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I kvell over Zhang Bin's drawings

I'm a bit biased about "kvell" word usage. It is on Urban Dictionary ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kvell ), but seems to be pretty rarely-used. In case if "kvell" is not broadly used, what slang word should I use instead "admire" in the following sentence?

I admire what he does

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up vote 5 down vote accepted

Kvell is from Yiddish and means

To feel delighted and proud to the point of tears

Merriam-Webster gives an example of "kvell over" similar to yours:

Critics kvelled over the violinist's triumphant return to the stage where she had made her debut many years ago.

You can see that in writing, alternatives like these are much more common than kvell: kvell,acclaim,rejoice,admire,celebrate,appreciate, showing other words more popular than kvell Ngram of kvell, acclaim, rejoice, admire, celebrate, appreciate; kvell has flatlined here

Not all of these words can be used with over, so if the sense of delighting in a particular work is important, have a look at further synonyms. If you're looking for slang, there are plenty of options for an informal context; for example, perhaps you groove on a piece of music or get a kick out of a painter's unique style.

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Very robust answer! thank you. –  Nemoden Oct 21 '11 at 6:43

How about:

"I dig what he does."

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Sounds good :) +1 –  Nemoden Oct 21 '11 at 6:43

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