A phrase uttered by "Linda Richman" where she gets all choked up. The character by Mike Myers is supposed to make fun of New Yorkers, with a stereotype of NY Jewish women. See Coffee talk and SNL.

It usually goes like this:
"I'm feeling a little verklempt! {gasps} Talk amongst yourselves!{Pause} OK, new topic; Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island."

Then she starts breathing again, and resumes her conversation. The spelling is from a New York Times interview with the real Linda Richman.

Verklempt is a Yiddish word which is alternately spelled as verklempt, fahklempt, ferklempt, farklempt, and farklemt due to inconsistencies in transliteration. It's a semi-humorous word that means you are choked up. The San Francisco Chronicle defines it as being "beside oneself with joy and emotion." A more literal translation that I've heard is, "gripped my heart; overcome by emotion." There is a German word, "verklemmpt", but that means "stuck up" and doesn't seem to have any connection. This is not unusual, since there are many German words used in Yiddish, and not always with the same meaning.

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