Does anybody else use Yiddish slang or is it just New Yorkers?

[Angrybk]

Lived in NYC for like 15 years and I didn't even know these terms were Yiddish! I've also realized that NYC Yiddish slang is probably a perversion of whatever Yiddish-speaking Jews were saying in the first place. 

1) Mensch (which I know is a basic German word but in NYC at least, basically means "good guy". This post was prompted by me being on a conference call where I said something like "oh no worries, [customer contact] is a mensch, we messed up a bit but it'll be fine" and my co-workers were like "no, this is not a German company."

2) Mitzvah (NYC version means "you did them a solid favor without asking for something in return").

3) Verklempt (NYC version: "this sucks and I'm pissed" but could refer to a restaurant canceling a dinner reservation or something).

4) Chutzpah (NYC version is "total hypocrisy but I kinda respect their balls for saying it.")

5) Zaftig (NYC version is "midly pudgy but attractive woman.")

[Rick]

Isn't "shyster" a Jewish slang?

[Angrybk]

I think shyster is just an American variant of the German term “shitter,” not Yiddish. 

[R011]

2 hours ago, Rick said:

Isn't "shyster" a Jewish slang?

I thought it was Shakespearean from Shylock the Ventetian loan shark.  Looking it up on line it does  comes from the German as mentioned - "Scheisser"  which lirerally means "one who shits" and figuratively seems to mean "person who's a piece of shit".  Yiddish is a German dialect so it could be from either language or both.

Edited February 11, 2023 by R011

[R011]

2 hours ago, Angrybk said:

Lived in NYC for like 15 years and I didn't even know these terms were Yiddish! I've also realized that NYC Yiddish slang is probably a perversion of whatever Yiddish-speaking Jews were saying in the first place. 

1) Mensch (which I know is a basic German word but in NYC at least, basically means "good guy". This post was prompted by me being on a conference call where I said something like "oh no worries, [customer contact] is a mensch, we messed up a bit but it'll be fine" and my co-workers were like "no, this is not a German company."

2) Mitzvah (NYC version means "you did them a solid favor without asking for something in return").

3) Verklempt (NYC version: "this sucks and I'm pissed" but could refer to a restaurant canceling a dinner reservation or something).

4) Chutzpah (NYC version is "total hypocrisy but I kinda respect their balls for saying it.")

5) Zaftig (NYC version is "midly pudgy but attractive woman.")

I've heard "Verklempt" used, but mostly by New Yorker characters in media.  "Chutzpah" isn't used as much as it used to be.  "Zaftig" I've heard occassionally.  "Mensh" raely.  "Mitzvah" never outside "Bar/Bat Mitvah".

[BansheeOne]

Since Yiddish is close to German, or possibly could be called a heavy German dialect, terms such as Mischpoke for family, Chuzpe for insolence or Nebbich for nonsense have actually entered mainstream German. Mensch and saftig are just plain German words for a human being and "juicy", respectively; verklemmt means "stuck", both in a mechanical and personally shy or sexually repressed way. Mitzvah OTOH is a specific Yiddish/Hebrew term never used in general German except by Jews, or referencing Jewish culture.

Shyster is something specifically English to me. Perhaps the closest German analogue is Klugscheißer; roughly, smartass, someone who shits smart remarks, not necessarily of a legal nature.

Edited February 11, 2023 by BansheeOne

[rmgill]

My best friend in elementary school was Jewish (probably still is..). Jonathan Hamish Kaufman. He hated his middle name. His father was so bitter with his mother because she kept him from a FREE ride to Juliard as a Pianist when he was in highschool. His dad had a giant chip on his shoulder about that for some reason. Instead he was a forensic Chemist. He tested some of the stuff taken from Noriega's compound (it was starch).  If they thought his grandmother would be calling, they'd take the phone off the hook and put it into the nearby kitchen drawer. 

I learned LOTS of Jewish stereotypes from them as well as a smattering of Yiddish. Mensch, Verklempt, Zaftig, Meshuggah, Goyim, Kvetch, Kibbitz, Mishigas, Schmutz, Schtick, Yenta, Putz...I'm sure some others will come to mind. I just use them as commonly as I use other terms that fit.  Kinda like Grok or schwerpunkt work. 

I even developed a liking for Kapelye a Klezmer band. 

[rmgill]

1 hour ago, BansheeOne said:

Since Yiddish is close to German, or possibly could be called a heavy German dialect,

[BansheeOne]

Strictly speaking, Yiddish split off from Middle High German during the Middle Ages as Jews were segregated and driven off towards the East, conserving some Hebrew/Aramaic terms, but itself split into Western and Eastern Yiddish, with the latter incorporating more Slavic influences and developing Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian dialects. A German speaker will understand Western Yiddish quite well, as it can sound just like a German dialect with some additional words thrown in; Eastern Yiddish is harder as more words, pronounciation and even the structure of sentences may change, the verb moving forward like in English. I remember seeing a New York Jew being interviewed on some Israeli affair who said "Mir missn schlagn zurick" (we must strike back), when in High German it would be "wir müssen zurückschlagen".

The German version of "Train of Life" was dubbed with a very understandable Western Yiddish, while real Polish Jews would obviously speak the local dialect of Eastern Yiddish. Of course if you watch the original, the actors of both Jews and Germans struggle with speaking proper High German which is clearly not their native language.

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by BansheeOne

[Ivanhoe]

14 hours ago, R011 said:

I thought it was Shakespearean from Shylock the Ventetian loan shark.  Looking it up on line it does  comes from the German as mentioned - "Scheisser"  which lirerally means "one who shits" and figuratively seems to mean "person who's a piece of shit".  Yiddish is a German dialect so it could be from either language or both.

AIUI, "shylock" was a fairly common NYC slang term for loan shark, back in the day. First time I heard it spoken (vice read it in some detective novel) was on the TV show NYPD Blues back in the 1990s.

 

As for Yiddish usage in general, IME vastly more common in writing than in speech outside of NYC.

[Angrybk]

6 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

AIUI, "shylock" was a fairly common NYC slang term for loan shark, back in the day. First time I heard it spoken (vice read it in some detective novel) was on the TV show NYPD Blues back in the 1990s.

 

As for Yiddish usage in general, IME vastly more common in writing than in speech outside of NYC.

I think I've only heard "chutzpah" outside of the NYC area, but those terms are actually rather common among NYC-region goys, at least ones I've encountered. 

[Angrybk]

14 hours ago, BansheeOne said:

Since Yiddish is close to German, or possibly could be called a heavy German dialect, terms such as Mischpoke for family, Chuzpe for insolence or Nebbich for nonsense have actually entered mainstream German. Mensch and saftig are just plain German words for a human being and "juicy", respectively; verklemmt means "stuck", both in a mechanical and personally shy or sexually repressed way. Mitzvah OTOH is a specific Yiddish/Hebrew term never used in general German except by Jews, or referencing Jewish culture.

Shyster is something specifically English to me. Perhaps the closest German analogue is Klugscheißer; roughly, smartass, someone who shits smart remarks, not necessarily of a legal nature.

v. interesting, thanks!

[Angrybk]

14 hours ago, BansheeOne said:

Since Yiddish is close to German, or possibly could be called a heavy German dialect, terms such as Mischpoke for family, Chuzpe for insolence or Nebbich for nonsense have actually entered mainstream German. Mensch and saftig are just plain German words for a human being and "juicy", respectively; verklemmt means "stuck", both in a mechanical and personally shy or sexually repressed way. Mitzvah OTOH is a specific Yiddish/Hebrew term never used in general German except by Jews, or referencing Jewish culture.

Shyster is something specifically English to me. Perhaps the closest German analogue is Klugscheißer; roughly, smartass, someone who shits smart remarks, not necessarily of a legal nature.

The mensch transition from German ("human") to Yiddish (with a lot of personality traits attached to it, see below) to NYC slang ("thanks for buying the beer, you're a mensch!") is pretty interesting: 

https://www.thejc.com/news/all/what-is-a-mensch-1.64427

Quote

There are few higher Jewish compliments to pay someone than to call them a mensch, though, of course, a true mensch would be too modest to want to be complimented.

A mensch is a person who can be relied on to act with honour and integrity. But the Yiddish term means more than that: it also suggests someone who is kind and considerate.

Rabbi Neil Kurshan, author of the book Raising Your Child to be a Mensch, characterises it as "responsibility fused with compassion, a sense that one's own personal needs and desires are limited by the needs and desires of other people. A mensch acts with self-restraint and humility, always sensitive to the feelings and thoughts of others".

A mensch is driven by an innate decency, motivated perhaps by a sense of values to live up to but not out of regard for recognition. They will act as a mensch at times when it may be hard to be one. In Ethics of the Fathers, Rabbi Hillel said: "In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man. For man, read mensch."

It sounds like a male term, but it comes from the German word for "human being". So Louise Mensch can be a mensch. If you scan the death announcements in the JC, and you will probably see men more frequently eulogised as a mensch, while a woman may be described as an "exemplar of menschlichkeit".

 

[Stargrunt6]

At Bible study last week, we were discussing the Beatitudes, in particular "Blessed are the meek. "

 

I used the term "nebbish" and had to define it for my fellow gentiles.

[AETiglathPZ]

Grew up with "Shmuck" as something to call someone who is dumb. Haven't heard someone use it in a while.

[rmgill]

Usage of Shmuck...
 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by rmgill

[Angrybk]

3 hours ago, rmgill said:

Usage of Shmuck...
 

 

Heart emoticon 

[Angrybk]

4 hours ago, AETiglathPZ said:

Grew up with "Shmuck" as something to call someone who is dumb. Haven't heard someone use it in a while.

At least in nyc it was like “dumb, but also kind of a jerk, screw that guy”

[R011]

1 hour ago, Angrybk said:

At least in nyc it was like “dumb, but also kind of a jerk, screw that guy”

In Yiddish it's has that meaning, but it's also a very naughty word for penis, not to be used in polite society.

[Ivanhoe]

I've been using "poor schlep" a lot, since my job is ostensibly profanity-intolerant.

"You know some poor schlep has to go around inventorying power cables."

The etymology of putz is amusing;

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/putz

From context, I always assumed it meant dick, but that is a USianism apparently.

[bd1]

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by bd1