13 Yiddish Words for Christmas!

My quest for more knowledge about Judaism, Hanukkah specifically, has taken me down an accidental path to Christmas. "Wait a minute!", you shout silently in your mind. "Hanukkah and Christmas? But..."

Exactly! But.....

Allow me to fill you in.

The Accidental Path

I was reading through my Twitter timeline when a particular Tweet stood out like a core thumb:

Elizabeth Scalia ‏@TheAnchoress

13 Yiddish words for Christmas! http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/12/05/yiddish-words-christmas … Delightful! Would hate to see Yiddish disappear.

I was kicking around some ideas for a post about Hanukkah when I saw The Tweet. It was love at first sight, a perfect subject for today's post - a "marriage" of the Jewish and Christian cultures for this Holiday season. Thirteen Yiddish words for Christmas! 

Oy vey!

The 13 Words  

I'll post a few of The Words and link you to the rest of the list.

• 1. Bupkes (Loose definition: Nothing, nada, usually used to express disappointment)
  Example: “All those naughty boys and girls? Getting bupkes this year.”
  2. Schmutz (Loose definition: Dirt, filth)
  Example: “I put down that half-eaten candy cane for just, like, 20 seconds and now I have all this sticky schmutz all over my desk.”
  3. Chazerai (Loose definition: Miscellaneous stuff, junk; the “ch” is more a rolled “kh” with a gentle, little throat-clearing sound; click to hear it)
  Example: “The real Christmas miracle? That that sled ever takes off, what with all that chazerai weighing it down.”

The list of the remaining ten Yiddish words for Christmas can be found at HLN.com

Be sure to amaze your Jewish friends with your encyclopedic knowledge of the Yiddish vocabulary! Even if your "encyclopedic knowledge" is only thirteen words. 

Chag Hanukka Sameach.

Merry Christmas!