# Catchy (Kitchie?) Yiddish expressions... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2000, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386 "2000-03-31T19:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2000, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/1 "2000-04-01T06:17:00Z")
The Yiddish language, they say, is a dying language. Too bad. It has so many interesting ways to express yourself. I wish I’d listened to my grandparent more when they spoke it and managed to learn more than the few common expressions I still remember, like (please excuse the spelling - it’s all phonetical from memory): Schmuck - little prick Putz - big schmuck Dreck - garbage Gay in drerd - drop dead Itz in paravoz - fire in the steam engine (big deal!) Dreinishken Kopp - Don’t twist my head (Don’t annoy me, Leave me alone) Kish mir in touchas - Kiss my ass Sheina Punim - Nice face (pretty face) Shiksa - Gentile woman (ex. my wife) Goy - Gentile man Shaigitz - same as above but more derrogatory - I think Shikker - drunkard Shnorrer - bum, beggar Shlemazle - unlucky - loosely translated Oy, gevalt! - Oh my god! Lechaim - to life Shmaravoznik - manure wagon driver Ketzeleh - sweetheart Feel free to add some of your own favourites. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2000, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/2 "2000-04-01T06:35:00Z")
My Ma always used to say “Hock me Nicht in Chinek!” which meant “stop breaking my teapot.” She meant, “leave me alone, you annoying kid.” She claims that that expression is some butchered form of Yiddish that was only known in the Latvian village where my great-grandparents (her maternal grandparents) came from. Anyway, I would highly recommend Leo Rosten’s The Joy of Yiddish to anyone who loves Yiddish. A great read. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2000, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/3 "2000-04-01T06:47:00Z")
Feh! ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2000, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/4 "2000-04-01T06:54:00Z")
pupik= bellybutton shmata=rag zayda=grandfather tsuris=trouble gonif= ---
**Author:** ![SingleDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SingleDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleDad)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/5 "2000-03-31T19:38:00Z")
schmuck: limp dick putz: a hard dick schlemeal: a guy who spills coffee on someone schlemazle: the guy he spills coffee on tsuris: aggravation ajita (italian): aggravation + nausea gonif: theif/con-man meshuggenah: crazy * * * No matter where you go, there you are. ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/6 "2000-03-31T19:44:00Z")
nudnik= ---
**Author:** ![LBJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecae2f/32.png) [@LBJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LBJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/7 "2000-03-31T19:45:00Z")
Oi! Such Plaplen. You can find a large collection of terms in the "Glossary of Yiddish Expressions at [http://www.ariga.com/yiddish.htm](http://www.ariga.com/yiddish.htm) Mazel tov ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/8 "2000-03-31T19:51:00Z")
fleklempt (sp?)- choked up, agitated (made famous by that guy on SNL, but taught to me by the Yiddish grandmother of a girl I dated in college who also called me a “noodge” as in “Frannie, that goy you date, he’s such a noodge. Oy! Why don’t you find a good Jewish boy. Please, I’m feeling a little fleklempt.” She even had separate silverware, plates, and glassware for me at her house. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/9 "2000-03-31T20:34:00Z")
I bet she burried them in the backyard after you broke up… I had a roommate who insisted on keeping kosher. What a load of tsuris that was. ---
**Author:** ![corvidae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@corvidae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corvidae)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/10 "2000-03-31T20:49:00Z")
This is the only Yiddish I use on a regular basis. Ich vais nisht: I don’t know Nu: So? or Well? ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/11 "2000-03-31T20:51:00Z")
Hey Green Bean, we must be descended from the same village then. My mother used to say that phrase (or one close to it - don’t hock me a Chinek) all the time. I must’ve been a pest. 😃 My grandmother was my Baba (some say Babiev). My mom also used to tell me, lay keppe and gay schloffen (lay your head down and go to sleep). I had a Sunday school teacher that taught us a song called Yiddle mit den Fiddle. Funny how I can still remember that song (but I don’t dare try to butcher it here). Thanks for the fond memories, QuickSilver. * * * “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/12 "2000-03-31T20:59:00Z")
tref= ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/13 "2000-03-31T21:04:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by QuickSilver: > \*\*Shiksa - Gentile woman (ex. my wife) > Goy - Gentile man > Shaigitz - same as above but more derrogatory \*\* I thought Shiksa was a gentile woman that chased Jewish men and Shaigitz was the same thing with genders reversed. I wasn’t aware either was derogatory. At least I hope not as I’ve been called that at one time. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/14 "2000-03-31T21:06:00Z")
Wally: Gonef = Crook Nudnik = Nudge Traif = non kosher Alter Kucker = ? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/15 "2000-03-31T21:13:00Z")
Well, as in most things yiddish, it may be meant as sarcasm, or simple humour. You weren’t by chance their house goy?.. Don’t ask! 😉 If they were hospitable and friendly, I would not take offense… not much anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/16 "2000-03-31T21:16:00Z")
alter koker—old fart schmatta—a rag you shouldn’t be caught dead in. feh!—something I should maybe care about, nu? ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/17 "2000-03-31T21:18:00Z")
alter kucker= a _lecherous_ old fart. Challa= ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/18 "2000-03-31T21:23:00Z")
Challa = Egg Bread (I like the raisin kind) Dybbuk = ? ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/19 "2000-03-31T21:34:00Z")
Dybbuk= Homeless person? ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2000, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386/20 "2000-03-31T21:35:00Z")
Feygaleh= [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catchy-kitchie-yiddish-expressions/15386.md?page=2)