7 Responses to Ten Words That Sound Yiddish, But Aren’t

1. Blowhard, Esq. says:

   March 10, 2014 at 5:22 pm

   My love of Yiddish can be traced directly to Howard Stern, who was/is fond of Yiddish words like “yenta” and “fakakta.” But for him, those a few others wouldn’t be part of my regular vocab.

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2. Fenster says:

   March 10, 2014 at 6:16 pm

   Had to look this up but there’s kinkle, meaning a little kink. From the Dutch.

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3. oy says:

   March 10, 2014 at 6:57 pm

   shyster isn’t Yiddish. does this mean I won.

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4. Callowman says:

   March 11, 2014 at 4:05 am

   The Yiddish for “finger” is no doubt a cognate of “finger”. With the exception of “farfetched”, all the rest are Latinate or Greek. I know, I know, I’m not entering into the spirit of the list, and certainly all those words sound great and jiddische when pronounced by a New Yorker who uses a lot of Yiddish words. But to a speaker of French, which has cognates of all the Latinate and Greek words, and Swedish, which, like Yiddish, is heavily influenced by Low German … those don’t look Yiddish.

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5. Fenster says:

   March 11, 2014 at 1:56 pm

   chintzy

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6. Doc Rock says:

   September 16, 2015 at 10:29 am

   Ladle, sidle, khaki, and conquer.

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7. Mendel says:

   January 30, 2016 at 8:11 pm

   shmorgasbord, and ladle (was mentioned).

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