# Judge Judy's Yiddish words **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801 "2002-12-05T22:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/1 "2002-12-05T22:59:51Z")
Judge Judy Sheindlin tends to sprinkle her statements with words that are obviously Yiddish, like _chutzpah_ (unmitigated gall), _kvetch_ (complain about petty things), and so on. Last week, when hearing a claim about a ceramic lighthouse, she referred to it as a _tchotchka._ Where does this word come from and what does it specifically mean in Yiddish? ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/2 "2002-12-05T23:03:48Z")
As far as I remember it being used, it’s like saying a household item, particularly one that’s more for a decorative than useful purpose… but I don’t speak Yiddish at all, so it might not be that exact definition. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/3 "2002-12-05T23:10:00Z")
I have no idea what the word origin is, other than, well, it’s Yiddish, so it’s probably taken from German. But nevertheless, tchotchkes are bric-a-brac, knick-knacks, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/4 "2002-12-06T00:37:50Z")
_]Tchotchke_ is a Yiddish word meaning, basically, useless thing you have laying around. I’m currently in a ridiculously geeky Tolkein phase, so I will compare it to the Shire-word _mathom_. **dougie-monty** , you must be at least somewhat familiar with the word to get that close to the spelling. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/5 "2002-12-06T02:41:37Z")
Also, calling something a “tchotchke” is somewhat derogatory. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/6 "2002-12-06T02:47:45Z")
The closest in English would be _knick knack_. Haj ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/7 "2002-12-06T03:56:25Z")
A tchotchke can also be a person, something akin to a trophy wife. I doubt that’s what Judge Judy means, though. Robin ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/8 "2002-12-06T06:38:48Z")
To Kyla: No, I’m not _that familiar_–my TV has closed captioning, which I like to see although I can hear. _Tchotchke_ was indeed the spelling given in the captioning… ---
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/9 "2002-12-06T14:27:49Z")
Dougie Monty said, “Judge Judy Sheindlin tends to sprinkle her statements with words that are obviously Yiddish, like chutzpah (unmitigated gall), kvetch (complain about petty things), and so on. Last week, when hearing a claim about a ceramic lighthouse, she referred to it as a tchotchka. Where does this word come from and what does it specifically mean in Yiddish?” Maybe some of the Jewish folks around here can give a definitive answer, but I always thouht “chutzpah” was more like “spunk” than “gall”. I also thought to “kvetch” was not really to complain, but to simply engage in idle chit-chat. Any help out there?;j I read an article about how yiddish has been dying a slow death and that there is a group of people out there doing their best to revive it. I find it funny and colorful and just the best thing language has to offer. I hope people continue to use it so their kids can pick it up. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/10 "2002-12-06T14:47:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EchoKitty \* > \*\*Maybe some of the Jewish folks around here can give a definitive answer, but I always thouht “chutzpah” was more like “spunk” than “gall”. I also thought to “kvetch” was not really to complain, but to simply engage in idle chit-chat. Any help out there?; \*\* Kvetch does mean complain. Kibitz is idle chit-chat. Haj ---
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/11 "2002-12-06T14:55:28Z")
Point - Haj. Thanks. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2002, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/12 "2002-12-06T14:57:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EchoKitty \* > \*\* > Maybe some of the Jewish folks around here can give a definitive answer, but I always thouht “chutzpah” was more like “spunk” than “gall”. I also thought to “kvetch” was not really to complain, but to simply engage in idle chit-chat. Any help out there?;j \*\* Nah, chutzpah means something closer to gall. Usually, when you say someone had chutzpah, it’s because you can’t _believe_ that they said/did something! It can be used in a positive way, though, if you are trying to say that you admire their chutzpah. Kvetch means to bitch and moan. Definitely not idle chit-chat. Kibitz can mean idle chit-chat, as **haj** said, but it can also mean to try to get someone to do something a different way. It’s negative. For example, if you’re playing cards, and someone is looking over your shoulder telling you what cards to play, you can tell them to stop kibitzing. ---
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/13 "2002-12-06T15:06:50Z")
I knew “kibitz” because we always do that when someone tries to play Scrabble. And chutzpah (at least the way I use it) is the complimentary version. Ya got me on Kvetch, though. What are some other greaat Yiddish words or phrases? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/14 "2002-12-06T15:44:04Z")
Well, there’s schlemeil and schlimazl (as in Laverne and Shirley’s “Schlemeil, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated.”) “Schlemeil” is a bungling person, butter-fingers, something like that. A “Schlimazel” is an unlucky person. The traditional explanation involves a waiter dumping food all over a guest. The waiter is a “schlemeil” and the hapless guest would be a “shlimazel.” The only Yiddish I know is from Lenny Bruce and my friends, so people closer to the language please correct my mistakes. Umm…what else? “goyim” for non-Jew. Can be considered offensive. Perhaps you remember Weird Al’s “Pretty Fly For a Rabbi?” : “And all the goyim say he’s pretty fly for a rabbi!” “Verklempt” as in “I’m feel verklempt.” (Overcome with emotion.) Popularized by SNL’s “Coffee Talk” skit of course. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/15 "2002-12-06T16:10:00Z")
It’s actually “all the **shiksas** say he’s pretty fly for a rabbi” Shiksa = female non-jew. A favorite yiddish phrases from my house (my grandmother and father are native speakers of Yiddish) Tsirrus = troubles but more like hassles. As in “I was thinking of buying a car but with the way registration costs in the City, the emissions inspections, and the alternate side of the street parking…? Who needs the **tsirrus**? I’ll just take the subway.” ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/16 "2002-12-06T16:57:05Z")
My bubbe (that’s grandmother, for people taking notes) is also a native speaker of Yiddish and occasionally springs forth with excellent words. A good one is **beshert** , which means, basically, “soulmate”. Your other half, in a Hedwig-sort-of-way. Yiddish has a lot of borrow words from Hebrew, but amusingly, modern Hebrew has incorporated a lot of Yiddish into it as well. Most Israelis are Mizrachi Jews, whose ancestors lived in the Middle East and spoke Arabic or Persian, not Yiddish, but really commonly used Yiddish-in-Hebrew words are _chutzpah_, which has already been mentioned, and _nu_, which means “well”. As in, “Nu, where are you going for Shabbos?” Oh. Shabbos is Shabbat, or Sabbath. The Hebrew letter _tav_ is sometimes pronounced as _sav_ in Yiddish, so t-sounds become s-sounds. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/17 "2002-12-06T17:04:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EchoKitty \* > \*\*I also thought to “kvetch” was not really to complain, but to simply engage in idle chit-chat. Any help out there?;j > > I read an article about how yiddish has been dying a slow death and that there is a group of people out there doing their best to revive it. I find it funny and colorful and just the best thing language has to offer. I hope people continue to use it so their kids can pick it up. 🆒 \*\* Three hundred years from now, we’ll still be reading scholarly articles about how Yiddish is still a dying language. And in my family, kvetching IS idle chit-chat. We’ve got whining down to an art form. 😉 (And, yes, I know full well what shiksa means.) Robin ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/18 "2002-12-06T18:12:27Z")
It’s good to be a mensch (literally “man,” implication being “a standup guy”), bad to be a nebbish (wimp), schmendrick (jerk), a putz (dork), a nudnik (annoying pest) or a schmuck (sphincter). ---
**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:** [December 6, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/19 "2002-12-06T18:21:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kyla \* > > A good one is **beshert** , which means, basically, “soulmate”. Your other half, in a Hedwig-sort-of-way. It’s my understanding that bashert (b SHARE t) means “meant to be” or predestined/fated. Therefore, any type of event can be bashert, not just a soulmate. My favorite Yiddish word/phrase has always been boobah meintzah, meaning outlandish story/tall tale – IOW, hogwarsh. I’m also fond of meshugeneh. 😉 ;j There’s a pretty good glossary of words [here](http://www.ariga.com/yiddish.shtml). ---
**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:** [December 6, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801/20 "2002-12-06T19:37:15Z")
A small correction: A non-Jew is a **goy** , not a goyim. Goyim is the plural. Yeah, it’s slightly derogatory. Also, shiksa does indeed mean a non-Jewish woman, but it’s important to note that this term, too, is derogatory. “Oy, the shiksas he runs around with! Why can’t he find a nice Jewish girl?” Other useful terms: gonif = thief. “30 dollars he chaged me! For doing a hem? What a gonif!” Farbissena = a bitter, nasty person. Like Frau Farbissena in the Austin Powers movies. Ongepotchket: Overly complicated, showy, confusing, or having too many parts or elements. “So, what did you think of Pauline’s new living room?” “Oy. Too ongepotchket.” **astorian** : Putz and schmuck both mean “penis.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-judys-yiddish-words/140801.md?page=2)