Idioms & Insults
Part of what makes Yiddish so fun is that it is such a colorful language. Yiddish is exaggerated, rich with figures of speech and metaphors, and requires plenty of emphasis and gesticulation or else the words themselves mean nothing. Fo r example, if someone asks you a question and you answer it with a statement, you can use all the proper grammar but will inevitably show your non-Yiddishness. Why? Because they best way to answer a question in Yiddish is with another question!
Why do Jews answer questions with questions?
Why not?
So, some of the more colorful Yiddish expressions are presented below:
| Shalom Aleichem! | Greetings! (you respond with Aleichem Shalom!) |
| Vos machst du? | How are you doing? |
| tut mir vey ______ | My ____ hurts |
| a zoi? | Really? |
| genug! | Enough! |
| es gornisht helfen | Nothing will help. |
| darfst krenken un redenken | You should suffer and remember |
| fermacht di huntesher morde | Shut your doglike muzzle |
| nebech | Yech. |
| keine horah | G-d forbid |
| a goy zuckt a vertel | Once upon a time (literally, "a gentile told me once...") |
| gefelt mir _______ | I like _____ |
| machen a shnepel | To take a drink (alcoholic) |
| tuchus afen tish | Put up or shut up (literally, "put your rear end on the table") |
| frish, gezunt, un meshugena | Fresh, healthy, and nuts |
| a mechiya! | A blessing! |
| a shenyum danke | Thank you |
| a danke en de noz | Gee, thanks a lot (literally, "thank you in the nose") |
| nisht do for vos | No problem, it was nothing |
| nu? | Yeah? So? |
| vos hertzich? | What's new? |
| dach sich miz | It seems to me... |
| es gait mit nit on der lanker piater | I don't care my left ankle about it |
| ich vil fragen a frage | I have a question |
| zie gazunt | Goodbye, be in good health |