Word Confusion: Kibbutz versus Kibitz

Posted January 8, 2019 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
16 Dec 2022

I’m going to kibitz here by yammering on about the difference between the verb kibitz and the strictly noun kibbutz.

The idea of the kibbutz started off as a noble ideal, but humans just can’t sacrifice themselves forever, and they began to kibitz about their varying levels of contributions.

Hey, it’s normal behavior. It’s why socialism will never work. No one wants to work harder than someone who is getting the same “rewards” as someone who loafs around, so those contributing more are entitled to kibitz. Whether they live in a kibbutz, a commune, or work for a corporation.

Word Confusions . . .

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Kibbutz	Kibitz
Aerial Photo of Kibbutz Merhavia לשכת העיתונות הממשלתית is in the public domain, courtesy of National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography Dept. Government Press Office, under the digital ID D332-052, via Wikimedia Commons.	Chess 象棋 InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA, is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Looks like the smoker may be kibitzing.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: kibbutzim	Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: kibitzes Past tense or past participle: kibitzed Present participle: kibitzing Alternative spelling: kibbitz
A communal settlement in Israel, typically a farm	Verb, intransitive: To act as a kibitzer [US and Canadian; informal] To interfere or offer unwanted advice, especially as a spectator at a card game Speak informally Chat Verb, transitive: To offer advice or criticism to, as someone offering unwanted advice or interfering
Examples:
The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania Alef. First established as a agricultural commune in Israel, today’s kibbutzim have branched out into industry and high-tech enterprises. The kibbutz began as a utopian community, a combination of socialism and Zionism, which evolved with the economy and the reduced interest in self-sacrifice. As of 2007, there were three major kibbutz movements. Experiencing a kibbutz as a volunteer can be quite rewarding.	Verb, intransitive: Brigham stood behind them, kibitzing. In the third act, Turai hilariously kibitzes and harasses Almady as he plays out the play within the play with Ilona. You take pictures from beginning to end — lots of them inside and outside of the plane — and even if you’re a pilot, stay out of the way and don’t kibitz. She kibitzed with friends. We kibitzed about the game on Friday. And as an editor there he got to kibitz and tipple with the likes of Dorothy Parker, Stephen Vincent Benet, and P.G. Woodhouse. The two of them are still close as they kibitz among the consumer goods. Verb, transitive: They continued to kibitz the team from the bleachers. “The event at Royce Hall marked the end of the California leg of this American history kibitzing tour, but Lincoln wasn’t foremost on his mind” (McNulty). Jim and Georgie kibitz a card game.
Derivatives:
Noun: kibbutznik, kibbutznikiyot	Noun: kibitzer, kibitzing
History of the Word:
1925–1930s from modern Hebrew qibbūṣ meaning gathering.	1925–30, an Americanism from the Yiddish kibetsn and equivalent to the German kiebitzen meaning to look on at cards, as a derivative of Kiebitz meaning busybody, literally, lapwing, plover.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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Resources for Kibbutz versus Kibitz

Apple Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com: kibitz

McNulty, Charles. “Tony Kushner, Thinking Citizen: The playwright on ‘Angels in America’, ‘West Side Story’, and surviving Trump.” LA Times. 29 Mar 2018. Web. n.d. <https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-tony-kushner-20180401-story.html>.

Oxford Living Dictionaries: kibitz

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