GLOSSARY of YIDDISH for PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT

compiled by Andrew Gordon

bonditt = bandit; clever, mischievous fellow

Boruch atoh Adonai = “Blessed art Thou, o Lord our G-d” (beginning of prayer or blessing–
this is Hebrew, not Yiddish)
boychick = boy, kid
chazerai = (from chazer= pig), junk food, trafe (non-kosher)
dreck = crap, trash
flaishik, flayshedig = meat, poultry (as opposed to milchik, milchedig =dairy products; meat
and milk must be kept separate in kosher cooking)
gantze k’nockers= big shots, showoffs
genug = enough
gonif = thief
goy = gentile (noun)
goyim = gentiles (plural)
goyische = gentile (adjective)
hock = strike; yammer, yak; nag
kibbitz = watching, with comments; interfering; making wisecracks, teasing
kish mir in tuchis = kiss my ass (tuchis = ass)
kishkas = intestines, guts, belly
kugel = sweet noodle casserole
kurveh = prostitute
kvell = gush, swell with pride
kvetch = complain
meshugge, meshuggeneh = crazy, nuts
milchik, milchedig = see flaishik (above)
nachas = joy, pleasure; pride in a child’s achievement
noch = yet; more, too; “There!” (said when you hit someone)
nosh = nibble, snack
nudjh = nag
oy = “oh!”–an expression, depending upon circumstance, of pain, fear, woe (oy vey!), awe,
relief, pleasure, horror or astonishment (oy gevalt!)
oysgemitchet = exhausted
punim = face, visage
pisher = nothing; pisser, little squirt
pisk = mouth
plotz = burst, collapse, be aggravated beyond bearing
potch = slap, usually on the ass
putz = male organ; fool (see also shlong, shmuck, shvantz); “ven der putz shtet, ligt der
sechel in drerd” (“when the penis rises, the brains get buried in the ground”)
rachmones = pity, mercy, compassion
 2

ruggeleh = rolled pastry made with nuts (also figures in American Pastoral)
schmaltz = chicken fat; maudlin sentimentality
schmegeggy = drip, incompetent person
schmendrick = weakling, little boy, jerk
schmuck = also shmuck; male organ; fool (see also putz, shlong, shvantz)
shande = shame
shaygets = young Gentile man
shicker = a drunk
shikse = (or shiksa) gentile woman
shiva = seven days of mourning after Jewish funeral; “sitting shiva”(one sits on a stool)
shkotzim = gentile men (plural of shaygets)
shlemiel = fool, loser
shlep = drag, pull, haul; a person who is a drag or jerk
shlong = male organ (see also putz, schmuck, shvantz)
shmatta = rag, piece of cloth, a dress
shmutz = dirt
shmutzig = dirty
shnoz = nose
shtarke = tough guy, big shot
shtunk = fool, dope, jerk; stinker, mean person; scandalous mess
shtup = push, shove; slang for fornicate
shvantz = male organ (see also putz, shlong, schmuck)
shvartze = black person
shvitz = sweat
shvitz bath = Turkish bath, steam bath
tateleh = little boy
tsatskeleh = toy, plaything
trafe = (or trayf) food that is not kosher
tsura = (plural tsuris) trouble, woe, suffering
tuchis = ass
vantz = louse
zaftig = buxom, plump, well-rounded figure on a woman. Can mean “fat.” Literally means
“juicy.”

With thanks to Leo Rosten, The Joys of Yiddish (NY: McGraw-Hill, 1968) and The Joys of
Yinglish (NY: McGraw-Hill, 1989), and to Arthur Naiman, Every Goy’s Guide to Common
Jewish Expressions (NY: Ballantine, 1981).