WEBVTT - What Is 'Chutzpah'?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren vogebam here. The Yiddish language has gifted

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<v Speaker 1>English speakers with some irresistibly punchy words that defy direct

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<v Speaker 1>translation but are instantly understandable. Schmuck, schmooz, stick, chatsky up, kiss, kluts.

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<v Speaker 1>The list goes on. Kutzpah is a word that should

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<v Speaker 1>be in everyone's arsenal if you're not familiar with kotzbah.

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<v Speaker 1>It's often defined in the dictionary as nerve, gall insolence, arrogance,

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<v Speaker 1>and supreme self confidence. But there's a subtle flavored to

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<v Speaker 1>kotzbah that alludes easy translation into English. The late Leo Raston,

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<v Speaker 1>author of The Joys of Yiddish, wrote that kutzbah means

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<v Speaker 1>presumption plus arrogance, such as no other word and no

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<v Speaker 1>other language can do justice to Kutzpah. Is that quality

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<v Speaker 1>enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father,

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<v Speaker 1>throws himself on the mercy of the court because he

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<v Speaker 1>is an orphan. You might not recognize the word in

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<v Speaker 1>print from having heard it. It's spelled c h u

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<v Speaker 1>t z p a h in Yiddish. The h sound

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<v Speaker 1>is produced in the back of the throat. In phonics,

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<v Speaker 1>it's called an unvoiced dorsal velor non syllabant fricative. If

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<v Speaker 1>you have difficulty making an authentic sound in the back

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<v Speaker 1>of your throat and sorry, that's the sound I usually

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<v Speaker 1>try not to make. Into microphones, you can substitute a

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<v Speaker 1>regular h sound like hutzpah and people will get what

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<v Speaker 1>you mean. Yiddish is derived mostly from German and Hebrew,

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<v Speaker 1>and kutzba can trace its roots back to ancient Hebrew

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<v Speaker 1>and Aramaic words meaning insolent and impudent, which are definitely

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<v Speaker 1>negative descriptors, and it's likely that kutzba was mostly seen

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<v Speaker 1>as a negative quality among Yiddish speakers in Europe, where

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<v Speaker 1>it was once the everyday language of ten million Ashkenazi

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<v Speaker 1>Jewish people. Yiddish is now an endangered language spoken by

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<v Speaker 1>roughly a hundred and fifty Americans, mostly in Orthodox Jewish communities.

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<v Speaker 1>But something happened when Yiddish came to America and mixed

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<v Speaker 1>with the English usage of nerve. If someone has a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of nerve, it's usually a bad thing. But sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>it takes a lot of nerve to speak your mind

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<v Speaker 1>or stand up to a bully, which is a good thing.

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<v Speaker 1>The word kotzba pulls off a nifty trick because, on

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<v Speaker 1>the one hand, it recognizes that someone's behavior is nervy, brazen,

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<v Speaker 1>or arrogant, but it also tips its cap and respect.

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<v Speaker 1>Someone with kotzbah isn't ashamed of bending or breaking the

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<v Speaker 1>rules if it gets them what they want. You might

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<v Speaker 1>not approve of their behavior, but you respect the koksbah

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<v Speaker 1>it took to pull it off. In its definition of kotzbah,

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<v Speaker 1>Miriam Webster cites a news article about the son of

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<v Speaker 1>a Nike executive who sells were sneakers, some of which

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<v Speaker 1>may have been stolen from Nike. Journalist Jeff Manning wrote

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<v Speaker 1>in The Oregonian his company West Coast Streetwear has figured

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<v Speaker 1>out how to use technology and kutzbagh to buy hot

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<v Speaker 1>sneakers in bulk before the rest of the market. It

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<v Speaker 1>takes kutzbug to sell stolen footwear from your mom's company.

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<v Speaker 1>It's illegal, but also kind of cool. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article some nerve kutzpah explained on how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com, written by Dave Rouse. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of i Heeart Radio in partnership with how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot Com and is produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts My Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Up, kutzpah, kutzpah. Yep, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>this is great. This is a really good audio episode.