K
- kadoches – a fever; frequently occurs in oaths of ill-will (e.g., "I'll give him a kadoches is what I'll give him!). From Hebrew 'kedachat'.
- keppe – head (e.g. I needed that like a loch in keppe, hole in my head; German "Kopf", coll. "Kopp" – "head"; German "Loch" – "hole")
- keyn ayn horeh – (also pronounced: kin ahurrah) – lit., "No evil eye!"; German kein - none; Hebrew ayn - eye, harrah - bad, unclean, forbidden; an apotropaic formula spoken to avert the curse of jealousy after something or someone has been praised; the phrase has mutated into "Don't give me a canary!" in the Bronx
- kibitz – to offer unwanted advice, e.g. to someone playing cards; to converse idly, gossip; to josh or rib a person (Yiddish קיבעצען kibetsn), German thieves' jargon kiebitschen "to examine, search, look through", influenced by German Kiebitz (any of several birds called peewits ).
- kife or kyfe – enjoyment
- kishkes - intestines, guts. In the singular, a kind of sausage stuffed with finely chopped potatoes, carrots, onions, spices, etc., rather than meat. Slangly, the "guts" of a mechanical object: "The car was up on blocks with its kishkes hanging out."
- Kitsch : trash, especially gaudy trash (German "Kitsch")
- klop – a loud bang or wallop (German klopfen = "to knock")
- klumnik – empty person, a good-for-nothing (From Hebrew "klum," nothing.)
- klutz – clumsy person (from Yiddish קלאָץ klots 'wooden beam', german "Klotz") "Shloimy, you wear your hat like a klutz."
- kosher – conforming to Jewish dietary laws; (slang) appropriate, legitimate (originally from Hebrew כּשר) see Yashrusdik.
- krankhayt – a sickness (German Krankheit)
- kugel – a casserole or pudding, usually made from egg noodles (lochshen) or potatoes (cf. german "Kugel" = ball)
- kulver
- kvell (קװעל) – beam / be proud "Shlomo, when you said the prayer so well, I knew I would kvell."
- kvatch, kvetch – to complain habitually, gripe; or, a person who always complains, sometimes known as whinge (from Yiddish קװעטשן kvetshn and German quetschen 'press, squeeze')
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