yiddish

Everyday

Yiddish is a language spoken by many Jewish people, especially those whose families came from Central and Eastern Europe. It grew from German with words from Hebrew and Slavic languages and is written in Hebrew letters. tree →

In the lessons

Used in history, culture and language lessons; English has borrowed many Yiddish words, such as «glitch», «schmooze», «klutz», «chutzpah», «bagel».

Examples

• My great-grandmother spoke Yiddish at home. tree →
• «Klutz» comes from Yiddish and means a clumsy person. tree →
• Yiddish is written with Hebrew letters. tree →
• Many Yiddish speakers lived in Poland before the Second World War. tree →
• There are Yiddish newspapers in New York. tree →
• The song was sung in Yiddish. tree →

Note

Written with a capital Y. It is a language, not a religion. Yiddish and Hebrew are different languages, though both use Hebrew letters.