Yiddish is a mixture of German and Hebrew, pronounced the way the Ashkenazis would say it in the good old days.
Yiddish words have been common in the USA in New York and London's East End.
ManyYiddish words are now in the English dictionary. Pre-war (before the Second World War) American radio shows featured Yiddish songs.
Glossary:
Very common words
shalom - peach / hello / (same word root from Aramaic as the Arabic word salaam, sh for s)
chutzpah - cheek, effrontery, shameless demand
frum (adjective); frummer - religious person who keeps all rules, such as kosher food, not driving nor carrying anything on the sabbath
Goy - not Jewish, literally other but before it got into general usage often used derogatory
oy veh! - goodness gracious
mazel tov - good luck (mazel is luck; tov is good) - or congratulations
mitzvah - good deed (mitzvah day is a modern Jewish version of the boy scouts bob a job week, but for adults and communities, unpaid)
nu - so/so what/well/then what?/what next?
Shul - synagogue (from the German word for school)
Shtum - quiet
....
nosh - eat snack, guzzle, yummy food, munchies
shlap/schlep - traipse or drag (yourself and often weighty goods, on long, nuisance, time-wasting unnecessary journey - in short, you do not want to go there)
MENU/FOOD
Jewish Style / Kosher Restaurant Menu Items
blintz - pancake
chollah - plaited bread, white or yellow soft inside like a brioche, sold in delicatessens and supermarkets such as Tesco before the weekend as it is used by families and synagogues on Friday night and Saturday, occasionally a spiral, or three deck circular staircase like 2 or 3 donuts with a pompom dough on top, finished with egg glaze and sprinkled with poppyseed. - dumpling (usually in chicken soup)
kreplach - ravioli - think of it as a folded and sealed crepe or French pancake, meat filling
Lokshen pudding - noodle pudding, often with sultanas and a sweet topping, maybe with lemon juice, available from to eat in or take away from B & K Salt Beef Bar, Edgware and Hatch End
lokshen soup - noodle soup / vermicelli soup
lox - smoked salmon (spelling like gravad lax)
Words you may know:
Often used in novels, jokes and by Jews and other who learned a little from their parents, grandparents, neighbours or boss and TV comedians and soap operas.
FOOD
blintz
chollent - Friday night or Saturday lunchtime stew or casserole left to cook on low light under lid, on hob or in oven or nowadays electric slow cooker, so food can be eaten without anybody having to prepare food during sabbath, often meat and potato
In Synagogue
MORE INFORMATION
See yiddishdictionaryonline.com
Many words of Yiddish are in modern dictionaries.
BOOKS
DICTIONARIES
A Dictionary of Yiddish Slang (paperback) by Fred Kogos
You can buy small and large Yiddish dictionaries online and at Jewish museums.
In Popular books:
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris, £8.99. I bought this from Amazon second hand in March 2014. Six and a bit pages of Yiddish glossary at the back.
You can study Yiddish at the University of Pennsylvania. Also e-courses are available.
AUTHOR'S NOTE by ANGELA LANSBURY
This is being updated. Come back every week or month or send your suggestions.
I am researching Yiddish (as well as Irish and other languages and dialects) for a novel giving the history of London and the world from 1880 to modern times. I aim to show adult and child readers the development of culture, movement of people, changing fashions, household items and music, wars and language.
I am not merely getting music and language right for authenticity, but deliberately introducing items and language from every era to make the novel a fun history lesson.
See my books on lulu.com
Yiddish words have been common in the USA in New York and London's East End.
ManyYiddish words are now in the English dictionary. Pre-war (before the Second World War) American radio shows featured Yiddish songs.
Glossary:
Very common words
shalom - peach / hello / (same word root from Aramaic as the Arabic word salaam, sh for s)
chutzpah - cheek, effrontery, shameless demand
frum (adjective); frummer - religious person who keeps all rules, such as kosher food, not driving nor carrying anything on the sabbath
Goy - not Jewish, literally other but before it got into general usage often used derogatory
oy veh! - goodness gracious
mazel tov - good luck (mazel is luck; tov is good) - or congratulations
mitzvah - good deed (mitzvah day is a modern Jewish version of the boy scouts bob a job week, but for adults and communities, unpaid)
nu - so/so what/well/then what?/what next?
Shul - synagogue (from the German word for school)
Shtum - quiet
....
nosh - eat snack, guzzle, yummy food, munchies
shlap/schlep - traipse or drag (yourself and often weighty goods, on long, nuisance, time-wasting unnecessary journey - in short, you do not want to go there)
MENU/FOOD
Jewish Style / Kosher Restaurant Menu Items
blintz - pancake
chollah - plaited bread, white or yellow soft inside like a brioche, sold in delicatessens and supermarkets such as Tesco before the weekend as it is used by families and synagogues on Friday night and Saturday, occasionally a spiral, or three deck circular staircase like 2 or 3 donuts with a pompom dough on top, finished with egg glaze and sprinkled with poppyseed. - dumpling (usually in chicken soup)
kreplach - ravioli - think of it as a folded and sealed crepe or French pancake, meat filling
Lokshen pudding - noodle pudding, often with sultanas and a sweet topping, maybe with lemon juice, available from to eat in or take away from B & K Salt Beef Bar, Edgware and Hatch End
lokshen soup - noodle soup / vermicelli soup
lox - smoked salmon (spelling like gravad lax)
Words you may know:
Often used in novels, jokes and by Jews and other who learned a little from their parents, grandparents, neighbours or boss and TV comedians and soap operas.
FOOD
blintz
chollent - Friday night or Saturday lunchtime stew or casserole left to cook on low light under lid, on hob or in oven or nowadays electric slow cooker, so food can be eaten without anybody having to prepare food during sabbath, often meat and potato
In Synagogue
MORE INFORMATION
See yiddishdictionaryonline.com
Many words of Yiddish are in modern dictionaries.
BOOKS
DICTIONARIES
A Dictionary of Yiddish Slang (paperback) by Fred Kogos
You can buy small and large Yiddish dictionaries online and at Jewish museums.
In Popular books:
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris, £8.99. I bought this from Amazon second hand in March 2014. Six and a bit pages of Yiddish glossary at the back.
You can study Yiddish at the University of Pennsylvania. Also e-courses are available.
AUTHOR'S NOTE by ANGELA LANSBURY
This is being updated. Come back every week or month or send your suggestions.
I am researching Yiddish (as well as Irish and other languages and dialects) for a novel giving the history of London and the world from 1880 to modern times. I aim to show adult and child readers the development of culture, movement of people, changing fashions, household items and music, wars and language.
I am not merely getting music and language right for authenticity, but deliberately introducing items and language from every era to make the novel a fun history lesson.
See my books on lulu.com
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