stam

Edit

Pronunciations

stam (STAHM) listen

Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

  • adv. Only, simply, just for fun, not for a specific purpose.

  • interj. Just kidding!

  • interj. That's it!

Example Sentences

  • "You’re going stam for the music and not for the social scene? Really?"

  • "Al pi shulchan oruch, bread can be made by anyone. If you can be certain of the ingredients, then it’s kosher. Stam. No question." (source)

  • "Stam! You thought I was serious?"

  • "I'm fed up with him, he does everything so stam..." (Glinert)

  • View More

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish
  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • TH סתם stam > Y סתם stam

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
      • Israel: Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel and have spent time there

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

Notes

  • Also used in several Hebrew phrases, including "sofer STaM" (an acronym: a sofer who writes Sifrei Torah, Tefillin, and Mezuzot), "yayin stam" (uncooked wine without kosher certification), and "cholov stam" (milk that's not cholov yisroel) -- in these last two uses, "stam" has the sense of "plain," or "regular."

Edit     Something missing from this entry? Inaccurate? Feel free to suggest an edit.