tsatske

English

Etymology

From Yiddish צאַצקע (tsatske, “trinket”); compare tchotchke.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtsɒtskə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtsɑtskə/
• Hyphenation: tsats‧ke

Noun

tsatske (plural tsatskes)

1. Alternative spelling of tchotchke
   • [1947 December 15, Sydney J[ustin] Harris, “Strictly Personal: Harris says offspring always children to mom”, in Waterloo Daily Courier, volume 89, number 298, Waterloo, Iowa: W. H. Hartman Company, →OCLC, page 4, column 2:

     My mother is still convinced that her little boy doesn't eat enough (I've gained 15 pounds the last six months), and that he doesn't get enough sleep (I average a good nine hours a night), […] She is always giving me advice, chiding me for the error of my ways, warning me not to drive too fast, and in general behaving as if her tsatske hasn't got enough sense to get in out of the rain.

     Used to refer to a boy; compare Russian ца́ца (cáca) and Ukrainian ца́ца (cáca, “well-behaved child”).]

   • 1974 July 12, Georgia Dullea, “Inflation-weary men turn to discount stores”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-04-06, page 31:

     The idea of a discount operation, of course, is that it shouldn't look like a boutique. Presumably the price tags are decoration enough. "Décor doesn't add to the glamour of a suit," an owner pointed out. "You're not buying the rugs or the lamps or the tsatskes."

Further reading

• Clarence L[ewis] Barnhart, Sol Steinmetz, Robert K. Barnhart (1980) “tsatske”, in The Second Barnhart Dictionary of New English, Bronxville, N.Y.: Barnhart/Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 481, column 1.

Anagrams

• stakest, taskset