{{Short description|Term describing a miscellaneous item}} {{About||the American rock band|Tchotchke (band)}} {{more citations needed|date=August 2025}} [[File:Tchotchkes and memorabilia at Shopsin's edited.jpg|thumb|A cabinet of tchotchkes and memorabilia behind the counter at Shopsin's in the Essex Street Market in New York City]]

A '''tchotchke''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɒ|tʃ|k|ə}} {{respell|CHOTCH|kə}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɒ|tʃ|k|i}} {{respell|CHOTCH|kee}}) is a small bric-à-brac or trinket.<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{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 }}</ref> The word has been used by Jewish-Americans and in the regional speech of New York City and elsewhere since the 1970s. It is borrowed from Yiddish and is ultimately Slavic in origin.<ref name=":0" />

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".

== Etymology and spelling ==

The word ''tchotchke'' derives from a Slavic word for "trinket" ({{langx|uk|цяцька|tsiatska}} {{IPA|uk|ˈtsʲɑtsʲkɐ||uk-цяцька.ogg}}; {{langx|pl|cacko}} {{IPA|pl|ˈt͡sat͡skɔ||pl-cacko.ogg}}, {{pl.}} {{lang|pl|cacka}}; {{langx|sk|čačka}}<ref>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)</ref> {{IPA|sk|ˈtʂatʂka|}}; {{langx|be|цацка|tsatska}} {{IPA|be|ˈt͡sat͡ska||be-цацка.ogg}}; {{langx|ru|цацка|tsatska}} {{IPA|ru|ˈtsatskə|}}), adapted to Yiddish singular {{lang|yi|טשאַטשקע}} {{lang|yi-Latn|tshatshke}}.

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|ˈtsatske|}}, with a tsade instead of teth-shin, as in Yiddish. A Hebrew variant is צ׳אצ׳קע,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kordova |first1=Shoshana |title=Word of the Day / Chupchik צ'וּפְּצִ'יק |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2013-03-03/ty-article/.premium/word-of-the-day-chupchik/0000017f-f5b3-d460-afff-fff71b340000 |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=10 June 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610223108/https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-word-of-the-day-chupchik-1.5232217 |archive-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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&nbsp;... whatever |first=Nick |last=Wolochatiuk |work=Cornwall Seaway News |date=March 26, 2009}}</ref><ref>[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''</ref>

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.{{cn|date=August 2025}} 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'', also documents a sense of ''tchotchke'' as meaning a young girl, a "pretty young thing", as well as noting pejorative usage ("a loose or kept woman"; "a sexy but brainless broad").<ref>{{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.</ref>

== See also == * {{annotated link|Promotional merchandise}}<!--aka merch or swag--> * {{annotated link|Feelie}}

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==

{{Wiktionary|tchotchke}} * [https://www.etymonline.com/word/tchotchke Tchotchke (n.)] on ''Online Etymology Dictionary'' * [http://worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tch1.htm Tchotchke etymology] on ''World Wide Words'' * [https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4055888/jewish/What-Is-a-Tchotchke.htm What Is a "Tchotchke"?] Chabad

Category:Yiddish words and phrases Category:Slang terms for women Category:Memorabilia