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- DictionaryBup·kis/ˈbəpkəs/
pronoun
- 1. nothing at all: informal US "you know bupkis about fundraising"
nothing, or only a very small amount: Most biochemical weapons soak in through your skin, so a gas mask would do bubkes. Fewer examples. Knowing Roland Barthes from Bertolt Brecht won't get you bubkes in the real world.
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What does Bupkis mean in Yiddish?
- Etymology
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Borrowed prior to 1931 from Yiddish באָבקעס (bobkes), plural of באָבקע (bobke, “goat or sheep dropping”), from באָב (bob, “bean”) + ־קע (-ke) calquing Polish bobek (“oval-shaped turd”), ultimately from Proto-Slavic *bobъ (“bean, fava bean”). Popularized by American Jewish writer Sam Denoff in mid-1960s The Dick Van Dyke Show.
IPA(key): /ˈbʌp.kɪs/(Yiddish-influenced) IPA(key): /ˈbɔp.kɪs/bupkis (uncountable) 1. (US, slang) Absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance. 1.1. Synonyms: zilch; see also Thesaurus:nothing 1.2. We searched for hours and found bupkis. 1.1. 1997, “Drinking in L.A.”, performed by Bran Van 3000: 1.1.1. But we did nothing, absolutely bupkisthat day / And I say, what the hell am I doing drin...
Jonathon Green (2024) “bupkes n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of SlangEric Partridge (2005) “bupkes; bupkis”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 1 (A–I), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge...bupkis is a US slang word meaning absolutely nothing or nothing of value, significance, or substance. It is derived from Yiddish and has various alternative forms and translations.
The word bupkis (more properly bobkes, באבקעס) means “nonsense” or “nothing.” How did this word develop? Well bob (באב) is Yiddish for “bean.” Its diminutive form (bobkes) also came to refer to goat fecal pellets, which look like little black beans.
Bupkis means nothing or nonsense, derived from the Yiddish bobkes. It is a slang term that can be used humorously or seriously, and it has various spellings.
Bupkis is a slang word for a worthless amount or little or nothing. It comes from Yiddish bobkes, meaning beans, and is related to Polish and Russian words for bean.
Aug 29, 2014 · It seems much more likely that, whatever the source meaning may have been, bupkis meant simply “beans”—literally or figuratively—in Yiddish/English from a very early date.
bupkis is a noun meaning nothing or nothingness, borrowed from Yiddish. It is pronounced with a short or long u sound in British or American English.
