Balabusta

Balabusta (Yiddish: בעל־הביתטע) is a Yiddish expression describing a good homemaker. The transliteration according to YIVO Standard orthography is baleboste. The expression derives from the Hebrew term for "home owner" or "master of the house" – the Hebrew compound noun בַּעַל הַבַּיִת bá'al habáyit (lit: "master of the house") was borrowed in its masculine from and was pronounced according to the conventions of Ashkenazi Hebrew as balebos; in its feminine form, it is rendered as בעל-הביתטע balabusta. The term ultimately became more popular than the original Hebrew expression for a (female) home owner, בעלת הבית bá'alat habáyit. (As used in Modern Hebrew, bá'al habáyit בעל-הבית means "landlord".)

Variants in pronunciation (balabusta and baleboste) are due to the phonologies of different Yiddish dialects, where the pronunciation of אָ (komets alef) as /ɔ/ becomes /ʊ/ in some regions.