Definitions

• interj. 'May it not happen to you'; an expression of the desire that something negative not happen to one's interlocutor.
  

Example Sentences

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew
• Yiddish

Etymology

• Y לא־עליכם loy-aleykhem, lit. 'not upon you'
  

Who Uses This

• Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
• Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
• Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

Regions

• North America

Dictionaries

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

Alternative Spellings

loi aleykhem, loi aleikhem, loy aleikhem, loy alaykhem, loi alaykhem, loi alaychem, loy alaychem, loy aleichem, loi aleichem, loi aleychem, loy aleychem