Tchotchke

{{Short description|Term describing a miscellaneous item}}

File:Tchotchkes and memorabilia at Shopsin's edited.jpg in the Essex Street Market in New York City]]

A tchotchke ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɒ|tʃ|k|ə}} {{respell|CHOTCH|kə}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɒ|tʃ|k|iː}} {{respell|CHOTCH|kee}}){{Cite web|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/tchotchke|title=Definition for tchotchke – Oxford Dictionaries Online (World English)|date=January 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110140322/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/tchotchke |archive-date=2012-01-10 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tchotchke|title=Tchotchke – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary|work=merriam-webster.com|date=29 September 2023 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tchotchke|title=tchotchke|work=TheFreeDictionary.com}}{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.infoplease.com/tchotchke|title=tchotchke: meaning and definitions|work=infoplease.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.yourdictionary.com/tchotchke|title=Tchotchke dictionary definition – tchotchke defined|work=yourdictionary.com}} is a small bric-à-brac or miscellaneous item. The word has long been used by Jewish-Americans and in the regional speech of New York City and elsewhere. It is borrowed from Yiddish and is ultimately Slavic in origin.

The word may also refer to free promotional items dispensed at trade shows, conventions, and similar commercial events. They can also be sold as cheap souvenirs in tourist areas, which are sometimes called "tchotchke shops".

== Spelling ==

A wide variety of spellings exist for the English usage of the term, such as tchatchke, tshotshke, tshatshke, tchachke, tchotchka, tchatchka, chachke, tsotchke, chotski, and chochke; the standard Yiddish transliteration is tsatske or tshatshke. In YIVO standard orthography, it is spelled טשאַטשקע. In Israeli Hebrew it is often spelled {{lang|he|צאצקע|rtl=yes}}, {{IPA|he|ˈtsats.ke|}}, with a tsade instead of teth-shin, as in Yiddish. A Hebrew variant is צ׳אצ׳קע,{{cite news |last1=Kordova |first1=Shoshana |title=Word of the Day / Chupchik צ'וּפְּצִ'יק |url=https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-word-of-the-day-chupchik-1.5232217 |newspaper=Haaretz |accessdate=10 June 2018 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610223108/https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-word-of-the-day-chupchik-1.5232217 |archivedate=10 June 2018}} using צ (tsade) with a geresh to represent the sound {{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}}.

== Alternative meanings and context ==

Depending on the context, the term has a connotation of worthlessness or disposability as well as tackiness.{{cite news |url=http://www.cornwallseawaynews.com/Columns/Dances-with-Words-%26ndash%3B-by-Nick-Wolochatiuk/2009-03-26/article-639701/Tchotchke,-chachka,-tsatke...whatever/1 |title=Tchotchke, chachka, tsatke ... whatever |first=Nick |last=Wolochatiuk |work=Cornwall Seaway News |date=March 26, 2009}}[http://gawker.com/5404811/inside-the-bernie-madoff-tchotchke-auction "Inside the Bernie Madoff Tchotchke Auction"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221041145/http://gawker.com/5404811/inside-the-bernie-madoff-tchotchke-auction |date=2010-02-21 }}, Gawker

A common confusion is between the terms tchotchke and tsatske or rather tsatskele, with the diminutive ending -le. Both terms have the same Slavic root. Tchotchke usually references trinkets, while tsatskele is more likely to mean a young girl or woman who uses her charms to reach her goals. Being Yiddish, the meaning can change by the use of gestures and a change in tone, so that tsatskele can become the favorite child.

Leo Rosten, author of The Joys of Yiddish, combines the two main meanings and gives an alternative sense of tchotchke as meaning a young girl, a "pretty young thing". Less flatteringly, the term could be construed as a more dismissive synonym for "bimbo", or "slut".{{cite book |title=The New Joys of Yiddish |url=https://archive.org/details/newjoysofyiddish00rost |url-access=registration |first=Leo |last=Rosten |editor1-first=Lawrence |editor1-last=Bush |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |date=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newjoysofyiddish00rost/page/403 403] |isbn=9780609806920}} Illustrated, reprint edition.

== Etymology ==

The word tchotchke derives from a Slavic word for "trinket" ({{langx|uk|цяцька|tsjats'ka}} {{IPA|uk|ˈtsʲɑtsʲkɐ||uk-цяцька.ogg}}; {{langx|pl|cacko}} {{IPA|pl|ˈtsatskɔ||pl-cacko.ogg}}, {{pl.}} {{lang|pl|cacka}}; {{langx|sk|čačka}}J. Kačala et al.: [http://slovnik.juls.savba.sk/?w=%C4%8Da%C4%8Dka Short Dictionary of Slovak Language]. Veda, 2003. (meaning: cheap decorative thing, trinket) {{IPA|sk|ˈtʂatʂka|}}; {{langx|be|цацка|tsatska}} {{IPA|be|ˈtsatska||be-цацка.ogg}}; {{langx|ru|цацка|tsatska}} {{IPA|ru|ˈtsatska|}}), adapted to Yiddish singular {{lang|yi|טשאַטשקע}} {{lang|yi-Latn|tshatshke}}.