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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2 |
I recently ran across the word "tsotchkes" in a book and I have been unable to find any definition of same. Can anyone help me?
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
could you be meaning "tchotchke", knickknack, trinket, gimcrack, whigmaleerie, etc?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
You'll find different spellings. It's another word from Yiddish. Stuff, junk, odds 'n' ends.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2 |
Yes, that must be the word . . . guess I just "mis remembered" the spelling. Do you have any idea of its origin?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
I know it's from Yiddish, but I'll leave the etymology search to tsuwm, already. 
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
OED gives two (2) major sp. variants: tsatske, tchotchke
[a. Yiddish, f. Slavonic (cf. Russ. tsatska).]
A trinket or gewgaw; transf., a pretty girl. Also "tsatskeleh [Yiddish -le dim. suff.], an affectionate diminutive of tsatske.
the first citation is from 1964(!) and this from:
1968 L. Rosten Joys of Yiddish 408 Tsatske and tchotchke are used interchangeably.+ At one time+West End Avenue in New York had an inordinately high proportion of tchotchkies.
so we're left to wonder if he meant gewgaws or pretty girls...
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
Is there a strong correlation between gewgaws and pretty girls? (leering male chauvinist pig emoticon)
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