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The Ultimate Yiddish Curse—Drop Dead!
Wishing someone would just drop dead is the ultimate Yiddish curse, and there are lots of ways of saying it. You can do it simply by saying “Bury yourself!”—Lig in drerd! (Lig in drerd! ) or “Ver derharget!” (Get killed!) (Ver der-har -get!)
You can also do it more creatively with phrases like:
May someone call a doctor for you urgently, and when he arrives, they should inform him that it is too late – Me zol rufn tsu dir srotshne a dokter un az iener vet kumen zol men im zogn az me darf shoyn nit (Mit zol ruf-en tsu dir srotsh-ne a dok-ter un az i-en-er vet).
or
May there be a great fair in Paradise and may you be very successful there – Zol shoyn zany a groyser irid in gen-eden, un zolst dortn matslich shem (Zol shoyn za-ny a groys-er i-rid in gen-e-den un zolst dort-en mats-lich shem).
or
God should bless you with three persons: one should hold you, the second should kill you and the third should bury you – Got zol dir bentshn mit dray mentshn: eyner zol dir haltn, der tsveyter zol dir shpaltn un der driter zol dir id bahaltn (Got zol dir bent-shen mit dray ment-shin: ey-ner zol dir halt-en, der tsveyt-er zol dir shpalt-en un der drit-er zold dir ba-halt-en).
You’ll find a great variety of options to tell someone to drop dead, go to hell, go to the devil, meet the Angel of Death, and you will find creative ways to suggest that someone be buried or look forward to mourning someone. Here are a bunch of Yiddish phrases for wishing someone an early death:
Telling someone to drop dead ...
Drop dead – Zolst lign in drerd (Zolst lig-en in drerd).
Do me a favor and drop dead – Folg mich a gang un gai in drerd (Folg mich a gong un gay in drerd).
Drop dead – Ver derharget (Ver der-har-get).
Also can mean: Bury yourself! Go kill yourself!
Drop dead – Geharget zolstu verren (Geh-har-get zolst-u ver-en).
Literally means: You should get killed.
Drop dead – Ich hob dich (Ich hob dich).
He should drop dead – Paygeren zol er (Pay-ger-en zol er).
Drop dead – Zol dir got arayngebn a naye neshumah un tsuhemen di alte (Zol dir got a-rhine-geb-en a naye ne-shum -ah un tsu-hem-en di al-the).
Literally means: May God give you a new soul and take your old one.
May you be a dead duck tonight – A kaporeh zolstu veren hayntike nacht (A ka-por-eh zols-tu ver-en hayn-ti-ke).
May you push up daisies soon – Groz zol oyf dir vaksn (Groz zol oyf dir vaks-en).
May you be spared the indignities and illnesses of old age – Zolst farshporn di bizoynut un di krenh fun der elter (Zolst far-shpor-en di bi-zoyn-ut un kren-eh fun der elt-er).
If you want to avoid old age, hang yourself in youth – Az me vil nit alt verren, zol men zich yungerhayt oyfhengn (Az me vil nit alt ver-en zol, men zich yun-ger-hayt oyf-heng-en).
Hang yourself with a sugar rope and you’ll have a sweet death – Heng dich oyf a tsikershtrikl vestu hobn a zisn toyt (Heng dich oyf a tsi-ker-shtrikl ves-tu hob-en a zis-en toyt).
May you suffer a cruel and unusual death – A miteh-meshuneh zolstu hobn (A mit-eh-me-shun-eh zols-tu hob-en).
Telling someone to go to hell ...
Go to hell – Gai in drerd arayn (Gay in drerd a-rhine).
Go to hell – Gai kabenyeh matyreh (Gay ka-ben-yeh ma-tyr -eh).
Go to hell – Ich hob dich in drerd (Ich hob dich in drerd).
Go to hell – In drerd mitten kop (In drerd mit-en kop).
Literally means: Be in the ground up to your head.
Go to hell – Gey tsu al dee gute-ior (Gey tsu al dee gut-e-ior).
Literally means: Go to all the demons.
Go to hell [and bake bagels there] – Lign drerd [un bak beygel] (Lig-en dred [un bak beyg-el]).
Literally means: Live underground and bake bagels there.
Go to hell together with your bones – Gey in drerd mit dee beyner (Gey in drerd mit dee beyn-er).
He should go to hell – Er zol einemen a miesseh meshuneh (Er zol ein-em-en a mies-eh me-shun-eh).
Literally means: He should meet a strange death.
He should go to hell – Er zol gayn in drerd (Er zol gayn in drerd).
He should go to hell – A gehenem oyf ihm (A ge-hen-em oyf ihm).
Telling someone to go to the devil ...
Go to the devil – A ruech in dein tatn’s tatenarein (A ru-ech in dein tat-en’s tat-en-a-rhine).
Go to the devil – A ruech in dein tatn’s tateh (A ru-ech in dein tat-en’s ta-teh).
May the Devil carry you on his shoulders – Trogn zol did der ruech oyf di pleytses (Trog-en zol did der ru-ech oyf di pleyts-es).
May the Devil [the cotton-wool maker] take you – Chapt did der ruech [dir vate-macher] (Chapt did der ru-ech [dir va-te-ma-cher]).
The cotton-wool maker is a popular Yiddish euphemism for the Devil.
Wishing someone meets the Angel of Death
May the Angel of Death fall in love with you – Der male-chamo’ves zol zid id dir farlibn (Der me-lech-a-mo’ves zol zid dir far-lib-en).
May the Angel of Death remove you from this world – Der malechamo’ves zol did tsunemen fun der velt (Der ma-lech-a-mo’ves zol did tsu-nem-en fun der velt).
May you romp with the Angel of Death – Mitn male-chamo’ves zolstu zid shpeln (Mit-en ma-lech-a-mo’ves zols-tu zid shpel-en).
He should marry the daughter of the Angel of Death – Khasene hobn zol er mit di malech hamoves tochter (Khas-en-eh hob-en zol er mit di ma-lech ha-mov-es toch-ter).
Finding creative burial methods
Go bury yourself – Leyg zin in drerd arayn (Leyg zin in drerd a-rhine).
Go to the black pit – Gey tsum shvare-ior (Gey tsum shvar-eh-i-or).
I will bury you in the ground as though you were a treasure – Id vel did bagrobn in der erd vi an oyster (Id vel did ba-grog-en in der erd vi an oyst-er).
May you be buried nine feet deep in the ground – Ver bagrobn nayn eyln in der erd (Ver ba-grog-en nayn eyl-en in der erd).
May you be carried out on a dead man’s stretcher – Trogn zol men did oyf der miteh (Trog-en zol men did oyf der mit-eh).
I should outlive him long enough to bury him – Vi tsu derleb ich im shoyn tsu bagrobn (Vi tsu der-leb ich im shoy-en tsu ba-grob-en).
May you not stand in a cemetery, only lie there – Oyf keyn guten-ort zolstu nit shteyn nor lign (Oyf keyn gut-en-ort zols-tu nit shtey-en nor lig-en).
Looking forward to mourning someone
I hope to see you dead – Id zol hobn a zchut bay got, er zol did tsunenen fun der erd (Id zol hob-en a zchut bay got, er zol did tsu-nem-en fun der erd).
Literally means: May God grant me the favor of removing you from this world.
I wish you a sweet death: a truck full of sugar should run over you – A zisn toyt zolstu hobn a trok mit tsuker zoldid iberforn (A zis-en toyt zols-tu hob-en a trok mit tsuk-er zol-did i-ber-forn).
Black sorrow is all that his mother should see of him – Finstere leyd zol nor di mama oyf im zen. (Fin-ster-eh leyd zol nor di ma-ma oyf im zen).
May I have the privilege of sewing your shroud – A soyve zol id dir machn (A soyv-eh zol id dir mach-en).
May I grieve after you – A brod zol in nod dir hobn (A brod zol in nod dir).
May I mourn your death – Id zol veyn oyf dayne iorn (Id zol veyn oyf dayne i-orn).
May prayers be offered up for your soul – Me zol did trogn un zingn (Me zol did trog-en un zing-en).
Literally means: May you be carried away amidst song.
May it end badly for you – Zol es dir aroys bokem (Zol es dir a-roys bok-em).
Why bother getting up alive – Farshporn zol er oyf tsu shteyn (Farsh-porn zol er oyf tsu shteyn)?
A young child should be named after him – A kleyn kind zol noch im heysn (A kleyn kind zol noch im heys-en).