Dictionary Word of the Day: tchotchke

tchotchke
\CHOCH-kuh\ , noun:

1.A trinket; a knickknack.

I've known (and used!) this word for years but I never had a clue how to spell it and apparently I didn't know how to pronounce it, either.  I always thought it was CHOCH-key.

Comments

[Moonshadow]

A nice word of Yiddish origin ... I like. :-)

[heidi]

I always thought it was KEY at the end as well- funny thing- I only remember actually saying it aloud once. I hear it in my mind and play it with it there- but now I think it has lost it's appeal- KUH isn't as fun as KEY!

[ellen b]

I wonder if the choch-key is plural and chochkuh is singular :0)

[Suzanne]

I've always heard and said "CHOCH-key" too. Maybe Ellen is on to something.

[lawyerchik1]

I always thought it was CHOCH-key, too, but Ellen could be right that the "key" ending is plural. Paczki is pronounced "POON-chik" for singular, and "POONCH-key" for plural (but that's Polish, rather than Yiddish).