Bissel (bisl)

Pronunciation : BIH-suul
Definition: a little bit.
Example Sentence: After that lunch with bubbe, I could only eat a bissel for dinner.

Some Fun Thoughts:

So according to the JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, the population who uses this word is “middle-aged to older.” I think we can change that. Yiddish is hip again, not just for those who get them replaced, but for people left with our twenty-year-old decrepit hips, that creak when we try to do a bissel of movement.

Young people can want just a little of something. We can want to just watch a bissel of a show on Netflix. We can just want a bissel of that awful casserole our partner’s parents made because they are terrible cooks. Maybe we try to be a little more environmentally friendly and eat a bissel less meat every day.

On a deeper note, I think as we grow up in this changing world, a bissel might become more important to our generation. Less isn’t less always. A bissel of time with loved ones in covid was a blessing. A bissel more time with a grandparent is a gift. Less things can be easier to move and clean. Less waste is helping the planet. A bissel might come to mean a whole lot more.

The only time it is inappropriate to ask for a bissel is a schmear of cream cheese on a bagel. If you do this, don’t.