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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.
Jun 2, 2024 · bupkis (uncountable) (US, slang) Absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance. Synonyms: zilch; see also Thesaurus: nothing
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 absolutely nothing. It comes from the Yiddish bobkes, meaning nonsense or nothing, and it emerged in English during the early 20th century. It began as North American Jewish slang, but it’s now used more broadly, often for humorous effect. 1
If you’re wondering which one is the proper word, the answer is both. Bupkes and bupkis are Yiddish words that are often used interchangeably, but there are subtle differences between them. Bupkes (also spelled “bupkus”) is a noun that means “nothing” or “a worthless amount.”
bup·kis. (bŭp′kĭs) also bub·kes (bŭb′kəs) n. Slang. A worthless amount; little or nothing. [Yiddish bobkes, from pl. of bobke, diminutive of bob, bean, of Slavic origin; akin to Polish bób and Russian bob, bean; see bha-bhā- in Indo-European roots .] American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
What does the noun bupkis mean? There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun bupkis . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
Bupkis definition: A worthless amount; little or nothing.
noun. nothing: They've told us bupkis—we're going to have to find out what's going on for ourselves. very little; the smallest amount: It was a revolutionary piece of technology, and yet the inventor sold it for bupkis.
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.
