The Yiddish(?) Word Ferkakta(sp?): How to Spell It and a Couple of Other Q's

Factual Questions
1

I’ve this word, ferkakta(sp?), in a couple of contexts. One was on a sports talk radio show in which the subject of a zoo bringing a gorilla to a nursing home (you had to be there) came up. The host imitates a residen’t response: “Eh Murray! Come look at this! There’s a ferkakta monkey in here!” The other was in The Blues Brothers. The boys are sitting around in the steam room, trying to convince Mr. Sline to loan them some money. Mr. Sline says: “Look at you guys, in your funny hats and your ferkakta suits.”

Hoping to gain some insight into the spelling of this beautiful word, I turned on the subtitles on my DVD and found that, alas, Mr. Sline said merely “…funny hats and your suits” and left out the mystery word.

So, how do you spell this word? Also, what does it mean, exactly? I gather from the context that it means “ridiculous,” but I could be wrong. Also, can it be used without a word behind it? As in, “Look at that Honda Element! It sure is ferkakta!”?

2

From “The Joys of Yiddish” by Leo Rosten (a laugh a page if you like Catskill humor)

ferchadat - dizzy, confused like your monkey

farpotshket - messed-up sloppy - like your suits.

Spelling? Good luck! Try
YIVO for Yiddish for links or references for rules of Yiddish transliteration.

3

The spelling is verkachte. It is of Germanic origin, either Dutch or German most likely. The meaning is hard to determine, as the translation engines don’t recognize the word. Maybe because it’s slang? Some of the Deutsche Dopers might help.

Seems to be used in the way we use “frickin’” or “friggin’”.

4

:smack:

I’m all farblondjet - I haven’t had any coffee yet
Try
YIVO for links or references on rules of Yiddish transliteration.

5

I’ve always heard it as Fakakteh. Meaning something like “lousy” or FUBAR.

But this is “Israelized”, or maybe “Hebrewized” Yiddish, rather than americanized - so there are probably differences.

As to the sources of the word - I haven’t a green idea :slight_smile: (OK - anybody know where that comes from?)

Dani

6

OK - I got my coffee

Joys of Yiddish - slavic: chad - smoke or daze

7

i always understood it as (kinda phonically)

fur-cocked

and i’ve heard it as

fur-cocked-a

as well.

when spoken by older Jewish men, i usually hear the ‘fur’ as ‘feh’
usage was always ‘fucked up’ (fubar)

this engine is fur-cocked. don’t you use oil?

8

Different books, different ways of transliteration.

From Every Goy’s Guide to Common Jewish Expressions, by Arthur Naiman:

Cock is a root that is seen in other expressions as well: alter cocker - old fart, but again literally old shitter. Cocked up - fucked up is the English equivalent transferred over from shitted up.

Yiddish has a million expressions that indicate mixed-up, bewildered, muddied, messed-up, fouled, bad, fucked, and completely out to lunch. Only a true expert should attempt the fine discriminations needed to sort them out.

A joke from Naiman:

Now you know where Frau Farbissina (embittered, sour) comes from in Austin Powers.

9

To answer hyjyljyj´s question on the etymology: Exapno Mapcase confirms my assumption that it comes from verkackt - German would be bekackt or beschissen (two different words, the same literal and figurative meaning). Literally “shitted up”, used like “fucked up”, “friggin” and the likes.