kashe

Edit

Pronunciations

kashe (KAH-shuh) listen

Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

  • n. A tough question; a difficulty.

Example Sentences

  • "What kind of kashe is that?" (Steinmetz)

  • "We have a quite a kashya here."

  • "It's no kashe how the Rosh Yeshiva's nephew got accepted to the yeshiva despite his shvache learning" (Weiser).

    Listen to recordings of this sentence: ( Recording 1)

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Aramaic
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • A קשיא kashya > TH קשה kashe > Y קשה, lit. 'difficult, hard'

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).

      Alternative Spellings

      kashyeh, kashye, kasheh, kashya, kashah, kashoh, kasho, kasha, kashyah, kashyoh, kashyo

Notes

  • Not to be confused with kasha קאַשע buckwheat groats, which is often pronounced the same way.

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