kvetch

Definitions

• "to chronically complain or gripe to others over minor issues" (JPS)

Example Sentences

• "All my 90 year old grandmother does is kvetch about not being able to do the things she used to do."

Languages of Origin

Yiddish

Etymology

קװעטשן kvetshn 'to press, squeeze, pinch' (קװעטשן זיך kvetshn zikh 'to strain'), verbal stem is קװעטש kvetsh

Who Uses This

Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)
Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

Regions

North America

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).
The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).

Notes

The meaning of the J-E word differs from the original Yiddish (see Etymology).