March 2, 1998

bupkis

Recently I have noticed an increase in the use of the term "bupkiss" meaning "nothing" or "zero." What is the origin of this slang term?

The word bupkiss, often also spelled bupkis, means, as you say, 'absolutely nothing'. In negative constructions (for example, "He didn't know bupkis"), it means 'the least thing; anything at all'.

Bupkis is a borrowing from Yiddish, where it literally means 'beans'. The reference is to how inexpensive and common beans are.

The word bupkis is first found in American English sources in the early 1940s, but it did not become common in non-Jewish-related writings until the late 1960s.