Yiddish words such as tchotchke and schemozzle have been included in the Collins English Dictionary for the first time.

The CED, a primary authority on the English language, already features 440 words related to Judaism, including schlep and shtum, but the twelfth edition, released last Thursday, features 11 more, such as boychik.

And with Chanucah around the corner, it's only appropriate that latke and dreidel have finally earned their place in the 35-year-old series.

If congratulations for the inclusion of mazeltov seem overdue, lexicographer Ian Brookes agrees.

"I was surprised that mazeltov wasn't in before! It wasn't included originally, but now it's moved gradually into common usage. It's glided into the language," he said.

Mr Brookes, Consultant Editor for HarperCollins, said: "We've been keeping tabs with the official Scrabble words list, which Collins also publishes.

"We found that both unkosher and nonkosher were acceptable for Scrabble players - and it's a pretty good way to get rid of your Ks!"