Yiddish-to-English Glossary For The Joke’s on Me
The Goldberg family is Jewish, to varying degrees; the text of The Joke’s on Me is peppered with a bit of Yiddish for authenticity. Typically this is the language of the older generations, derived from German, often used, for example, when Grandma didn’t want the kids to understand that she and her friends were gossiping about the hussy down the street. A few of these words and phrases are a fairly regular part of modern American English. But after some of my friends and neighbors told me they didn’t get some of the words, I decided to include this glossary. Some purists out there might dispute some of my spellings, but according to several websites, and several of my relatives, rendering Yiddish into English is more of an art than a science. Hope this helps!
Babka: A type of loaf cake.
Bar Mitzvah: The ceremony a Jewish boy might go through when he turns 13, marking his entrance into manhood.
Blintz: A type of crepe, often with a sweetened cheese or fruit filling.
Borscht: Beet soup. Typically, “borscht belt” was a group of resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, where Jewish comedians like Henny Youngman and Rodney Dangerfield performed in the early-to-mid 20th century.
Bubbe: Grandmother
Bubeleh: Dear or darling
Challah: A type of braided egg bread. Makes really great French toast.
Dreck: Crap. There is a chain of sandwich shops in upstate New York called Jreck Subs, pronounced “dreck.” My Jewish friends will not eat there, or do so ironically.
Dybbuks: Spirits or devils
Goy, goyim: Non-Jews
Haggadah: The script for the Passover meal. Warning for the uninitiated: eat something first.
Kaddish: The Hebrew prayer for the dead
Kibitz, kibitzing: Putting your two cents in.
Kreplach: Small pasta dumplings filled with meat or potatoes. Sometimes served in soup.
Kugel: A type of casserole made with noodles; sometimes made with fruit and served for dessert.
Manischewitz: A brand of kosher wine
Matzoh brei: Broken-up matzoh, dipped in a mixture of egg and milk and fried, a la French toast. Often served with maple syrup. My grandfather used to make this “Romanian style” by keeping the matzoh board whole.
Mazel tov: Congratulations
Mein tochter: My daughter
Mensch: A responsible, stand-up sort of person
Meshugge: Crazy
Minyan: A group of at least l0 persons gathered to pray. Informally, used in the book to mean any large gathering of Jews.
Mishegos: Craziness, drama, as in “I can’t take any more of your mishegos.”
Neyn: No
Plotz, plotzed: To fall over in despair.
Rugulah: Rich, cream cheese pastry, spread with a variety of fillings, then rolled up, sliced and baked. It’s awesome.
Schlub: Slob
Schmuck: Technically means penis, but colloquially jerk, fool, idiot, ass, the boyfriend who slept with your roommate, etc.
Shikse: A non-Jew
Shiva: A week-long period of mourning, where traditionally, mirrors are covered and visitors come greet the family and sit on uncomfortable furniture and eat chopped liver. As in “sitting shiva.”
Shmata: Rag or old clothing, colloquially could mean a wrap or head scarf.
Tallis: Prayer shawl
Tateleh: Little darling (Some texts translate as “dear father.” I don’t know why.)
Tchotkes: Knickknacks
Tsuris: Grief or stress
Tuchas: Butt
Yenta: A busybody
Yutz: Yet another word meaning “stupid.” Similar to “putz.
Photo by Susan S used under Creative Commons via Flickr
