kugel

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See also: Kugel

English

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WOTD – 7 May 2024

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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A serving of kugel (etymology 1, sense 1).

Borrowed from Yiddish קוגל (kugl) (referring to the inflated appearance of some puddings), from Middle High German kugel (“ball; globe”) (modern German Kugel (“ball; (astronomy) celestial body, orb; (geometry) sphere”)); further etymology uncertain.[1]

Noun

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kugel (countable and uncountable, plural kugels)

  2. A traditional savoury or sweet Jewish dish consisting of a baked pudding of pasta, potatoes, or rice, with vegetables, or raisins and spices.
    • 1988, “Evening and Morning Meals: Menu Plan”, in The Taste of Shabbos: The Complete Sabbath Cookbook, 2nd edition, Jerusalem, Israel: Aish HaTorah Women’s Organization, →ISBN, page 56:
      Many cooks prepare one kugel in honor of the Sabbath. Some families serve extra kugels in honor of a Yom Tov or Rosh Chodesh that falls on a Sabbath. Their idea is to serve as many kugels as there are Torah scrolls read in the synagogue. Kugel recipes run the gamut from sweet to salty, soft to crisp, bland to sharp. They may be baked in the oven or pan-fried on the range.
    • 1999, William Woys Weaver, “Medieval Recipes in the Polish Style”, in Maria Dembińska, translated by Magdalena Thomas, edited by William Woys Weaver, Food and Drink in Medieval Poland: Rediscovering a Cuisine of the Past, revised edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 184:
      In medieval Poland, kugel covered a range of preparations baked in shallow or deep (usually round) pans without reference to type of ingredients or elaborateness of preparation. The fancier deep-dish versions of kugel resembled bread puddings and were made almost exclusively for Chanukah. However, kugel also provided the practical advantage of being made in advance and then kept warm overnight for serving on Shabbos, when cooking was forbidden. Kugel made with shredded turnips is one of those old Sabbath dishes.
    • 2004 June 14, Michael Louis Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch [et al.] (lyrics and music), “Hey Fuck You”, in To the 5 Boroughs, performed by the Beastie Boys, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.: Capitol Records, →OCLC:
      With the dipsy-doodle, the kit and caboodle / The truth is brutal, your grandma's kugel
    • 2013, Elinor Lipman, “Julia’s Child”, in I Can‘t Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, pages 5–6:
      Our mother wanted us and loved us dearly. Her chicken and fish, her stews, her meatloaves, her lasagna and kugels and everything else were flavorful in their own, unadulterated way.
  3. (by extension, South Africa, derogatory, slang) A wealthy young Jewish woman characterized as materialistic and selfish.
    Synonym: (Australia, US) JAP
    Coordinate term: (South Africa, derogatory, slang) bagel
    • 2000, John Matshikiza, “With the Lid Off: February 1999 – May 2000”, in Todd Matshikiza, John Matshikiza, With the Lid Off: South African Insights from Home and Abroad, 1959–2000, Milpark, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa: M&G Books, →ISBN, part II (John Matshikiza), page 145:
      She was minding her own business, taking a visitor from struggle days in London around the sights of the New South Africa, when she was recognised by a clutch of ageing kugels, out doing what kugels of all ages do on a Saturday morning in Hyde Park, namely shopping.
    • 2001, Donnarae MacCann, Yulisa Amadu Maddy, “Civil Disobedience and Urban Conflict: The Apartheid Perspective”, in Apartheid and Racism in South Africa Children’s Literature: 1985–1995 (Children’s Literature and Culture; 15), New York, N.Y.; London: Routledge, →ISBN, part 2 (Novels about Contemporary South Africa), page 35:
      Yet [Barbara] Ludman wants to take Michelle [in The Day of the Kugel (1989)] out of the "Kugel" category (a Kugel being a "disgusting, dull, boring noodle pudding"—the people in Johannesburg suburbs whose wealthy lives are one long party).
    • 2005, Pieter-Dirk Uys, “Bring on the Blondes”, in Robert Plummer, editor, Between the Devil and the Deep: A Memoir of Acting and Reacting, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa: Zebra Press, Struik Publishers, →ISBN, page 169:
      The trouble is that now, in this new century, the kugel is a rare and unprotected species in South Africa. […] The kugels have all left, and the few who stayed behind, protected by their high walls and heavy security, don't venture out at night to come and see themselves in a local revue. Kugels have now re-emerged in the form of black divas – beautiful, glamorous, loud and opinionated women who set store by hair and nails, sunglasses and cars.
Descendants
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  • → Japanese: クーゲル (kūgeru)
Translations
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Etymology 2

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A kugel (etymology 2, sense 1) hanging on a Christmas tree.

Borrowed from German Kugel (“ball; (geometry) sphere”), from Middle High German kugel (“ball; globe”); further etymology uncertain.

Noun

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kugel (plural kugels)

  2. A traditional hanging ornament of German origin made of coloured glass, usually spherical but also produced in other shapes such as bunches of grapes and drops.
    • 1990 December, John Morell, “OC Style: Yuletide Collectibles”, in Orange Coast: The Magazine of Orange County, volume 16, number 12, Costa Mesa, Calif.: O.C.N.L., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 60, columns 2–3:
      Along one wall of the Motts' home is an array of kugels, or glass balls, antique forerunners of today's classic $3.99-a-dozen-at-the-local-drugstore ornaments. However, unlike those made today, antique kugels are considerably sturdier and served as more than just decorations. Kugels decorated the house year-round and were known as "witches' balls." It was believed that if a witch were to visit it and see her face in one, the distorted image created by the rounded glass would scare her away.
    • 2000, Karal Ann Marling, “The Christmas Business”, in Merry Christmas! Celebrating America’s Greatest Holiday, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 76:
      Lauscha [in Thuringia, Germany] began, early in the nineteenth century, to produce reflective panorama balls or "witches' balls" for window and garden decorations. The first recorded order for smaller, Christmas-tree versions of these thick-walled "kugels," silvered on the inside with compounds of zinc or lead, dates from 1848. And, although kugel means "ball," relatively early examples of the type took on precisely the shapes noted by Harper's Bazaar, including mushrooms (a German good luck symbol), clusters of grapes, and acorns. Kugels were factory products, made in a glass kiln. But the thin-walled balls and mold-blown ornaments imported to the United States in large quantities in the 1880s were made in peasants' cottages, with whole families engaged in the year-round enterprise.
    • 2005 November–December, Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, “Unwrapping the Glitz of Christmas”, in Loretto Dennis Szucs, editor, Ancestry Magazine, volume 23, number 6, Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 51–52:
      Some of the glass ornaments you might find in a family's collection could date back to the 1870s, when the first glass ornaments, similar to the ones we know today, were imported into Britain from Lauscha, Germany. Silver glass orbs called kugels were manufactured there as well. Because of the cost of these exotic glass ornaments, owning them was often considered a symbol of status. However, by the 1880s, kugels were being imported en masse; in the United States, they were even sold through five-and-dime stores.
    • 2009, Tracy Martin, “Desirable Decorations”, in Christmas Collectables, Barnsley, South Yorksire: Remember When, Pen & Sword Books, →ISBN, page 41:
      • Original ‘Kugels’ are made of very heavy glass, too heavy for Christmas tree branches. / • The colour of the ‘Kugel’ is decorated from inside the ornament (the lining) unlike modern ones which are blown coloured glass.
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Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “kugel, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2024; “kugel, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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German

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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kugel

  1. inflection of kugeln:
    1. first-person singular present
    2. singular imperative
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