chas v'sholom

Pronunciations

chas v'sholom

(chas ve-SHOH-lom)

Definitions

• interj. "Heaven forbid" (Glinert).
  

Example Sentences

• "What if, chas v'sholem, my son gets sick?"
  

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew
• Yiddish

Etymology

• חס ושלום
  

Who Uses This

• Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

Regions

• North America
• Great Britain

Dictionaries

• Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
• The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).

Alternative Spellings

chas v'shalom, khas vesholem, chas v'sholem