Glossary
Many of the jokes on this site contain Yiddish and Hebrew words — the essence of Jewish humour. Here is a short guide to the terms you'll meet along the way, so nothing gets lost in translation.
- balaboste
- mistress of the house
- Baruch Hashem
- blessed be God
- blintzes
- pancakes
- Bobba
- grandmother
- bris
- circumcision
- Chanuka
- Festival of Lights
- Chazan
- cantor
- cheder
- traditional Jewish primary school
- Chevra Kadisha
- Jewish Burial Society
- chochem
- a wise person (or know-it-all)
- Er zogt
- he says
- faribel
- argument
- fress
- eat voraciously
- goy
- Gentile
- goyishe kop
- thinking like a Gentile
- Kaddish
- prayer for the dead
- kent redden?
- can you read?
- koved
- honour
- kvetch
- moan
- Mashiach
- Messiah
- matza
- unleavened bread
- mazal tov
- congratulations
- mechaye
- relief or pleasure
- meshuga
- crazy
- milchig
- dairy dishes
- minyan
- a quorum of 10 Jewish men required for religious services
- mishpocho
- family
- mohel
- a traditional Jewish circumciser
- naches
- pleasure
- Pesach
- Jewish Festival of Passover
- Rebbetsin
- a Rabbi's spouse
- Rosh Hashana
- Jewish New Year
- schlemiel
- a fool
- schmuck
- contemptible person
- schnorrer
- beggar
- sechel
- intelligence
- shabbes
- Sabbath
- shabbes goy
- a Gentile hired by a Jewish religious person to carry out tasks on the Sabbath
- shadchan
- marriage broker
- shames
- beadle or helper in a synagogue
- shidach
- an arranged marriage
- shiksa
- a Gentile female
- shiva
- a time set aside for mourning
- shoin fargessen
- have already forgotten
- shtetl
- small town
- shul
- synagogue
- siddur
- prayer book
- simcha
- celebration
- tallis
- a fringed prayer shawl worn by Jewish men at prayer
- Talmud
- principal text guiding Jewish life
- tsuris
- trouble
- vey iz mir
- woe is me
- vos tutzich
- what's up?
- yarmulke
- skullcap worn by religious Jewish men
- yenta
- an inveterate gossip
- Yom Kippur
- Day of Atonement
- Zaida
- grandfather