Maybe it’s because food seems to be such an important aspect of Jewish life – or maybe it’s because the words sounds so interesting, but Yiddish words have made their way into the mainstream.
First there is Nosh. A noun, meaning light meal or snack. “I’m not hungry now, I’ll just have a nosh later.” It also works as a verb “I’ll nosh on something before I go.”
Schmaltz – noun, meaning fat. Yiddish is mostly a combination of Hebrew and European languages – in this case, similar to the German word, smalz (animal fat). Though schmaltz can be any fat, in most cases it refers to the fat rendered from chicken.
Schmaltzy can be used to refer to something that is overly sentimental. “Those old wedding videos are so schmaltzy, oy!”
Shmear – A verb or noun. As a verb, it means to spread something onto something else (shmear the cream cheese on the bagel). As a noun, it’s refers to the stuff that’s being shmeared itself (how about a little more shmear on that bagel?).
I’m sure there are more – any suggestions?
What people are saying…