bupkis – English noun declension

English noun forms of bupkis

Noun: bupkis
Singularbupkis

Sample Sentences

  • We searched for hours and found bupkis.
  • But we did nothing, absolutely bupkis that day / And I say, what the hell am I doing drinking in L.A. at 26? [1997, “Drinking in L.A.”, performed by Bran Van 3000:]
  • She answered her own question. “Without the connection to other people,” she said, “you have bupkis.” [2022 April 20, John Leland, quoting Robin Solod, “How Loneliness Is Damaging Our Health”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:]

Etymology

Borrowed prior to 1931 from Yiddish באָבקעס (bobkes), plural of באָבקע (bobke, “goat or sheep dropping”), from באָב (bob, “bean”) + ־קע (-ke) calquing Polish bobek (“oval-shaped turd”), ultimately from Proto-Slavic *bobъ (“bean, fava bean”). Popularized by American Jewish writer Sam Denoff in mid-1960s The Dick Van Dyke Show. See: Polish Nouns 'bobek'.