Every Goy’s Guide to Richler
Translations & explanations of Yiddish phrases & Jewish cultural references in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
Don’t you hate reading a book in which you can’t understand many of the words? Well, I do, so I compiled this list of terms from Duddy Kravitz and asked various friends for translations (thanks especially to Colan and Sheridan Schwartz).
- azoi
- like this, like so; often used to mean “really?” or “is that so?”
- B.T.O.
- Big Time Operator
- chazer-fleish
- pork
- chazers
- pigs
- chorine
- chorus girl
- chuzpah
- nerve, gall, incredible guts
- “that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan” — The Joys of Yiddish, Leo Rosten
- dreck
- crap, excrement, cheap or worthless things (vulgar or semi-vulgar)
- fershtunkene tuchus-head
- stinking ass-head
- gevalt
- a cry of fear, astonishment, amazement; a cry for help; a desperate expression of protest
- goniff
- thief, crook, untrustworthy person
- gottze dank
- Thank God
- goyim
- non-Jew (masculine, plural)
- goyishe
- non-Jewish (adj.)
- haftorah
- (also written haftarah or haftoroh) a series of selections from the books of Nevi’im (“Prophets”) of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) that is publicly read in synagogue. Typically, the haftarah is thematically linked to the parasha (Torah portion) that precedes it. The haftarah is often read by a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah, along with some of the Torah portion.
- ho’mat
- an alternative spelling for chametz
- kaddish
- Jewish prayer for the dead
- kaduchus
- nothing (also spelt ‘kadoches’)
- katchka
- duck (n.)
- kazatchka
- A Russian or Ukranian dance
- kiddush
- Jewish prayer on Erev Shabbat (the evening before Passover)
- kismet
- fate; destiny
- kishkas
- stomach, intestines (also a grain-filled sausage)
- mamzer
- bastard
- mazel tov
- congratulations
- mensch
- a person or human being; usually used to mean a decent or honorable person
- Oneg Shabbat
- (literally, “joy of the Sabbath”) Reception after the Friday evening religious service for welcoming Sabbath, often including food, singing, or socializing. Also pronounced Oyneg Shabbos.
- pisher
- pisser - sometimes used to mean small child (esp. boy)
- pusherke
- someone pushy and competitive (pejorative)
- “You’re a born pusherke. A little Jew-boy on the make. Guys like you make me sick and ashamed.” — Duddy’s uncle
- schmaltz
- fat (n.) or grease, esp. chicken fat
- schmo
- a hapless, clumsy, unlucky jerk
- schnorrer
- beggar, cheapskate, bum, or bargain hunter
- Schnorrer’s Day
- beggar’s day
- schnoz
- nose
- schonzola
- slang for nose (esp. a very large nose); sometimes used to refer to entertainer Jimmy Durante, who had a large nose
- schoss
- shoot
- shiksa
- non-Jewish woman (esp. blonde)
- shnook
- a timid, meek, passive or unassertive person
- shtunk
- a stinker, nasty person, jerk or mean person; a big mess
- shul
- synagogue
- tuchusleckers
- ass licker
- ver gerharget
- literally: be killed — used as a curse to mean “you should get killed”
- yeshiva
- religious school
- Y.M.H.A.
- Young Man’s Hebrew Association (Jewish analogue of Y.M.C.A.)
- yoshka
- diminutive of the name Yeshu
- zeyda
- grandfather