kibitz

WOTD – 26 August 2010    

English

Alternative forms

• kibbitz

Etymology

From Yiddish קיבעצן (kibitsn), from Hebrew קבץ, influenced by German kiebitzen.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈkɪbɪts/

Verb

kibitz (third-person singular simple present kibitzes, present participle kibitzing, simple past and past participle kibitzed)

1. To chat; to gossip; to make small talk or idle chatter.

   Louise and I used to head down to the coffee shop and just sit for hours and kibitz.

2. To give unsolicited or unwanted advice or make unhelpful or idle comments, especially to someone playing a game.

   Quit kibitzing! You're giving away my hand!

Derived terms

• kibitzer

See also

• hand wringing
• armchair general

Translations

chit-chat

• Dutch: roddelen (nl)
• Finnish: rupatella (fi), lörpötellä (fi)

• Russian: болтать (ru) (boltatʹ)
• Spanish: parlotear (es), cotorrear (es)

give unwanted advice

• Czech: kibicovat (cs)
• Dutch: kommentaar geven (nl)
• Finnish: lörpötellä (fi), höpöttää (fi)

• Russian: подска́зывать (ru) (podskázyvat') impf., подсказа́ть (ru) (podskazát') pf.; давать (ru) (davatʹ) непрошенные (ru) (neprošennyje) советы (ru) (sovety)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can