http://yiddishwordoftheweek.tumblr.com/…/naches-%D7%A0%D7%9…
בראַכמאַדזשולוטטאַ פּאַריבבאַדזשאַקאַקאַטהאַ בראַהמאַדזשאַלאַ סאַטטאַ
(דיסקאָורסע אויף די נעץ פון פּערפעקט וויסדאָם) קלאַסיש יידיש-קלאַסיש
ייִדיש
וויקיפּעדיע (Mūla)
Vinayapiṭaka
ויסשליסיק
דאַניעל
כל הזכויות שמורות
1. בראַהמאַדזש á לאַסוטטאַ קאָה
Yiddish Word of the Week
Naches - נחת

Naches - נחת \NACH-es\ Noun:

Pleasure, satisfaction, delight; proud enjoyment.

Pronunciation: Click here or here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.

Synonyms: fargenign (פארגעניגן), genus (גענוס), hanoe (הנאה), mechaye (מחיה), tayneg (תענוג).

German equivalents: die Freude, der Genuss, das Pläsier, das Vergnügen.

Etymology: The word derives from Biblical Hebrew nachat, which
ultimately comes from the verb lanuach (לנוח) - to rest, lie, be at
ease. The word has entered the English language in the form “nachas” or
“naches” and is listed in some dictionaries, including the OED (for
those who do not have a subscription, this link will, sadly, not work).

Derivativess of naches: naches-ruach (נחת-רוח) - spiritual pleasure; nachesdik (נחתדיק) - pleasant.

Phrase with naches: shepn/klaybn naches fun di kinder/eyniklech
(שעפן/קלייבן נחת פון די קינדער/אייניקלעך) - to derive pleasure from
one’s children/grandchildren. This is a hugely popular phrase with
Yiddish speakers and Jews in general. “They are shepping naches from
their children” is the “Yinglishized” equivalent of this construction.
[I am not certain if the name Shep has anything to do with this phrase
or not, but it seems possible. Another possibility is that it derives
from the plural noun sheps (שעפס) - sheep.] There is also apparently a
version of the phrase, in some circles, that uses the verb shlepn
(שלעפן) - to drag - instead of klaybn or shepn. For more on that, see
Philologos (who also offers a possible derivation for the phrase based
on the verse in Koyheles 4:6). (See the debate about this version on
Mendele here and here.) Another common use of the word naches is in
characterizing something as particularly Jewish or non-Jewish. If one
wishes to say that a mode of entertainment or pleasure inducement is
particularly goyish (i.e., no Jew would find it entertaining or
pleasurable), one would call it goyishe naches (גוישע נחת). (See Max
Weinreich’s treatment of the phrase “goyim-naches,” abbreviated to GN,
among German Jews based on its medieval German pietistic origins in the
Sefer Chasidim. See also Dovid Katz, who writes that the traditional
Yiddish term for hunting was goyishker naches (גוישקער נחת), since it
was construed as a particularly goyish pastime.) If, however, the
subject under discussion is something which only a Jew would find
gratifying or satisfying, one would call it yidishe naches (יידישע נחת).
(One rabbi I know likes to joke that Mondays and Thursdays on which the
long tachanun prayer is not said because they coincide with happy
days/occasions is the epitome of yidishe naches. The same goes for when
one has eaten an entire meal to satisfaction but, because one has not
eaten bread, is only required to say the short boyrey nefoshes as the
concluding blessing.)

Expressions with naches:1. Du zolst krenken
in naches (דו זאלסט קרענקען אין נחת) - You should suffer in the midst
of pleasure (i.e., you should get all you wanted and suffer all the more
for it; see Michael Wex’s development of this general motif as a
“strategy” in Yiddish cursing). 2. Platzn zolstu fun naches (פלאצן
זאלסטו פון נחת) - May you explode from pleasure (meant as a curse; see
above).3. Ich shlog aych iber di reyd - ir zolt hobn naches un freyd!
(איך שלאג אייך איבער די רייד - איר זאלט האבן נחת און פרייד) - I break in
on your words - may you greatly rejoice! (Said in some circles as a
polite apology/good wish when one interrupts his friend’s speech.)

Naches in a sentence: Ich hof az mayne leyeners shepn a bisl naches fun
di blitzbrivn vos ich shik zey yede voch; oyb nisht, zoln zey krenken
in naches! (איך האף אז מיינע לייענערס שעפן א ביסל נחת פון די בליצבריוון
וואס איך שיק זיי יעדע וואך, אויב נישט, זאלן זיי קרענקען אין נחת) - I
hope that my readers derive a bit of enjoyment from the e-mails I send
them each week; if not, they should suffer in the midst of pleasure!

Use naches in your own sentence today!