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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 30, 2008

Mentsch (rhymes with Dench, as in Dame Judi): the highest compliment in Yiddish, reserved for the most admirable, decent, honorable and honest people, regardless of wealth or status

Feh! (always spelled with an !; rhymes with "eh?"): "No way! That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Emmis (rhymes with them-us): the unvarnished truth, without baloney or fillers

Bulvon (rhymes with fool-on): a loud vulgarian

Oy (as in oyster): a word used to describe all human experience, on a spectrum from "the sky is falling!" to "what a great putt I made on the last hole!"

Shtarker (rhymes with Col. Tom Parker): a dull-witted tough guy

Nebbish: a harmless, nervous nerd. Woody Allen is a nebbish in all his early movies.

Shmatte (rhymes with latte): literally, a rag. Used to indicate bargain-basement, often ill-fitting or worn-out clothes. Often said disingenuously. Friend: "Rose, what a lovely mink!" Rose: "What, this old shmatte?"

Shlep (rhymes with pep): drag around. A shlepper is one who is usually unkempt and ignorant, good only for dragging heavy objects from point A to point B.

Meshugass (rhymes with tissue-hoss): craziness

Neal Karlen, author of "The Story of Yiddish," offers his list of the most commonly used Yiddish words. He notes that some words are often spelled differently, depending on the source.

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