Chutzpah (/ˈxʊtspə,ˈhʊt-/)[1][2] is the quality of audacity, for good or for bad. It derives from the Hebrew word ḥuṣpāh (חֻצְפָּה), meaning "insolence", "cheek" or "audacity". Thus the original Yiddish word has a strongly negative connotation but the form which entered English as a Yiddishism in American English has taken on a broader meaning, having been popularized through vernacular use in film, literature, and television. The word is sometimes interpreted—particularly in business parlance—as meaning the amount of courage, mettle or ardor that an individual has.[3][4]
Originated 1890–95 from Yiddish חוצפּה (ḥuṣpâ), from Mishnaic Hebrew חוֹצְפָּה (ḥôṣǝpâ),[5] from חָצַף (ḥāṣap, “to be insolent”). Ultimately from Aramaic חֲצִיפָא (ḥăṣîpāʾ), חֲצַף (ḥaṣap, “to be barefaced, insolent”).
In Hebrew, chutzpah is used indignantly, to describe someone who has overstepped the boundaries of accepted behavior.[citation needed] In traditional usage, the word expresses a strong sense of disapproval, condemnation and outrage.
Leo Rosten in The Joys of Yiddish defines chutzpah as "gall, brazen nerve, effrontery, incredible 'guts', presumption plus arrogance such as no other word and no other language can do justice to". In this sense, chutzpah expresses both strong disapproval and condemnation. In the same work, Rosten also defines the term as "that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan."
Chutzpah amounts to a total denial of personal responsibility, which renders others speechless and incredulous ... one cannot quite believe that another person totally lacks common human traits like remorse, regret, guilt, sympathy and insight. The implication is at least some degree of psychopathy in the subject,[citation needed] as well as the awestruck amazement of the observer at the display.
The cognate of ḥuṣpāh in Classical Arabic, ḥaṣāfah (حصافة), does not mean "impudence" or "cheekiness" or anything similar, but rather "sound judgment".[6]
In Rabbinical literature
Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis distinguishes the meaning of chutzpah as stubbornness and contrariness from what he calls a tradition of "spiritual audacity" or "chutzpah klapei shmaya":
We are conventionally raised to believe that Jewish faith demands unwavering obedience to the law and the *law-giver. That attitude tends to cultivate a temperament of compliance and passivity. For conventional thinking, "talking back to God" smacks of heresy. But a significant genre of religious, moral and spiritual audacity toward the divine authority—"chutzpah klapei shmaya"—finds a place of honor in Jewish religious thought.[7]
As an example, Schulweis cites a case where Moses argues with God about the justice of His commands:
For Moses, that God should "visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation" (Exod. 20:5) is an unacceptable form of group punishment akin to the morally indiscriminate punishment of Sodom. Challenging God's pronouncement of the punishment of the sons for the sins of the fathers, Moses argues with God, against God, and in the name of God. Moses engages God with fierce moral logic:
Sovereign of the Universe, consider the righteousness of Abraham and the idol worship of his father Terach. Does it make moral sense to punish the child for the transgressions of the father? Sovereign of the Universe, consider the righteous deeds of King Hezekiah, who sprang from the loins of his evil father King Achaz. Does Hezekiah deserve Achaz's punishment? Consider the nobility of King Josiah, whose father Amnon was wicked. Should Josiah inherit the punishment of Amnon? (Num. Rabbah, Hukkat XIX, 33)
Trained to view God as an unyielding authoritarian proclaiming immutable commands, we might expect that Moses will be severely chastised for his defiance. Who is this finite, errant, fallible, human creature to question the explicit command of the author of the Ten Commandments? The divine response to Moses, according to the rabbinic moral imagination, is arresting:
By your life Moses, you have instructed Me. Therefore I will nullify My words and confirm yours. Thus it is said, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers." (Deut. 24:16)[8]
Judge Alex Kozinski and Eugene Volokh in an article entitled Lawsuit Shmawsuit, note the rise in use of Yiddish words in legal opinion. They note that chutzpah has been used 231 times in American legal opinions, 220 of those after 1980.[9]Chutzpah first appeared in a Supreme Court decision in 1998, in National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley, when Justice Antonin Scalia used it to describe the NEA's brazenness in asking for government funding.[10]
In the Bollywood movie Haider (2014) by Vishal Bharadwaj, a modern-day interpretation of Hamlet set against the backdrop of Kashmir in the midst of political conflict, the protagonist uses the word chutzpah which they pronounce as /'tʃʊtspə/ instead of /ˈhʊtspə/ or /ˈxʊtspə/ to describe India's way of treating the people of Kashmir since the beginning of the conflict. This pronunciation sounds more like Indian slang.
The Polish word hucpa (pronounced [ˈxut͜spa]) is also derived from this term, although its meaning is closer to 'insolence' or 'arrogance', and so it is typically used in a more negative sense instead of denoting a positive description of someone's audacity.
Similarly, the German form of chutzpah is Chuzpe.
'Chutzpah' is a primary statistic for player and non-player characters in the roleplaying game Paranoia.
^Harold M. Schulweis, Conscience: The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey (2008), p. 10.
^Harold M. Schulweis, Conscience: The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey (2008), p. 11.
^Kozinski, Alex; Eugene Volokh (1993). "Lawsuit Shmawsuit". Yale Law Journal. The Yale Law Journal Company, Inc. 103 (2): 463. doi:10.2307/797101. JSTOR 797101. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
^Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, "The Whole Spiel: Funny essays about digital nudniks, seder selfies and chicken soup memories," Incompra Press, 2016; p. 118. ISBN978-0-69272625-9
External links
Look up chutzpah in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Chutzpah Pronunciation
August 18, 2023
chutzpah, other, uses, disambiguation, quality, audacity, good, derives, from, hebrew, word, ḥuṣpāh, meaning, insolence, cheek, audacity, thus, original, yiddish, word, strongly, negative, connotation, form, which, entered, english, yiddishism, american, engli. For other uses see Chutzpah disambiguation Chutzpah ˈ x ʊ t s p e ˈ h ʊ t 1 2 is the quality of audacity for good or for bad It derives from the Hebrew word ḥuṣpah ח צ פ ה meaning insolence cheek or audacity Thus the original Yiddish word has a strongly negative connotation but the form which entered English as a Yiddishism in American English has taken on a broader meaning having been popularized through vernacular use in film literature and television The word is sometimes interpreted particularly in business parlance as meaning the amount of courage mettle or ardor that an individual has 3 4 Contents 1 Etymology 2 In Rabbinical literature 3 Contemporary usage 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksEtymology EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed February 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Originated 1890 95 from Yiddish חוצפ ה ḥuṣpa from Mishnaic Hebrew חו צ פ ה ḥoṣǝpa 5 from ח צ ף ḥaṣap to be insolent Ultimately from Aramaic ח צ יפ א ḥăṣipaʾ ח צ ף ḥaṣap to be barefaced insolent In Hebrew chutzpah is used indignantly to describe someone who has overstepped the boundaries of accepted behavior citation needed In traditional usage the word expresses a strong sense of disapproval condemnation and outrage Leo Rosten in The Joys of Yiddish defines chutzpah as gall brazen nerve effrontery incredible guts presumption plus arrogance such as no other word and no other language can do justice to In this sense chutzpah expresses both strong disapproval and condemnation In the same work Rosten also defines the term as that quality enshrined in a man who having killed his mother and father throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan Chutzpah amounts to a total denial of personal responsibility which renders others speechless and incredulous one cannot quite believe that another person totally lacks common human traits like remorse regret guilt sympathy and insight The implication is at least some degree of psychopathy in the subject citation needed as well as the awestruck amazement of the observer at the display The cognate of ḥuṣpah in Classical Arabic ḥaṣafah حصافة does not mean impudence or cheekiness or anything similar but rather sound judgment 6 In Rabbinical literature EditRabbi Harold M Schulweis distinguishes the meaning of chutzpah as stubbornness and contrariness from what he calls a tradition of spiritual audacity or chutzpah klapei shmaya We are conventionally raised to believe that Jewish faith demands unwavering obedience to the law and the law giver That attitude tends to cultivate a temperament of compliance and passivity For conventional thinking talking back to God smacks of heresy But a significant genre of religious moral and spiritual audacity toward the divine authority chutzpah klapei shmaya finds a place of honor in Jewish religious thought 7 As an example Schulweis cites a case where Moses argues with God about the justice of His commands For Moses that God should visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation Exod 20 5 is an unacceptable form of group punishment akin to the morally indiscriminate punishment of Sodom Challenging God s pronouncement of the punishment of the sons for the sins of the fathers Moses argues with God against God and in the name of God Moses engages God with fierce moral logic Sovereign of the Universe consider the righteousness of Abraham and the idol worship of his father Terach Does it make moral sense to punish the child for the transgressions of the father Sovereign of the Universe consider the righteous deeds of King Hezekiah who sprang from the loins of his evil father King Achaz Does Hezekiah deserve Achaz s punishment Consider the nobility of King Josiah whose father Amnon was wicked Should Josiah inherit the punishment of Amnon Num Rabbah Hukkat XIX 33 Trained to view God as an unyielding authoritarian proclaiming immutable commands we might expect that Moses will be severely chastised for his defiance Who is this finite errant fallible human creature to question the explicit command of the author of the Ten Commandments The divine response to Moses according to the rabbinic moral imagination is arresting By your life Moses you have instructed Me Therefore I will nullify My words and confirm yours Thus it is said The fathers shall not be put to death for the children neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers Deut 24 16 8 Contemporary usage EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed February 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Judge Alex Kozinski and Eugene Volokh in an article entitled Lawsuit Shmawsuit note the rise in use of Yiddish words in legal opinion They note that chutzpah has been used 231 times in American legal opinions 220 of those after 1980 9 Chutzpah first appeared in a Supreme Court decision in 1998 in National Endowment for the Arts v Finley when Justice Antonin Scalia used it to describe the NEA s brazenness in asking for government funding 10 In the Bollywood movie Haider 2014 by Vishal Bharadwaj a modern day interpretation of Hamlet set against the backdrop of Kashmir in the midst of political conflict the protagonist uses the word chutzpah which they pronounce as tʃʊtspe instead of ˈhʊtspe or ˈxʊtspe to describe India s way of treating the people of Kashmir since the beginning of the conflict This pronunciation sounds more like Indian slang The Polish word hucpa pronounced ˈxut spa is also derived from this term although its meaning is closer to insolence or arrogance and so it is typically used in a more negative sense instead of denoting a positive description of someone s audacity Similarly the German form of chutzpah is Chuzpe Chutzpah is a primary statistic for player and non player characters in the roleplaying game Paranoia See also EditGopnik Cojones Firgun Hubris Sisu List of English words of Yiddish originReferences Edit חוצפה chutzpah dictionary reference com chutzpah thefreedictionary com Can a Moment of Chutzpah Launch a Business cbsnews com 2011 06 16 Mason Harris The Chutzpah Advantage Go Bigger Be Bolder Do Better ISBN 1952233542 Sotah 9 15 in MSS Kaufmann A50 Wehr Hans 1994 1979 J Milton Cowan ed Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic Urbana Illinois Spoken Language Services Inc ISBN 0 87950 003 4 Harold M Schulweis Conscience The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey 2008 p 10 Harold M Schulweis Conscience The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey 2008 p 11 Kozinski Alex Eugene Volokh 1993 Lawsuit Shmawsuit Yale Law Journal The Yale Law Journal Company Inc 103 2 463 doi 10 2307 797101 JSTOR 797101 Retrieved 2007 06 24 Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic The Whole Spiel Funny essays about digital nudniks seder selfies and chicken soup memories Incompra Press 2016 p 118 ISBN 978 0 69272625 9External links Edit Look up chutzpah in Wiktionary the free dictionary Chutzpah Pronunciation Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chutzpah amp oldid 1167839037, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
