Kibitzer is a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

term for a spectator, usually one who offers (often unwanted) advice or commentary. The term can be applied to any activity, but is most commonly used to describe spectators in games such as

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions o ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

and

Schafkopf Schafkopf (), also called Bavarian Schafkopf, is a popular German Trick-taking game, trick-taking card game of the Ace-Ten family for four players that evolved, towards the end of the 19th century, from German Schafkopf. It is still very popular i ...

. In card games, a kibitzer simply refers to a spectator watching a player's hand; kibitzers are expected to remain silent and not impact the game. Kibitz and kibitzer are derived from German kiebitzen, to look over a card-player's shoulder, perhaps derived from Kiebitz, a

lapwing Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A gro ...

or peewit.

Other uses

The verb kibitz can also refer to idle chatting or side conversations. In computer science the term is the title of a programming language released by

NIST The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

, as a sub-project of the

Expect Expect is an extension to the Tcl scripting language written by Don Libes. The program automates interactions with programs that expose a text terminal interface. Expect, originally written in 1990 for the Unix platform, has since become availa ...

programming language, that allows two users to share one shell session, taking turns typing one after another. There is a 1930 film called ''

The Kibitzer ''The Kibitzer'' is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Edward Sloman and written by Marion Dix, Sam Mintz and Viola Brothers Shore. It is based on the 1929 play ''The Kibitzer'' by Jo Swerling and Edward G. Robinson. The film star ...

'' which is based on the 1929 three-act comedy play by the same name.

Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...

describes a kibitzer as someone who keeps a look-out on a street, and seeing suspicious activity, intervenes to help the victim. In this way, kibitzers help keep streets safe.''

The Death and Life of Great American Cities ''The Death and Life of Great American Cities'' is a 1961 book by writer and activist Jane Jacobs. The book is a critique of 1950s urban planning policy, which it holds responsible for the decline of many city neighborhoods in the United States. ...

'' by Jane Jacobs

References

Game terminology Yiddish words and phrases {{game-stub

Other uses

See also

References