The Best Yiddish Language Books 2025

1. Talk Dirty Yiddish : Beyond Drek: The Curses, Slang, and Street Lingo You Need to Know When You Speak Yiddish

This is the Yiddish they didn't teach at Temple. This book gives readers the lowdown on how to really spit the Hebrew alphabet. With plenty of slang, curses, and idiomatic expressions, this book gives readers? Yiddish vocabulary a real kick in the toches.

This is the Yiddish they didn't teach at Temple. This book gives readers the lowdown on how to really spit the Hebrew alphabet. With plenty of slang, curses, and idiomatic expressions, this book gives readers' Yiddish vocabulary a real kick in the toches.

2. A Dictionary of Yiddish Slang & Idioms (Paperback)

Yiddish was born in the eleventh century and has been the living language of the Jewish people ever since. Ten million people speak Yiddish (a low estimate), and the tongue is so universal that it has become a linguistic passport in most of the world. This is a fascinating, useful, sometimes riotously funny collection of colloquialisms, proverbs, curses, wise maxims and ribald expressions.

Yiddish was born in the eleventh century and has been the living language of the Jewish people ever since. Ten million people speak Yiddish (a low estimate), and the tongue is so universal that it has become a linguistic passport in most of the world. This is a fascinating, useful, sometimes riotously funny collection of colloquialisms, proverbs, curses, wise maxims and ribald expressions.

3. Just Say Nu: Yiddish for Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do), Pre-Owned (Paperback)

Pre-Owned - In his New York Times bestseller, Born to Kvetch, author Michael Wex led readers on a hilariously edifying excursion through Yiddish culture and history. With Just Say Nu, he shows us how to use this remarkable language to spice up conversations, stories, presentations, arguments, and more, when plain English will not suffice (including, of course, lots of delightful historical and cultural side trips along the way). There is, quite simply, nothing in the world that can't be improved by being translated into Yiddish. With Just Say Nu, readers will learn how to shmooze their way through meeting and greeting, eating and drinking, praising and finding fault, maintaining personal hygiene, parenting, going to the doctor, committing crimes, going to singles bars, having sex, talking politics, talking trash, and a host of other mundane activities. Here also is a healthy schmear of optional grammar and the five most useful Yiddish words-what they mean, and how and when to use them in an entire conversation without anybody suspecting you don't have the vaguest idea about what you're actually saying.

Just Say Nu: Yiddish for Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do), Pre-Owned (Paperback)

4. English-Yiddish/Yiddish-English Practical Dictionary (Expanded Romanized Edition) [Paperback - Used]

CONDITION - USED - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included. * Over 4,000 Romanized entries * Appendix of idiomatic expressions & proverbs * Appendix of common words used in the English language * Word-to-word entries

English-Yiddish/Yiddish-English Practical Dictionary (Expanded Romanized Edition) [Paperback - Used]

5. Joys of Yiddish [Mass Market Paperback - Used]

CONDITION - USED - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included. A Relaxed Lexicon of Yiddish, Hebrew and Yinglish Words Often Encountered in English, Plus Dozens That Ought to Be, with Seredipitous Excursions into Jewish Humor, Habits, Holiday, History, Religion Ceremonies, Folklore, and Cuisine, the Whole Generously Garnished with Stories, Anecdotes, Epigrams, Talmudic Quotations, Folk Sayings and Jokes, from the Days of the Bible to Those of the Beatnik.

Joys of Yiddish, Used [Mass Market Paperback]

6. The Dictionary Of Popular Yiddish Words, Phrases And Proverbs, Used [Paperback]

The Dictionary Of Popular Yiddish Words, Phrases And Proverbs by Fred Kogos

The Dictionary Of Popular Yiddish Words, Phrases And Proverbs, Used [Paperback]

7. The Story of Yiddish: How a Mish-Mosh of Languages Saved the Jews [Paperback - Used]

CONDITION - USED - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included. A delightfully unconventional tale of a people, their place in the world, and the fascinating language that held them together. Yiddish is an unlikely survivor of the ages, much like the Jews themselves. Incorporating antique German dialects and elements from more than a dozen other tongues, the Yiddish language bears the imprint of the many places where European Jews were briefly given shelter. Neal Karlen's unique, brashly entertaining, yet thoroughly researched telling of the language's story reveals that Yiddish is a mirror of Jewish history, thought, and practice--for better and for worse.

The Story of Yiddish : How a Mish-Mosh of Languages Saved the Jews, Used [Paperback]

8. In praise of Yiddish, Used [Hardcover]

In praise of Yiddish by Maurice Samuel

In praise of Yiddish, Used [Hardcover]

9. Yiddish: A Nation of Words [Paperback - Used]

CONDITION - USED - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included. About a thousand years ago, European Jews began speaking a language that was quite different from the various tongues and dialects that swirled around them. It included Hebrew, a touch of the Romance and Slavic languages, and a large helping of German. In a world of earthly wandering, this pungent, witty, and infinitely nuanced speech, full of jokes, puns, and ironies, became the linguistic home of the Jews, the bond that held a people together. Here is the remarkable story of how this humble language took vigorous root in Eastern European shtetls and in the Jewish quarters of cities across Europe; how it achieved a rich literary flowering between the wars in Europe and America; how it was rejected by emancipated Jews; and how it fell victim to the Holocaust. And how, in yet another twist of destiny, Yiddish today is becoming the darling of academia. Yiddish is a history as story, a tale of flesh-and-blood people with manic humor, visionary courage, brilliant causes, and glorious flaws. It will delight everyone who cares about language, literature, and culture.

Yiddish : A Nation of Words, Used [Paperback]

10. Say It in Yiddish, Used [Paperback]

Contains over 1,000 useful sentences and phrases for travel or everyday living abroad: food, shopping, medical aid, courtesy, hotels, travel, and other situations. Gives the English phrase, the foreign equivalent, and a transliteration that can be read right off. Also includes many supplementary lists, signs, and aids. All words are indexed.

Say It in Yiddish, Used [Paperback]