Chutzpah (/ˈhʊtspə/ or /ˈxʊtspə/) is the quality of audacity, for good or for bad. The Yiddish word derives from the Hebrew word ḥutspâ (חֻצְפָּה), meaning "insolence", "cheek" or "audacity". The modern English usage of the word 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. However, in more traditional usage, chutzpah has a negative connotation.
In Hebrew, chutzpah is used indignantly, to describe someone who has overstepped the boundaries of accepted behavior. 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 defined 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, that 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, as well as the awestruck amazement of the observer at the display.
¡Chutzpah! is the eighth studio album by The Wildhearts. Recorded in Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen, it was released in Europe on 31 August 2009 and in the USA on September 1, 2009. Unlike previous releases where the songs were performed in E♭ tuning, the instruments are tuned to C.
A bonus mini album entitled ¡Chutzpah! Jnr. was released in December 2009 exclusively to attendees of the band's December 2009 tour, containing the bonus tracks from the Japanese version of ¡Chutzpah! and several other unreleased tracks. ¡Chutzpah! Jnr. is now available at retail as a stand-alone album release.
Chutzpah is a Hebrew term for audacity or nerve.
Chutzpah may also refer to:
There's a fever in the cabin
There's a devil in the garden
A shark fin in the brainwaves
Stopping anything starting
Grey skies fight and the sun dies shining
Then the telephone rings with a silver lining
Take me out, take me out tonight
Get me hooked in good and stick the wheels on tight
Take me out, take me out tonight
'Cause when the light has gone
Just a whole lot of shakes going on
Yeah
If I can wait a little longer
If I can keep on believing
Just a location and a number
Is all the intel I'll be needing
Where the lights are bright and the girls are smiling
Where it sounds so good it'll stop me thinking
Take me out, take me out tonight
Get me hooked in good and stick the wheels on tight
Take me out, take me out tonight
'Cause when the light has gone
Just a whole lot of shakes going on
Grey skies fight and the sun dies shining
Then the telephone rings with a silver lining
Where the lights are bright and the girls are smiling
Where it sounds so good it'll stop me thinking
Just a whole lot of shakes going on
Just a whole lot of shakes going on
Just a whole lot of shakes going on
Just a whole lot of shakes going on