kibitz

English

WOTD – 26 August 2010

Alternative forms

• kibbitz

Etymology

From Yiddish קיבעצן (kibetsn), cognate to German kiebitzen (“to look on”), from German Kiebitz (“lapwing”), from Middle High German gibiz (“plover”), imitative of its cry.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɪbɪts/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To make small talk or idle chatter.

   Synonyms: chat, gossip

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

   • 2004, Gerald W. Esch, Parasites, People, and Places: Essays on Field Parasitology, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN:

     His wife Karen listened as John and I kibitzed about our experiences at the University of Oklahoma some 40 years ago.

   • 2004, David Daniel, Goofy Foot: An Alex Rasmussen Mystery, Minotaur Books, →ISBN:

     Okay, we kibitzed enough. What brings you?

   • 2018 December 10, Eric Johnson, “Full Q&A: Y Combinator’s Sam Altman and Recode’s Kara Swisher discuss tech ethics, addiction and Facebook”, in recode‎^[1]:

     So how it’s gonna go is we’re gonna talk for about 45 minutes. We’re just gonna kibbitz here; that’s Yiddish for just kinda like […]

2. (intransitive) 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!

3. (intransitive, transitive) To watch a card or board game.
   • 2002, Elisabeth Merrett, Storied Landscapes: A Journey, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 103:

     […] stayed in the dorm, although she lived in Brooklyn Heights, and I frequently spent long hours with her, either in her room or at the student lounge, where we drank coffee and smoked cigarettes and kibitzed the never-ending bridge game.

   • 2012, Nona Baldwin Brown, Through the Opening Door: My Pioneering Journey in Mainstream Journalism, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 37:

     When it was my turn to stay in the office until 11 pm. closing, I kibitzed on their poker games and heard some colorful tales.

Derived terms

• kibitzer

Translations

chit-chat

• Dutch: roddelen (nl)
• Finnish: rupatella (fi), lörpötellä (fi)
• Russian: болта́ть (ru) (boltátʹ)
• Spanish: parlotear (es), cotorrear (es)

give unwanted advice

• Czech: kibicovat
• Dutch: kommentaar geven
• Finnish: lörpötellä (fi), höpöttää (fi)
• Portuguese: dar pitaco
• Russian: подска́зывать (ru) impf (podskázyvatʹ), подсказа́ть (ru) pf (podskazátʹ); дава́ть (ru) (davátʹ) непрошенные (neprošennyje) советы (ru) (sovety)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ки̏бицовати impf, кибици́рати impf

  Roman: kȉbicovati (sh) impf, ки̏бицовати impf

• Spanish: meter la nariz

to watch a card or board game

• German: kiebitzen (de)

See also

• armchair general