"Onomatopoeia" is not a Yiddish word. But perhaps it should be, given how many Yiddish terms seem to be, well, onomatopoetic.
Expressions such as "schmooze," "tchotchke," "kibbitz," "chutzpah" and "nebbish" sound like exactly what they are. "Klutz" and "schnoz" and "nosh" seemingly could have no other possible meaning, the way someone called "Roy" or "Sharon" seemingly could have no other name.
It's only after we encounter "mazel tov" at a wedding, or "nudnik" in a harangue about someone who's a pain in the neck ("nik") that the words take on that "just right" sound. It generally takes only one time hearing "she doesn't know bupkis" or "he fell on his tuchus (or tush)" to recognize not only what these Yiddish words mean, but also that they could mean nothing else.
Yiddish originated in the Middle Ages in Germany and quickly spread among Jewish populations in central and eastern Europe. Although many of the words are Hebrew in derivation, it is considered a Germanic language, and indeed the two lexicons often have melded.
"Dumkop" is literally "dumb head" in Yiddish, but most Americans are more familiar with the term "dumm?kopf," thanks to — talk about irony — the bumbling Nazis in "Hogan's Heroes."
In Europe, Yiddish became more prevalent, if less conspicuous, during Hitler's Third Reich; on these shores, it bubbled up outside Jewish circles only via entertainers, particularly Borscht Belt comedians.
For instance:
"Feh" and "meh" are used similarly, but the former generally connotes disgust and the latter indifference.
The difference between those "Laverne & Shirley" theme-song terms? Neal Karlen, author of "The Story of Yiddish," explains: "A schlemiel is someone who always spills their milk or drink, while a shlimazel is someone who always gets a drink spilled on them."
Whutz up with all those -utz words? They all connote rather foolish people. A "putz" is the least likable of the bunch, at the very least annoying (if ineffectual) and often reprehensible. A "klutz" tends to be more physically clumsy, a "yutz" more socially clumsy. A friend of mine named one of his businesses "Yutz & Heimer's LLC"; I guess that makes him a wisenheimer.
Some words that you might not know are Yiddish: dreck, glitch, maven, mishmash, spiel.
(c) 2009, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)