zilch

See also: Zilch

English

WOTD – 31 July 2009

Etymology

From American English Zilch, a surname for a (fictional) insignificant person (e.g. Joe Zilch or the Mr. Zilch found in the humour magazine Ballyhoo in 1931; compare John Doe). Possibly invented to sound amusing, and not related to the real (but rare) German surname Zilch.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: zĭlch, IPA^(key): /zɪltʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɪltʃ

Noun

zilch (countable and uncountable, plural zilches)

1. (informal, uncountable) nothing.
   • 1991, Judith Arnold, One Good Turn‎, page 104:

     "If the homeless wind up with zilch," James retorted, veiling his indignation behind a malevolent smile, "it's because they deserve zilch."

2. (informal, countable) A person who is unimportant or lacks character; a nobody.

Synonyms

• nada (informal)
• zero (standard)
• zip (informal)

Translations

(informal) nothing

• French: que dalle (fr), que pouic (fr)
• German: nix (de)
• Japanese: 何も (nani mo)
• Romanian: canci (ro), ioc (ro), boacă (ro) f

• Russian: ничего́ (ru) (ničevó), (slang) ни черта́ (ni čertá), ни фига́ (ru) (ni figá), ни шиша́ (ni šišá), ни хрена́ (ru) (ni xrená), (vulgar) ни хуя́ (ru) (ni xujá), ни хера́ (ru) (ni xerá)
• Swedish: noll (sv), nolla (sv) c, ingenting (sv)
• Turkish: hiç (tr), değersiz (tr)