Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Yiddish ·1940s
Bupkis
from bobkes
- Meaning
- Nothing; zero; something of no value.
- Source word
- bobkes
- Route into English
- Yiddish *bobkes* (beans, goat droppings) → American English slang. The "nothing" sense is a slang leap from "something as trivial as beans."
- Arrived
- 1940s
From Yiddish
Mass migration from Ashkenazi Eastern Europe to New York (1880–1920) funnelled Yiddish into American English, from where it diffused globally.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.