good yom-tov

Alternative Spellings

good yontif, good yom-tov, gut yontev, good yuntiv, good yuntif

Definitions

• standard holiday greeting

Example Sentences

• "I'll just stop for a minute to say good yontef to Yael."

Languages of Origin

Yiddish, English

Etymology

גוט־יום־טובֿ gut-yontev/yontef 'good holiday!'

Who Uses This

Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements

Regions

North America

Dictionaries

Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

Notes

May be "good" (from English) or "gut" (from Yiddish). The pronunciation yontef/yontev is Yiddish, whereas "yomtov" is closer to the Hebrew orthographic form.