bupkis

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Pronunciations

bupkis (BUHP-kiss) listen
bupkis (BUHP-kiss) listen

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Definitions

  • adv. Nothing.

  • adj. Something worthless.

Example Sentences

  • "Have you heard from Joe recently?" "No, I haven't heard bubkis."

  • "He thinks he's so great, but he's bupkis."

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Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • באָבקעס bobkes 'nonsense!; turds, goat/sheep droppings'

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
      • Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      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).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
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      Alternative Spellings

      bopkes, bobkes, bupkes, bupkis, bubkes, bobkes, bobkis, bobkiss, bobkess

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