never knew what a "schnorrer" was. Thank you!!

[madaboutharry]

18. You are welcome

Now, just think or how many you know!!!