chopped liver
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chopped liver
- /ˈt͡ʃɒpt ˌlɪvə/ UK
- /ˈt͡ʃɑpt ˌlɪvɚ/ US
Where it comes from
Calque of Yiddish געהאַקטע לעבער (gehakte leber), from געהאַקטע (gehakte, “chopped”) (compare the verb האַקן (hakn, “to chop”)) + לעבער (leber, “liver”).
According to the Hungarian-American lexicographer and linguist Sol Steinmetz (1930–2010), sense 2 (“person or object not worthy of being noticed”) may be from the fact that chopped liver is served as an appetizer or side dish rather than as a main dish.
noun
- A Jewish pâté-like food, usually spread on bread, made by mincing beef or chicken liver and onions which have been broiled or fried in schmaltz (“chicken fat”) together with hard-boiled eggs. The French say they are chopped liver experts. But you will decide whether Mrs. Weinberg, her mother, her mother's mother and her mother's mother's mother knew the secret of real chopped liver—long before the French did.
-
A person or object not worthy of being noticed; someone or something insignificant.
You've been nice enough, but what am I, chopped liver or something?
Similar: absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, Joe Nobody, little guy, minnow, nebbish, nobody, no one, nothing · Opposite: baron, big cheese, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise, big shot, bigwig, big wheel, boss
Translations
Every language
noun Jewish pâté-like food
| Español | hígado picado |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | gehackte Leber |
| עברית | כבד קצוץ |
noun person or object not worthy of being noticed
| Français | moins-que-rien |
|---|---|
| Italiano | mezzacalzetta |
Talk about this word "chopped liver." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/chopped%20liver. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. chopped liver. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/chopped%20liver "chopped liver." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/chopped%20liver.Cite this
@misc{chopped_liver_2026,
title = {chopped liver},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/chopped%20liver},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
