Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance
Etymologies
- From Yiddish באָבקעס (bobkes, "(large) beans"), from קאָזעבאָפּקעס (kozebopkes, "goat droppings"), from Proto-Slavic *koza (“goat”), and diminutive of Slavic root боб (bob, "bean"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“I care about immigration policy to, but again, she had absolutely nothing, zip, nada, bupkis to do with SB1070 and up to the day she signed it, nobody knew if she would.”
Gov. Brewer removes AG Goddard from immigration law defense. | RedState
“So, really, I did a whole lot of bupkis this weekend.”
“Many people pointed out the irony of the Sunday's Snow Potential Index (SPI) reading "0 (→) - Nada, naught, zip, zilch, goose egg, bupkis, need I go on?" when snow flakes were falling.”
“Because I look back at the last two decades of wingnut blathering about the economy, and I come up with bupkis.”
“What this has to do with MoveOn or the first amendment, is this: bupkis.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Andrew McCarthy Sticks to His Guns (And He May Be Pointing Them at You Next)
“Today it has been dark all morning, the serious, threatening kind of dark that normally means batten down the hatches, but so far bupkis.”
“And bonds are paying bupkis: At the moment the Vanguard Bond Index Fund, a mixture of Treasurys and corporate, yields just 2.3%.”
The Wall Street Journal: Tax Tips for Harvey Golub (and Other Millionaires)
“TV Guide Magazine: The situation seemed to be aggravated in June by Maria herself at the Emmys when she assured us in the press room you'd be coming back — but then that was following by several more months of bupkis.”
Exclusive: Melody Thomas Scott Finally Renews Her Contract With The Young and the Restless
“For those of us making little enough that the standard deduction always exceeds any possible itemized deductions, additional tax credits are worth absolutely bupkis.”
“But you may be amazed at how taking some time to help others can help you gain perspective and see your own life's challenges reduced to bupkis.”
The Huffington Post: Elaine Hall: 7 Easy Ways to Help a Family Diagnosed With Autism
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bupkis’.
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recent new scrabble words
these came into effect from 2011
abitur, abiturs, abscisic, achar, achars, acquis, addings, aerobot, aerobots, aguna, agunah, agunot and 1465 more...
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Yiddishkeit
There are a few short lists of Yiddish words, but none appropriate to the glory of the language, and none that are open. Thought I'd start one, and would love contributions. I'm tagging as I go, an...
schmuck, nosh, chutzpah, shtick, kvetch, oy vey, oy gevalt, shvitz, shtik, shiksa, putz, mensch and 94 more...
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Another 250 Spelling Words
Another range of words from the intermediate to the advanced speller's level.
cherimoya, parthenogenesis, sommelier, bupkis, kichel, voulge, indivisibility, retiarius, sewellel, vihuela, ossature, jalfrezi and 238 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2053 more...
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Foreign glossa
apparat, kobold, haimish, faklempt, nudnik, nebbish, bubbe meise, bupkis, chinook, oy gevalt, geronimo, banzai and 6 more...
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Valuseless
Of low worth or little importance.
Unwanted matter by drusky is a nice, related list.trivial, cheap, inutile, ineffectual, dross, floccinaucinihili..., gimcrack, frippery, invalidated, drivel, otiose, tripe and 91 more...
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slackagogo's Words
agelast, aggiornamento, zaftig, wowserism, vox barbara, verbigeration, tchotchke, tautology, sycophant, spoonerism, solipsism, sobriquet and 288 more...
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ashton's Words
genocide, boingy, umwelt, zeitgeist, fungible, vorpal, spawn, discordian, fnord, surreptitious, xyzzy, corruption and 122 more...
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kingofbash's Words
bash, poleaxed, salacious, libertine, charlatan, aplomb, fortuitous, finagle, apoplectic, debutante, carte blanche, aardvark and 472 more...
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Words I'd Like to Use Someday
thundersnow, phantasmagoria, mercurial, chimerical, taciturn, paraclete, lapis lazuli, flay, guttersnipe, wonky, misanthrope, kestrel and 583 more...
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vmarinelli's Words
canard, gumption, inexorable, insouciance, inviolable, mordant, euphonious, sawbuck, carpe diem, pay dirt, adipocere, profligate and 496 more...
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Chained Bear's Favorite Words
peruvian, sparky, poop, etymological, fuck, whatnot, pulchritude, nosh, tetched, quotidian, squalid, trajectory and 388 more...
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My GRE
concomitant, mendacity, corollary, mandate, ascertain, exacerbate, substantiate, perennial, exemplify, hegemony, acrimonious, repertoire and 653 more...
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A spoonful of sugar
Words I should learn/I want to learn/I just learned, with a quotation to help the medicine go down.
approbation, assuage, chicanery, abscond, effrontery, enervation, equivocate, ennui, aftertaste, filibuster, perfunctory, abide and 391 more...
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kenspeckle's Words
kenspeckle, milquetoast, effluvium, kaboom, maelstrom, ennui, alpenglow, defenestration, schadenfreude, autochthonous, obstreperous, lachrymose and 124 more...
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Words I Love But Don't Use Enough
Thanks to all you Wordies out there flinging new words at my head. This one's for you.
phascolomian, flammulated, pelagic, avuncular, spondulicks, frippery, wyvern, stramash, cack-handed, bellicosity, infrared reflecto..., contumeliously and 106 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bupkis.

alexz Google books shows the 1937 book Imperial City by Elmer Rice http://goo.gl/rLTQT
Wictionary says it's got a Yiddish origin.
Elmer Rice was from New York City http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Rice
checking alternate spellings listed at wictionary.
update - alternate spellings predate this
1931 Duke Herring p71 by Maxwell Bodenheim http://goo.gl/mKyZo
"Hot Bubkis, that would be hot irony steaming from the water closet"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_Bodenheim
1930 - google found bubkes in the Kibitzers dictionary by Abe Gross
http://goo.gl/Y1RMB Jan 17, 2013
bilby Ok, found a decent-looking entry at AllExperts:
The word has many spellings, but the usual one is "bupkis." It is of Yiddish origin and was first used in the English language in 1937.
Here is the complete entry from "The Oxford English Dictionary" --
bupkis, n.
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈbʌpkᵻs/ , /ˈbʊbkᵻs/ , U.S. /ˈbəpkᵻs/ , /ˈbʊbkᵻs/
Forms: 19– bobkes, 19– bobkis, 19– bopkes, 19– bopkus, 19– bubkes, 19– bubkess, 19– bubkis, 19– bubkiss, 19– bupkes, 19– bupkis, 19– bupkiss, 19– bupkus.
Etymology: < Yiddish bobkes nonsense, rubbish, nothing, of uncertain origin.
N. Amer. slang (orig. in Jewish usage).
Absolutely nothing, nil.
1937 E. Rice Imperial City 67 The Wall Street goyim like 'em skinny‥. Do you know what you'll get for dinner?‥ A green pea with some bees'-knees a la bupkis hiding underneath it.
1942 A. J. Liebling Telephone Booth Indian 60 The best you can get there‥is a chance to work Saturday night at a ruptured saloon for bupkis.
1974 M. Torgov Good Place to Come From 147 She comes in, I give her twenty off automatically. I'd like to see her get that discount at Eaton's. Bupkes Eaton's'll give her off.
1987 J. B. Stine Spaceballs xxi. 109 Forget the ring. The ring is bupkis.
2006 New Yorker 16 Jan. 34/1 We came up with bubkes.
"The Urban Dictionary," which is not as reliable as "The Oxford English Dictionary," suggests that the Yiddish word originally referred to a kind of bean. The bean was shaped like the "droppings" of goats. Thus, some people say that bupkis means "goat shit."
- Ted Nesbitt Jan 17, 2013
bilby Any theories on the origin? Jan 17, 2013
Lefty Webb bupkis
This a derogatory term meaning worthless like goat shit. See MW.
Would this be useful for the excrement list? Dec 13, 2010
reesetee Nope! It means bupkis. Dec 12, 2010
Prolagus But it must mean something! Dec 11, 2010
whichbe Absolutely nothing. May 12, 2008