Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

5 Ways Donald Trump’s Twitter Insults Could Be Better In Yiddish

While his haters may think he is totally fercockt (all screwed up), Donald Trump can dish it right back. The Donald seems to have no shortage of incendiary tweets ready to hurl at anyone and everyone who disagrees with him.

But he does sometimes seem to have a shortage of hateful words at his disposal. While his Twitter insults can hit right in the kishka (guts), I believe some of his derisions could benefit from the added color that only Yiddish can provide.

Below are a few of his recent tweets, and my Yiddish word swap recommendations.

#5:

Instead of incompetent, try goylem.

A goylem, or golem in Hebrew, is an animated clay creature made out of mud. It connotes something ill-formed or raw. It has the added advantage of being associated with a certain unsightly movie character.

Image by Getty Images

#4:

Instead of PATHOLOGICAL LIAR, try gonif.

Even when it’s not in all caps, this word packs a punch. A gonif, which roughly translates into a bamboozler, is a person who is notoriously untrustworthy. This would also a good substitute for #CrookedHillary.

#3:

Instead of president, try shlemiel.

President sounds generic — sad! Shlemiel is a better word for an unfortunate and stupid guy. This is also a good substitute for calling someone “the worst!”

#2:

Instead of failing, try moyshe kapoyer.

Like the lamestream media in Trump’s mind, a moyshe kapoyer has it all wrong. This is best used to insult someone who is constantly mixed up and doing things incorrectly.

#1:

Instead of the “weak” word people, try the mouthful khokhem fun der hagode.

This final phrase would certainly take Trump’s Twitter game to a new level. The khokhem fun der hagode is the “wise son in the Passover story,” and is used ironically to refer to those who think they know everything.

Here’s to more of Trump’s meshugah (crazy) antics!

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version