Kvetch
Etymology
From Yiddish "kvetshn," meaning "to squeeze or pinch," in turn from German "quetschen" ("to squeeze, crush"). The metaphor is wonderfully physical: to kvetch is to squeeze out complaints, as if pressing grievances out under pressure. It entered American English through Jewish communities and now serves speakers well beyond them.
verb · /KVECH/
To complain habitually and at length; to gripe.
What it names
Chronic, almost recreational complaining — the low-grade grumbling done for its own sake, not to actually fix anything.
Example
He’ll kvetch about the commute for the entire meeting but would never actually move closer to the office.
Related idea
To whinge (chiefly British) is to complain peevishly; to kvetch carries a warmer, almost fond sense of griping as a way of life.
See also