An affectionate Yiddish term for an energetic child.
The Yiddish expression vilde chaya (pronounced roughly VIL-duh KHAH-yeh) literally means wild animal, but it is not usually used with regard to lions, tigers or bears. Instead, it refers to a person, often a child, who is behaving in an unruly manner.
Vilde chaya is often used in an affectionate way for little kids who are bouncing off the walls or teens who are pushing a few too many boundaries. When directed at the high-energy person, it can be heard as teasing or playful. When said about them, it usually expresses mild but affectionate exasperation. It’s rarely fully condemnatory. It is somewhat equivalent to the English term “menace” or “rascal” when applied to an uninhibited child.
Etymologically, Yiddish is a blend of German and Yiddish. The word vilde is a German word that is cognate with the English word wild and means the same. The word chaya is derived from the Hebrew word for animal.
Here are some example sentences:
• After three hours cooped up in the car, the kids piled out like a bunch of vilde chayas.
• Calm down, sweetheart—you’re being such a vilde chaya before bedtime.
• Gershom’s brilliant, but in class he can be a bit of a vilde chaya—always talking, always moving.
Like many Yiddishisms, vilde chaya is popular among English-speaking Jews because it captures an emotion: a loving impulse even in the face of understandable exasperation. It reflects the Jewish value of deeply loving the next generation—even when they are causing a bit of tsuris.
