Yiddish Words You Never Knew You Needed In Your Life

Oy gevalt! How did you not know this!

1. Kvell

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To feel happy and proud of someone else, usually one's children, as in "Joshua is going to specialize in radiology, and I'm just kvelling."

2. Balagan

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Though more of a Hebrew term, it means "chaotic, messy" as in "It was utter balagan!"

3. Chutzpah

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To have the audacity, courage, or nerve, as in "He had some chutzpah to talk to me that way."

4. Bupkes

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A ridiculously small amount, trivial, less than nothing, as in "After how long I cooked dinner for our date, I got bupkes!"

5. Kvetch

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To annoy or just generally be an annoying person, as in "Can you stop kvetching, we're almost there!"

6. Nosh

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To snack, eat, or nibble, as in "I need to quit noshing or else I won't be hungry for dinner."

7. Nu

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Has a lot of meanings including: "Eh?", "Is that so?", "I dare you.", as in "Nu? When are you going on that date with Rebecca's son who you met at Daniel's bar mitzvah?"

8. Tuches

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Butt, someone's behind, booty

9. Yente

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A busybody or a gossipy person, as in "My Bubbe can be quite the yente. She is always meddling in my mom's affairs."

10. Mensch

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Literally meaning "man", it refers to an honorable, decent person with integrity, as in "I don't care who you marry as long as he's a mensch."